Burning Man PhotoWalk

See the Facebook event here!

You are all invited to join me at the Burning Man PhotoWalk! It’s free of course… Here are the details:

• Friday, Sept 3 at 6 PM
• Location: Center Camp: Look for all the people with the cameras, and me, possibly in Steampunk Goggles.

What we will do:

• Walk around together to take cool photos of Burning Man (for personal use only)
• Find cool art installations and activities
• Be cool (and not bother people with our cameras…)
• Learn more about our cameras
• Take some HDRs
• I’ll be there to answer questions whether you are a beginner or beyond!

More Resources:

• Photography Info for Burning Man
• Equipment Guide at Burning Man

See these cards below?  I’ll be handing them out around Burning Man…  It’s sort of a “gifting” place, where money is not allowed.  Since one of my only identifiable skills is photography, I am giving people the chance to learn more about their cameras.  I think we’ll have a good time and I hope to see you there.

Below is a Google Earth photo of Burning Man in a previous year… I think it’s pretty awesome.

See you soon at OpenCa.mp

I hope to meet a lot of you soon at OpenCa.mp in Dallas! In just a few days, I’m headed up to Dallas to begin the adventure by jumping out of a plane with the US Army Golden Knights. It’s gonna be a blast!

Daily Photo – Home of the Tree Samurai

This was my second trip to Kyoto, and I decided to return to this amazing treetop temple. At night, the delicate lights turn on and everything comes alive. It’s really brilliant… one of those scenes that makes you think the world is really a wonderful place.

This was right in the peak of the cherry blossom season. The soft pink of the blossoms grabs and reflects the light into an unbelievable prism. It’s all like something out of a dream, and I’ve done my best to bring it back to life here on the blog.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

Interview on PetaPixel

Good man Michael Zhang from PetaPixel interviewed me recently. Pop over there and check it out. Also, look around PetaPixel for a while… Michael has done an extraordinary job with that site.

We Computer Science majors need to stick together! So I’m happy to send traffic over his way!

A Silent Evening in Kyoto under the Cherry Blossoms

The beautiful white cherry blossoms were in full bloom and their gentle petals would fall down like snow, collecting on the ground.

To get here to Kyoto, I took the bus from Osaka — and this was not the most simple thing in the world. I’m used to traveling in strange places and getting around confusing transport systems, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy! The Japanese transportation system is particularly perplexing. The train system is the easiest to figure out. The bus system is second. The subway is last — dead last.

Many of these places I end up have no one that speaks English, so there’s a bit of guesswork involved. After I’m on a bus for 5-10 minutes, I start to have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps I am on the wrong one! With no one to ask or no one to call, it’s a bit more uncertain than I prefer it!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

New eBook – First goes on sale to Newsletter Subscribers! For the past few months, I’ve been working on a new eBook. It’s very cool — a very detailed description of a best-of-breed digital workflow. Are you starting to feel like your digital photos are a little unorganized? I’ve put together a great system for you! The first shot at it will go to Newsletter subscribers. It’s free to sign up, so just do it below! First Name: Email: 5 Tips for Photographing People in Public I’m working on an upcoming post that gives some practical and easy-to-follow-through-on advice on taking photos of people in public. I get a ton of questions about it in Twitter and whatnot, so I am happy to share these tips. You’ll notice a lot of this activity in the new video below…. and I know everyone enjoys and wants to take pictures of people in public, but are sometimes unsure of how to go about it.

New Video – Japan: Heartbeats of Time

I spend a lot of time thinking about the way memory and sight work together. I don’t think we remember in “pictures” or long videos… but something in between. Perhaps we also sense, at times, more than 30 fps, and unexpected parts of the brain fire when we are presented with certain objects and forms.

If you want to know more about how I did this, visit the “Stuck In Motion” section of the website. Good news – the best bits now only require a $200 camera!

Also, you may enjoy seeing my free HDR Tutorial, which describes how I accomplish some of the other favorite photos below, which were also shot around Japan.

A Few of my Favorite Photos from Japan

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikko, Nikon D3S, Tokyo, Travel

Newsletter Goodies – Sign up now

These newsletters (sign up for free!) take a long time to put together! But, here are some goodies that are coming for you in the next few days… really, we have beautiful newsletters and send them out about every 4-5 weeks or so. You are missing out!

