The light was hitting this valley in the most amazing way. I’d like to say I was patient and waited on the perfect lighting. I wasn’t. I was just very lucky and happened to be in the right place at the right time. I’m not sure of the name of that peak there on the right… anyone know?
This was a fun interview! Here’s what Derrick wrote about it:
Trey Ratcliff is best known for his vibrant landscapes. But he’s also a student of human nature. His photography business is fueled by combining compelling landscapes, with daring post production, and adding a dash of insightful marketing.
On today’s show, Trey shares some of thinking behind this approach. The lessons that he’s learned may help your creative endeavors as well.
Welcome to the Nimble Photographer podcast, hosted by me, Derrick Story. My quest is to find artists who have created their own definition of success. Yes, finances play a role in all of our lives, but are they the only measure? And how can you put a price on the experiences along the way?
Today, we travel to New Zealand via Skype to hear what Trey has to say. Thanks for coming along.
The light was hitting this valley in the most amazing way. I’d like to say I was patient and waited on the perfect lighting. I wasn’t. I was just very lucky and happened to be in the right place at the right time. I’m not sure of the name of that peak there on the right… anyone know?
Here’s part 2 of the interview (Part 1 Here!). He got the intro wrong a little bit… he didn’t really explain that I bought fake followers in a second, fake account. He makes it sound like it was my personal account! Anyway… hehe… enjoy!
I took a little train to the top of the mountain near Zermatt to get this photo of the mighty glacier. It’s cool how you can actually see the flow-marks like a river. I had a double-major in Geophysics before I had a fight with the professor and I quit. He was a real idiot. Anyway, while I was still there, I got to know quite a bit about these forces of the earth… and I still find it fascinating that millions of pounds of solid ice can flow like a liquid.
I can’t figure out why this was banned… I totally agree with Graham Hancock’s stance on consciousness and the use of a natural substance like DMT to explore it.
Here’s a new photo of the Matterhorn I finished a few weeks ago. I took this while I was in Zermatt, which is one of my favorite Swiss places! If it looks like it was cold there, well, yes, yes it was. Over 500 people have died trying to climb to the top. This is one of many reasons I did not attempt a climb to the top.
I was lucky enough to be invited to hear David Whyte live in Glenorchy. What a cool guy… I didn’t really know what to think beforehand, but I was sold!
Of all things, he told two poems about The Camino, which I just walked a few months ago. You can read Part 1 here or Part 2 here. Anyway, here is the bit from his TED talk where he says that poem.
This one kind of reminds me of yesterday’s photo, though it wasn’t raining quite as hard. We stopped in Geneva for just one evening on the European tour. It was such a cruisy town; I wish we could have stayed longer. As it was, we generally were not getting enough sleep and were hitting every town and immediately it was boots on the ground, doing stuff. This was supposed to be a “rest day” but I ended up wandering the streets till midnight taking photos.
In case you missed the most recent show, we talked about a bunch of things you may enjoy:
– Some complaints and thoughts about Facebook and promoted posts (Alex did an experiment where he paid $40)
– We all share new photos (Alex from a Russian dungeon costume party, Thomas from Decompression, Karen from a recent trip, and me from a car trip here in New Zealand last weekend)
– How we are surprised at feedback on photos
– The new Google Nexus phone and photo-sphere mode
– How a Human Face looks with different lenses
Scott Kublin and I took the train from Zermatt through the Alps to St. Moritz. Right after we arrived, we went to the top of the nearest mountain to take photos and have dinner. This place seemed to fit the bill!
If you ever want to take that train — I recommend it! Thanks to everyone on the blog here that recommended it to me to begin with! It’s called the Glacier Express… be sure to take your camera! 🙂
I’ve spent over 300 hours working on a new film. It’s 6 minutes long and 4K in resolution…. I can’t wait for you to see it… so get ready to watch it Full Screen with Good Speakers! I’m putting the final touches on it right now….
I also have a Making-Of, but that is taking longer than expected! But I’ll get that done at some point…
While taking the train up a nearby mountain in the town of Zermatt, there is one quick moment when you get this perfect view of the village and the Matterhorn together.
I think I really liked this place because I remember riding the Matterhorn with my dad when I was a kid, and my child-mind could not conceive of an actual Matterhorn!
Zermatt was really one of the best mountain-towns I have visited. Maybe you know of many more – any recommendations? I’m guessing, for example, there are some real gems in Germany I have never heard of…
The best time of day. (To me.)
When you are in a new place and there are too many things to see and do. There are too many places to eat and explore. There are too many streets and alleys to visit and photograph. This is a good thing. It is a nice feeling of being overwhelmed by it all. So, in these times, there are no bad decisions. Just go whichever way the night takes you… get lost and find pretty little things.
This is the most common “complaint” (note, the complaint only comes from Photographers – not regular people!) I get in the comments when I talk about copyright and Creative Commons Noncommercial. Every day, like today, I upload a maximum resolution photo here to the website. People hem and haw, “Well, aren’t you afraid that people will just download your work and print it themselves?” No, I’m not afraid. And generally, I don’t live in fear. If people want to do this, it’s not the end of the world. Maybe they are just a fan that has very little money and they just want to make a small personal print to enjoy on their own. They know they are not getting the best quality or a Limited Edition copy, but at least they get to enjoy the art. In fact, I think that is kind of nice.
I believe the world is mostly full of people who would rather do the right thing for the artist and see the Good Reasons to buy a print now or in the future.
Good reasons to Buy This Print (btw, every day we offer up a new print, where there is a link to purchase it right under the photo).
So, to me, these are three pretty compelling reasons to purchase the print. I believe the most people out there are good, so we provide affordable options so people can make something custom that works perfectly in their home.
Getting to the top of these mountains happened just in time, late on a cool, crisp day on one of my first afternoons in Switzerland. I knew things would be beautiful way up here in the upper atmosphere, but I honestly did not expect the streaming confluence of flowing ice. This is always a nice and unexpected aspect of glaciers – how they look like they are flowing and still at the same time.
Hehe… or, well, you can get the Limited Edition copy below each one.
Sometimes I think about the nature of looking forward to something. This is good, you know, looking forward to things. And sometimes I wonder if it is as good as the thing-itself. Okay this is a weird subject… stick with me… like, for example, spending all day looking forward to eating a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies is on par with actually eating the cookies. Know what I mean? Or did I already lose you. Because when you look forward to something, you get a little excited about it. And them, if you add up all those little excitements, it roughly equals the amount of excitement you actually get from the thing itself.
I don’t know why I’m talking about this.
This is one of my favorite times of night while traveling. It’s that blue dusk after a long day. I’m hungry and tired and just trying to capture a little bit more light before finding some food for the night.
This is the town of Zermatt, a cozy little mountain village nestled up in the Alps. It’s charming and filled with all the sorts of things you would hope would fill a little mountain town.
