New Print on Sale

Every week a new print comes available in Limited Edition Numbered series. This week it is “The Fallout Bunker”, the unique and wonderful airport architecture in Thailand. This is the sort of print may not work so well in a traditional home (like my others), but for the right environment, it will be a real stunner.

Daily Photo – Another Magical Disney Fireworks Show

Disney has a very cool “Pirates and Princess” party where they really take their fireworks to the extreme. I worked hard to find a nice reflective surface, even though I had to elbow a few little princesses to get this spot. They started to complain, and I just said, “Stop being such a princess!”

Now, if I can only convince the Powers That Be at Disney to fire off these fireworks at dusk – now THAT is a photo. The thing is… everyone shoots off their fireworks in pitch black, well, because everyone ELSE does. However, I can make a strong case that fireworks look better when there is a bit of ambient light in the air. The fireworks are still bright and beautiful — they do not have to be against a pure black backdrop to “pop”.

Filed under the categories: Disney World, Florida, Nikon D3X, Travel

Workshop Fun!

We are just starting an amazing HDR workshop down here in Austin. It won’t be the same as being there, but a DVD will be available soon after, so be sure to sign up for the free newsletter so you can find out first!

The Austin workshop ended up being a fairly exclusive event, and we priced it at $1,000 per attendee.  I  knew it would be popular and that there was an enthusiastic group of people out there, but I did not expect the whole thing to sell out in 11 minutes (after crashing the StuckInCustoms server for 30 minutes after it became available!)!   I’m excited the date has finally arrived and I am very excited to teach people, make new friends, and do my best to take their photography to the next level.

My other workshop next weekend with Scott Bourne in Florida is also sold out!  There may be last-min cancellations, so watch for that.  That will be a fun event and I look forward to meeting a bunch more people and sharing this new sport with them.

People always ask about potentially doing other workshops. I have no immediate plans, except perhaps one in New Zealand next month.

Appearance on Sunday night at BookPeople

On Sunday evening, come to BookPeople before 7 PM to the Austin Photography Group.   Feel free to come by and hear my little talk on HDR.  I’m also happy to meet people, sign books, and this sort of thing.  Come to the presentation hall on the third floor.  See you there!

New Limited Edition Print Available

Every week, we release a new print, and this week’s is One Night in Bangkok. This was shot very soon after I arrived in Thailand. It took me forever to find a good view of the famous Wat Arun. But then, not only did I find the perfect spot, but it happened to be on the deck of a delish Italian restaurant.

Daily Photo – Getting a Bottle at the Bar

What a cool place! This is another one of those photos that just has amazing detail of the incredible decor. It is an underground bar in Kuala Lumpur that I could not stop taking photos inside! As you can see, there are no bad angles in a place like this, so it is very fun to compose.

I’ll have a little challenge that I will give out at the workshop where we all shoot the same subject matter to see who can get the most interesting composition. This bar is a very cool place because there are a ton of interesting compositions, but also some bad compositions. I’m not sure one can actually “teach” composition… but I suppose I can try!

Filed under the categories: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nikon D3X, Travel

My friend Ben Willmore is heading to Asia and looking for suggestions! I recommended exploring the waters of Thailand… it’s really a very cool and unique area. Maybe not the “cleanest” waters in the world… but certainly good for photography. Below is a collection of a few for you! The last one is of a very crowded floating market, about two hours outside of Bangkok.

Also, have you all ever heard of Cali Lewis on Geekbrief.TV? It’s a good show that I subscribe to. Anyway, she recently used one of my backgrounds on her little newscast. You can see the video here. if you like what you see, send her a note that it’s cool! I do this sort of thing via Creative Commons (no commercial use without permission)… I like it when people re-purpose the art to use in new and creative ways like this. Cool.

Filed under the categories: Travel

Welcome to “Stuck in Customs Textures”, a special video tutorial product that will give you the tools you need to stand out from the crowd!

What is included?

• A 90+ minute video that shows all my latest techniques for using textures
• Thorough examples from beginning to the end of seven example photos including landscapes and portraits
• 25-150 hi-res exotic and unique textures, depending upon the package you choose
• Two bonus videos that show bonus techniques for two more photos (with the Ultimate package)
• Countless tricks and techniques that will help your photos be unique and stand out
• A 100% money back guarantee if you are not satisfied

Purchase and Download Now – Thank you for your support!