In the next one, some first looks to subscribers:

• Two New Videos – behind the scenes on the North and South Island of New Zealand
• Two New Unreleased photos of the Snow Monkeys…. (scroll down in case you missed the first!)
• A 20% discount on the Textures Tutorial that will only last one week.
• And the usual other goodies that regular subscribers are used to!

Updated Nikon D3S Review

I’ve updated the Nikon D3S Review with the new video from japan as well as the new photo below. I occasionally pop into previous reviews to update them with new information so they stay fresh. In a way, they are sort of “living documents”, especially as my experience and opinions grow and change over time.

Daily Photo – The Lamps and the Sakura

Sakura is the Japanese word for the Cherry Blossom. I don’t know if I can explain how crazy the Japanese people are about this yearly bloom! For one thing, every local newscast has a big “Cherry Blossom” report that has in-depth descriptions of exactly where the trees are blooming in the country and upcoming predictions. The wave sweeps across the island of Japan and rich graphics cover the screen like a cold front, assaulting the countryside.

I took this photo with the Nikon D3S. I’ve recently taken to carrying two cameras with me. I take the Nikon D3X with me, and it’s usually attached to the tripod. This is the one that I use for 90% of my landscapes. While I carry that, slung around my neck and shoulder, Chewbacca-style, is the Nikon D3S, which I use for people shots, DOF shots, and videos.

This was taken at F/1.4 with a 50mm prime lens. The shutter was 1/8000 and the ISO 200. As always, this “EXIF” information is available on the SmugMug site if you click through and do a tiny bit of investigative clicking!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3S, Travel

Working on New Videos

I captured a lot of video while in Japan. And I mean a lot! I’m really looking forward to editing together some beautiful things for everyone. There is footage of the snow monkeys, Nikko, Tokyo, Kyoto, and more! In fact, I have so much stuff, I’ll probably release several videos.

You can see existing ones here in the Videos section.

Daily Photo – The Endless Tunnel

There is a long walk in Kyoto called “The Philosophers’ Path”. I’ve now walked on it five times. It’s incredibly peaceful and there are countless opportunities for photography. The path has everything from gentle streams to temples to cherry blossoms to interesting architecture. Near one of the temples, I found this series of arches, which seemed to be all lined up for something just like this!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

iPad Wallpapers on MacBreak Weekly

I heard via email and some tweets that Leo Laporte mentioned that my iPad Wallpapers on his show – that is cool! Thanks Leo! The only problem is that every time he does that, my servers crash for a little bit… We are working on a new server setup solution around here that should be a lot reliable (and help the page load faster!).

Daily Photo – Under the Cherry Blossoms

I spent a while one evening in the older Gion district of Kyoto. Everything was in full bloom and there were all kinds of interesting people and things to see. It was a bit like a perfect little Japanese fairy-land. When the breeze came along, the blossoms would fall loose and flutter down like pink soft snow. I saw this couple sitting on a small stone wall beside a little stream under some cherry trees…

I did my best to blend into the background as I slyly slid inwards with my D3S. This was shot at ISO 3200, and you can see how little noise/grain there is in the exposure.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3S, Travel

The Nikon D3S Review

The last time I made a short video like this, I put it on the Nikon D3S Review page.  I’ll be sure to put this one on too.  It’s a pretty good indication of how cool this camera is… and the sorts of things you can do with it.

I must say, it’s quite nice to be able to grab little moments here and there between photos.  There is something that is very nice about video where you can get a few things you just can’t with a photo.  It’s not better or worse… just different.  It has taken me a little while to get used to — the idea that I can just take video any time without having to carry around another video camera.

Of course, you don’t need a D3S to do this… you can do it with a Nikon D90 and a lot of other new mid-range cameras nowadays.

Daily Surprise – The Kyoto Cherry Blossom Bloom

I’ve always wanted to come to Kyoto when the cherry blossoms are blooming, so this is really exciting.  Everything is even more beautiful than I imagined… there are thousands and thousands of these trees here that have a soft pink that is impossible to describe.  I’m not sure the video below can do it justice… we’ll have to wait until I have time to process some of the photos to see if I can make it as real as it is when I am here.

