March 5th, 2010| Stuck In Customs
Thanks Christchurch!
I very much enjoyed the photowalk and talk yesterday. Everyone was genuinely nice and engaged. I got a bunch of good questions. People in NZ were even nicer than I expected! I look forward to seeing the Flickr group for the event…and perusing people’s shots! Feel free to post it below!
Daily Photo – The Flying Buttress
I mentioned during the photowalk tonight this effect of the wide-angle lens. Whenever you aim it above the horizon, everything leans in a bit. Now, I occasionally get negative comments that think that this “leaning” looks bad, unprofessional, and unrealistic. I have to disagree! It doesn’t bother me a bit. My eye adjusts, and, well, I think it just looks cool.
The church below is from Dresden, Germany. I am 98% sure of this… I don’t know why I am having trouble remembering… I think I am getting old. I did have to wake up at 5 AM to go to the bathroom last night… a bad sign.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D3X, Travel | 28 Comments »
July 23rd, 2009| Stuck In Customs
Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a place like this? I like these old European streets where great restaurants line edges… Let’s all move there… we can just go out and dine on the streets every night, eat fab food, see street performers, talk about photography, geek out, etc etc. Yes that sounds quite wonderful.
As you can see, I left in the HDR ghosting. Sometimes I quite like it, especially in these scenes where there is motion and feel like that’s part of the gestalt. I think these sorts of words are okay to use, even when not standing on a German street.
I am very appreciative to all the eyes out there scouring the intertubes! I had a nice girl who gave me the heads up on someone using images without permission. Her name is Shannon, and you can see her Flickr stream here. Thanks Shannon 
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 22 Comments »
June 12th, 2009| Stuck In Customs
I wish I could walk to dinner every night and find little places like this along the way. Since I carry my tripod and camera just about everywhere, I’d always be ready in case something like this pops up!
This was shot in Halle, Germany, just a short train ride from Leipzig. I love how these old churches are often lit with orange lights… I think it always makes them look nice against the blue dusky skies.
Setting up the tripod for these evening HDRs always allows you to set the ISO as low as possible, and in aperture priority mode, the shutter will stay open for a long time, letting those clouds drift by and drag light across the lens. It gives a nice feel to the shot and makes the church look even more timeless and solid.
from the categories: Germany, Halle, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 16 Comments »
June 4th, 2009| Stuck In Customs
This is something so many European cities seem to have… a nice cobblestoned area in an old part of the city where people just mill around from wine to dinner to gelato to aimless wandering about. I think these areas are always full of life and excellent for people-watching. Often times, this is why I don’t mind being by myself in these foreign places… it’s very nice to sit back and just analyze people as they come and go.
This was shot in the middle of Dresden when there was just a few degrees of sunlight left behind the old church. Once things get too black in the sky, I usually pack up the tripod and then head to the best looking gelato place I had surveyed earlier in the day.
Thanks again for all the feedback on the newsletter yesterday! We should get all of this cleaned up and ready for the first release sometime within the next two weeks or so… I hope your expectations aren’t TOO high… although I’ll do my best of course. Right now I think we’ll have links to two new reviews that the newsletter crowd can check out for a few days before they are publicly linked.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D3X, Travel | 10 Comments »
May 22nd, 2009| Stuck In Customs
These old trains in Europe are always cool. I can’t imagine how incredibly heavy they are. All that cast iron just looks like it might create its own gravitational force. I like looking at all the machinery and piping and stuff. I’m the first to admit that I don’t know a dang thing about trains, but I do like looking at them.
I visited a train museum also while I was in Dresden. It was really interesting looking at all the tiny inventions that had been deprecated and forgotten over time. They would have extremely specialized tools that would only do one thing for a technology that only lasted a short time. Some of these things must have weighed several tons, and the only task it could perform is maybe a mounting harness for a cast iron part that only fit one sort of train that was only in service for a few years. It was a cool museum. I guess it is kind of a guy thing… it must have been, since I didn’t even see another woman in the whole place!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 29 Comments »
May 13th, 2009| Stuck In Customs
For those interested, I was recently interviewed by Jim Goldstein about photography, HDR, and the like on “EXIF and Beyond”. You can hear the podcast here.
Whenever I am Europe, I have more snacks than my 3-year-old in the US every day. I can’t believe how much my daughter eats. I don’t know where it all goes. She is like a tardis and has the metabolism of the entire Chinese gymnastics team.