Basic Package $99: An hour-long video plus 25 unique textures from around the world. All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Premium Package $299: The same as above, except with 100 unique textures (75 Additional textures). All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Ultimate Package $399: Includes everything above plus 2 Bonus Videos and 50 additional textures from Secret Locations.  This gives you a total of 150 hi-res textures.

Testimonials from tutorial downloaders (thanks y’all!):

Jeff Clow: “This collection of textures is truly world class – and by that I mean not simply how brilliant they are, but the fact that they’ve been compiled from fascinating places around the world. The unique textures work superbly well as backgrounds and overlays, and I highly recommend them to any photographer who wants to improve and enhance their images. This texture package is ‘must have’ tool for any serious photographer.”

Maurice Guerrieri “Trey, your textures are the best! It paid it self off in less than 24 hours. Hats off to you. If you have arrived at this page, it means that your interested in bringing your photography to the next level, and no doubt Treys textures will help you achieve that.” – Maurice from Australia

Scott Dungan: ” What a resource! Stuck in Customs World of Textures has provided me with textures that are difficult or impossible to produce in Photoshop. These textures allow me to produce images with the hand coated look of early photographic processes. Thank you for your World of Textures Stuck in Customs.”

Scotty Graham: “I just downloaded the premium package, and am very impressed with both the quality of the textures and the video tutorial. Trey’s video tutorial is worthwhile to the professional as well as the Photoshop beginner. As a professional photographer, I enjoyed watching Trey’s workflow and creative process unfold right before my eyes….(would be nice to see the same kind of thing with his HDR images). His textures are bar-none some of the best I have seen and/or used. They rival anything else you may see for sale on line, and for 100 textures, his price is very fair. If you are looking to move your photography style up one notch, don’t hesitate to purchase this package….you will not regret it.”

Chris Nowakowski: “All I have to say is WOW! These textures are amazing! They blow everything and anything that I have seen out the water! The video tutorial is so easy to use, even the pro that I am, I still learned a few new tricks! I still remember when I first heard about you and I used your tutorial on HDR to further develop my skills. That tutorial helped me make the art I do today. Now, with this tutorial not only am I not worried about getting my ROI out of it, but I also know that it will inspire me as an artist to further per sue my photography and take it to new heights. It’s hard to sum it all up. All I know is that this rocks as much as you do.”

Thelonius Gonzo: “Just viewed the tutorial. I know dollars are worth something (less and less everyday) but honestly, if you are interested at all in texture effects, and like me, are not already a Photoshop expert, then this tutorial is well worth the asking price. I swear I may need a few weeks to really ingest all of it. The only downside of this is that I feel like I’m cheating.”

About the tutorial?

My HDR Tutorial is free as the birds and I was glad it helped tens of thousands of people. This one I simply have to charge for because it is too valuable. It has taken a small eternity to collect these amazing textures from all over the world. I’ve looked around, and there is nothing else this one-of-a-kind offering available.

I first offered the tutorial in 2008.  Since then, I have created a brand new tutorial to replace the old one.  The video now is much higher quality and it includes all the new tricks and tips I’ve picked up over the years.

The video is one hour long and it is full of tons of examples.  It’s definitely a no-BS video.  Beginners, amateurs, and pros will all benefit from these techniques. Because the video can be downloaded (or played off a DVD in your computer), you can play it as many times as you like.  If I go to fast in a section, you can just go back and watch frame by frame what I do.

When ready to purchase, be sure to use the Coupon Code of “STUCKSPECIAL” to get an additional 10% off.

These textures will help you do amazing things with your photos. I can’t promise 100% success, but if you are already a decent photographer (and you know it when you are), then these can take your final result to the next level. Most photographers reach a level of comfort before they are ready to push through to the a new level of excellence and experimentation. These techniques that I have perfected will bring a unique level of polish to your art.

Who am I?