I flew into Osaka, found the bus to Kyoto, arrived, checked in, dumped my stuff in my room, then blew out into the streets with all my gear.   It was dusk when I left, so I decided to record 24 hours worth of video from one dusk until the next, grabbing little moments here and there.  All of it was shot with my D3S, which I now carry around with my D3X — I have my little system fully described (and on video) on the Photo Bag page.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

Links in Comments

I know a lot of y’all post links to your own work, your websites, articles of note, and the like.  I encourage it!  Don’t be shy about doing that.  Watch out — however if you put more than 3 links into a comment – the filter will think that it is spam and it will get held up for moderation.

New Newsletter went out!

If you are on the free newsletter list,  you recently received it!  You can sign up now on the Newsletter page, and you’ll be good-to-go!  There is some fun stuff in this latest edition!

Daily Photo – A Parting Shot of the Temple

Sometimes while on a little afternoon / evening / night photo adventure, I literally run out of energy at the end.  This is bad news!  I put so much effort into running around, getting all the shots, carrying around all my equipment, fully concentrating, and the like…  at the end, it’s all I can do to get back to home base.  However, this night, as I was leaving this beautiful complex of temples in Kyoto, I stopped to take one look behind me.

I had first passed this place in the afternoon when there was no rain.  During my shoot, rain fell and changed everything.  Of course, the lights were totally different, so I just had to muster up a little more energy for a final shot.  For these sorts, I usually put my tripod on its lowest-leg setting and fire away for maximum reflectivity.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

Thanks again Kiwis!

I had a great time on our photowalk down here and met some very nice people. I think my kids were a little drained! At the end, during the talk, both of them fell asleep in a back room… We hoisted them into the campervan after that, drove to the beach, and then they were surprised to find where they woke up! Fell asleep during dad’s boring talk — wake up at the beach! Woo!

It was great to meet so many nice people from all over Auckland. There were even a few Aussies at the event! I haven’t had time to process any photos yet, but I will soon.

Daily Photo – The Harmony Garden

Kyoto was filled with thousands of these tiny gardens with ponds and little rivers. Which one to take photos of first?!?

None of them seemed to have artificial pumps that moved the water around. I always think of that whenever I see little gardens with water features in the states, or like they sell at Sam’s. Somehow, it seems, Japanese garden-masters are able to constantly refill their ponds by keeping the appropriate amount of dew forming on surrounding leaves, which then drips into the pond, which then goes down a perfect little waterfall, and ends up at another perfect pond about 50 paces away.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

Join my mate Vanelli for a Workshop in North Carolina

I met a heck of a nice guy when I was in Florida named Vanelli. I was introduced to him by RC Concepcion, who is normally a good judge of character — I remember him saying, “Trey, you gotta meet this guy named Vanelli!”

So, I did, and he made a good impression on me. He happens to be quite the Photoshop guru, and he absolutely loves photography. He’s a great communicator, and I’m sure he’ll put together a unique workshop. I think he’s only inviting about 10 people or so… and if you want to find out more, go to the “Vacation with Vanelli” website.

New Limited Edition Numbered Print – Hong Kong from the Peak

This week we are releasing a new print (see the print page) called “Hong Kong from the Peak“. It is a pretty one that many of you may remember, and it’s featured right towards the beginning of the book. There are smaller prints available on fine art paper all the way up to huge canvases to adorn your walls.

Daily Photo – Salaryman waiting for the Bullet Train

I’ve always loved the Japanese word “salaryman”. It means exactly what you think it means. And whenever I say this word to Japanese people while there, they get so surprised what I know that word! Possibly, this is because I know only a few dozen words — and they consider this one to be somewhat obscure, I suppose. It’s hard to say. There is something wonderfully inscrutable about my conversations with Japanese people.

This was shot in Kyoto (to the best of my memory), on the way to Tokyo. These bullet trains are just great. I bought a week-pass on the bullet train for only a few hundred dollars — it’s a special deal for foreigners traveling to Japan. The only confusing bit was figuring out how to trade in my voucher at Narita airport. Well, there were a variety of confusing things at that airport, but that has never stopped me…

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Tokyo, Travel

Great Photowalk in San Clemente!