This was shot in the streets of Dresden. I had just grabbed a snack to carb up before the upcoming sunset. These sunsets are supposed to be relaxing, but I had to hot-foot it around from location to location to squeeze it all into the hour.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 25 Comments »
March 12th, 2009| Stuck In Customs
I think, as Americans, we are over-the-top interested in European train stations. I really enjoy them. I don’t know why… they just seem like really interesting places to be. This is part of the train station in Leipzig — the part after you get off the train and go into the shopping area.
Curiously, if you look at the large or original size, you can see taxi cabs driving through the inside of the mall. I do not have a full explanation for this.
from the categories: Germany, Leipzig, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 20 Comments »
February 26th, 2009| Trey Ratcliff
Dresden had beautiful building after beautiful building! They were just all lined up, waiting to be photographed. As blind luck would have it, a storm had just ripped through, leaving this incredible purple sunset. Well, heck, I guess I don’t have to tell you… since you can just look below and see!
And any of you in the Austin area that are coming tonight to my talk and tutorial (it’s free and you don’t have to be a mac user – more info here), be sure to come over and say hello! Don’t be shy — I’d be happy to meet you in person!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 13 Comments »
January 30th, 2009| Stuck In Customs
I do love train stations in Europe!
I think each one has a personality of its own, and the gestalt is a function of the trains that come to visit. Leipzig wouldn’t be Leipzig if it never made a connection to Dresden. The stations really have no say in the matter and connections just get made on their own. It’s the natural order of things. Whatever it is about Dresden that makes it special becomes part of Leipzig, and vice versa.
This is from my upcoming LucisArt 6.0 tutorial… I’m still a-workin’ on it when my mind has moments of lucid thought.
from the categories: Germany, Leipzig, LucisArt, Nikon D2XS, Travel | 14 Comments »
December 17th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
These are the venerated ones! Their grisly visages encased in dark oil paints to keep this part of the inner cloister feeling rather dismal.
I looked and did not see a lot of women up there at all. I also didn’t see any heiro-clergy holding a fluffy white cat like a Bond villain. That would have made my day… but, alas… nothing quite so interesting as all of them solemnly looking across the way at one another, and down at whoever has scuttled in on their knees.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 9 Comments »
December 8th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
As night was falling in Dresden, I moved from location to location around the city to chronicle the changing light conditions across the old buildings…
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Musings, Travel | 10 Comments »
October 29th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
This is one of the most famous churches in Dresden that was bombed to bits in WWII. When it was rebuilt just recently, they reused some of the old burned black bricks in the construction. If you look close, you can still see them in there on occasion.
This comes from my photography tutorial, located here!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 17 Comments »
June 18th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
I never thought East Germany would be such a great place for photography. There were a ton of places for good photos and it was all a bit overwhelming… It was nice to take breaks on occasion for some hearty German snacks to keep my carbs at manageable levels.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 4 Comments »
February 13th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
Captured near the rebuilt center of bombed-out Dresden. This is part of a new textures tutorial I have going up later this week!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 1 Comment »
February 8th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
This reminds me of my best friend and partner who majored in 19th Century German History. I am sure he knows who all those people on this famous Dresden wall are. And what good does it do in our friendship and business? None.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 6 Comments »
February 2nd, 2008| Stuck In Customs
The bridge where they moved the excommunicated to execution…
I was there towards the late afternoon and there was an eerie red light in the sky over the blackened bridge.
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 15 Comments »
January 29th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
This was shot in Dresden, Germany. Again, I was not supposed to be anywhere close to this area with a camera, but I gave serious nods to the right people and before they could get their bearing, I got enough shots to show everyone how awesome this place is!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 6 Comments »
January 21st, 2008| Stuck In Customs
I walked across the city square in Halle, Germany on the way to a business dinner… I stopped in the middle to take this shot since the clouds and everything was so perfect!
from the categories: Germany, Halle, Travel | 3 Comments »
January 14th, 2008| Stuck In Customs
A perfectly clear day in Germany… although, truth be told – I prefer a bunch of crazy-lookin’ clouds!
from the categories: Dresden, Germany, Travel | 2 Comments »
December 26th, 2007| Stuck In Customs
This is the front of a cathedral in Leipzig… It was a very nice day… little cafes, pastry shops, and the like…
from the categories: Germany, Leipzig, Travel | 9 Comments »