Thanks to everyone that came out for a beautiful sunset in San Clemente! I was happy to meet you all and hope you had a good time. Victor from Typical Shutterbug put up a post with a link to a Flickr group where you can share your photos.

Photo Mystery of the Week

What is the mysterious blue light in the photo below?  Who can guess?

Daily Photo – 1,000 Red Gates

What a wonderful and unique place on earth this is! In Kyoto, Japan, there resides the unique shrine of Fushimi Inari. It consists of thousands of red gates that wind up and down the mountain. I walked through it deep into the night…. I was the only one around and it was downright eerie. Every now and then, the gates would stop and there would be a mini-shrine off to one side or a graveyard to another. Both of these added to the creep factor.

I had a serious worry about an hour into the hike through these gates — what if they turn off the lights? I had no flashlight! I considered my two options — I could strobe my SB-800 to find my way out, which would be a totally surreal experience through these gates. Or, I could do what one of my Israeli hiker friends did in Argentina, use the back of my camera display for light (he actually used his to set up his tent)!

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

New Weekly Print Now Available

There is a new Limited Edition Numbered Print available. As always, prices start at $99 for the smaller paper numbered print and then go up if you want a giant canvas on your wall at home. We just got done showing a bunch of these amazing canvases at the book party in Chicago – they always look so impressive in person!

The print today is a summer reflection of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming across a high-running stream. While I was shooting this, a buffalo snuck up on me from behind. Those things are so big and quiet, it is a little unnerving! There is more info about the process on the Prints page as well.

Daily Photo – Red Temple in the Moon Forest

Most people don’t know this, but I wrote a novel about 15 years ago. The reason no one knows about it is because it was so awful that no one would publish it. I printed out the first few chapters of the book, sent them to countless publishers, and then received countless rejections. I should have saved of them. It was quite depressing at the time, and it only took me 14 years to get over it.

Anyway, I bring this up because part of the story was based in Kyoto, Japan, where this temple is located. I had never been there before, but this is exactly how I always pictured it: peaceful, still, natural, ancient, with the soft sounds of the woods echoing around the old wood. It’s a wonderful place. I’ve done my best to capture the feeling of the place. I only hope I’ve come close to succeeding.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

The classic Taj Mahal photograph, Limited Edition Numbered Print now available

Every week we are releasing something new into the Print Gallery. Each on is a Limited Edition numbered print from 1 to 250, so when they are gone, they are gone. The paper prints start at a very affordable $99 and, if you want a large dramatic showpiece in your home or business, there are giant canvases available too.

We launched with only 20 prints, and this dramatic photograph taken from the Taj Mahal is the next that is available in the collection.

Daily Photo – Two Paths Through the Tangled Japanese Forest

The day in Kyoto had a steady light rain. When I was going through this forest, I was able to lower the umbrella. The little droplets seemed to get caught up in the upper canopy of the trees. Big drops would plop down from time to time, but it was kind of nice, in a storybook way.

I got to this point and couldn’t decide which way to go… which way would you have gone?

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

Win A Free Book!  Twitter Contest is Live!

We have a new Twitter contest to win some free copies of “A World in HDR”, hosted by the team at @Peachpit.  It goes for three days and will be a ton of fun.  Anyone can enter, and you can enter as many times as you like!  For full details, see the Twitter Contest Page!

Peachpit (the publisher) is giving away three copies to some of the best photos found on Twitter.  Submit as many and as often as you like.  Note that my photos are not eligible — let’s use this as a way to find other great new photos and artists out there!  Again, all the details and info on The Judge can be seen on the Twitter Contest Page!

Daily Photo – Finding Dinner in the Alleys of Kyoto

After exploring an area (and era!) of ancient temples in Kyoto, I was absolutely starving.  I tend to get in a “shooting mode” where I do not undertake basic human necessities like eating, sleeping, and making regular bathroom breaks.  In fact, Nikon makes this great set of diapers you should try.  They’re Japanese so there are little buttons that dispose of everything and leave you fresh as a daisy.

Anyway, after shooting, I headed down into the old part of Kyoto to find a traditional Japanese dinner.  I sat there for a long time, enjoying myself thoroughly.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

Twitter and Facebook Contests!

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting some of the best and most successful Twitter and Facebook contests I have seen. We are going to be having the good people at @Peachpit run a few contest to give away copies of the book after release! I’d like you guys and gals to pick your favorites. So please, if you have more suggestions, let me know. I’ve got a great list already, so let’s keep ‘em comin! Note that I don’t want to do just boring, obvious contests. I’d like them to be fun, different, and engaging. Know what I mean? So, if you’ve seen some that are successful, please pass them along!

Today’s Photo

I think I could stay in Kyoto for a few years and go out taking photos every day and night! What a picturesque place… I feel like someone designed it a thousand years ago just for HDR! Now, I think this is a pretty darned good example of HDR. When you are there, you do see all these colors and light levels. Absolutely! Thank goodness for the sweet lady HDR and all her little tricks.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel

Some Twitter Lists for You!

BTW, I’m @TreyRatcliff on Twitter!

As you guys know, I’ve been using Twitter for the past 27 years or so. Over that time, I’ve built up a good list of people to follow. Now, I can share this list and more very easily with you. When you visit the links below, you can “Follow” the list. Or, you can also go through and follow the individuals. Any questions? Just ask below!

• Art for the Right Brain – Here is a collection of artists, designers, illustrators, and the like that I find inspirational.  I didn’t really add any photographers to this list… *Make Recommendations here!
• Stuck In Customs Community – This is a list of everyone around here!  This is a great “channel” to listen into to hear everything that’s going on with all of us! If you ever need advice, have questions, or just want to share, be sure to follow the people inside and talk it up… that’s what Twitter is for! *Add yourself and make recommendations here! (yes it is totally cool to recommend yourself!)
• Trey Ratcliff Curated Art – a collection of inspiration art to keep you going.
• Interesting Science – Are you into science like me? Here is a collection of interesting scientists I have found on Twitter. *Make Recommendations here!
• Art Museums to Know – Did you know there are Museums on twitter too?  They talk about new exhibits,visiting artists, special events, and the like.   *Make Recommendations here!
• Funny Twitter Heads – A collection of very funny people on Twitter.  If you are easily offended… don’t look!  *Make Recommendations here!
• Wow – Nice Tweets! – A random assortment of people that I follow that send out all kinds of interesting Tweets on this and that.  *Make Recommendations here!

Do the good people on here a favor.  Follow the list, and then go through and follow some of the most interesting individuals inside.  Twitter is better once you build your own personalized list, and this will be a really good injection of inspiration into your world, I hope!

How to Use Tweetdeck

I made a video to show you how to use Tweetdeck to stay connected to members of the Stuck In Customs community!

To get your setup, do the following

• Watch the video below
• Here is the text to copy for the community:  http://twitter.com/TreyRatcliff/stuckincustoms-community
• If you want to get on the community list, *Add yourself and make recommendations here! (yes it is totally cool to recommend yourself!)

Other suggestions for Tweetdeck:

• Whatever interests you, make a “Search” column for it.  For example, my mom loves “General Hospital”, so I made a new Tweetdeck column for her with it.  Now, whenever anyone on twitter mentions something about General Hospital, she is the first to know!
• Turn off the annoying sounds and the little popup notifier under the settings.  For me, it gets to be too much to constantly see updates!

After you follow the lists and some people therein…

Then you can then easily switch to that “channel” in Twitter to see the latest. Also, very soon you’ll be able to add that List as a Column in Tweetdeck, a program I highly recommend. As soon as they enable this, I’ll come update this post!

And, of course, be sure to tell your friends the fun of lists, especially those new to Twitter.  If people start out by getting good links with nice art and funny comments, it makes it a much better experience from the beginning!

Daly Photo – The Bamboo Forest

Today’s daily photo was taken while exploring the wilds outside of Kyoto a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful place! The walk took me into this giant bamboo forest. After strolling through it for a short eternity, I set up for shot. This is a standard 5-exposure HDR; it was shot with a 14-24mm lens. For those of you new to the site, you can find out more about my process in the HDR Tutorial.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Kyoto, Nikon D3X, Travel