Regular visitors to the site know me and now find all of this personal stuff mundane. I’m really quite humble and enjoy my ego on my own time, but it’s hard to be humble when writing an “Who Am I” section. But you want to know some credentials since you are about to buy something? I understand. Very quickly, here is a random list of things that will either be impressive or strange to you:

• had a photo hang in the Smithsonian
• represented by Getty
• been on the BBC, ABC, FOX, and NBC television talking about innovations in photography
• my mom thinks I am a good photographer

Are you a Wedding or Child Photographer?

These textures and the tutorial will really give you a nice edge to separate you from the competition.  I’ve received countless emails of thanks from people all over the world.  These textures have helped to create a special look that keeps them unique, pleases the clients, and have paid for themselves many times over.  Even better, when you watch the video, you will see how these 150 textures can be mixed and changed around in a way so that every photo will be totally unique.

What You Need

You will need a copy of Photoshop and that is about it! Even if you are horrible terrible awfulest worstest at Photoshop, then you will be able to follow my tutorial. The tutorial is in a video file you can play on your computer, so even if I go too fast, you can just go frame by frame and replay as many times as you like if I go too fast in one area or the next. Both the video and the textures work fine in PC and Mac.

What you Get

I have three packages, and they all come with the same video tutorial. I know everyone has different budget levels so I wanted to make the low-end affordable and a great value. The higher end packages are for the real over-achievers that want the best.

All the textures are huge, unique, and wonderful. They are all ultra-high quality images that are a staggering 6100 x 4100 pixels. These specially selected textures come from amazing and adventurous places all around the world and it has taken me an eternity to get them all together. You will find unexpected and wondrous fine art textures from Venice, Italy; ancient and well-worn marbles from the Taj Mahal in India; unearthly steamed moss from the geothermal areas of Iceland; distressed surfaces from cesium irradiated Chernobyl, Ukraine, and delicate romantic textures from Paris, France, just to name a few. Every texture will take your photo on an adventurous journey as you use the context to create your own story and vision of the image.

These textures represent the most refined and flexible options for the techniques I describe. In addition, I’ve spent over 4,500 hours in Photoshop (making mistakes so you don’t have to, as I like to say!), so I’ve come up with some pretty nifty techniques no matter your level of familiarity with Photoshop.

Purchase and Download Now – Thank you for your support!

Basic Package $99: An hour-long video plus 25 unique textures from around the world. All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Premium Package $299: The same as above, except with 100 unique textures (75 Additional textures). All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Ultimate Package $399: Includes everything above plus 2 Bonus Videos and 50 additional textures from Secret Locations. This gives you a total of 150 hi-res textures.

A Sampling

Here is a sampling of textures before some examples below. See the one of the girl going down the stairs in the dress? That is the famous photographer Miss Aniela. The rest are from yours truly!

Below are the results of various results using the basic, premium, and ultimate texture packages.

And here are just a few of the textures that are included in the packages:

Mumbai, India – the peeling and rotting wall near where the kids played

Leipzig, Germany – the stains of the building that is not mentioned in polite conversation

Yellowstone, Montana – the sulfur in the evening

Bangkok, Thailand – the mossy edge of the building that smells like fish and children splashed in puddles

What music was playing in the background during the video?

I am always playing music in the background!  I get a lot of requests for that playlist, so here it is.  You can purchase these through iTunes or Lala.com.

Filed under the categories:

In reverse order of the titles, some of you might notice that I have added Facebook Comments below, so now you can leave comments with the old style or the new style. I left both systems in place since there are so many good previous comments, and they are not really convertible. The New Facebook comments are pretty cool because they re-use your Facebook info, and it extends that community and network of friends, since all these networks come together nowadays. It took a tiny bit of coding to set myself up as a Facebook Developer, but it wasn’t so tough (I knew that major in Computer Science would come in handy some day!).

There is a very nice community of people that come here to the site! You all are very nice and helpful… you give excellent comments, help one another out, give me advice, and drop all kinds of cool info bombs on the crowd. Thanks for that! I hope this Facebook comment thing can help more people to join the fun.

Anyway, to the photo for the day. This is not the usual, but it was such a cool slice of life, I could not pass it up! I was walking through the streets of Malacca in southern Malaysia, and building after building have all sorts of industry spilling out of them. Many of them are just deep garages where people have holed up to perfect one craft or another. This one was full of thousands of little bicycle parts. I stood out front for a while, watching all of them slowly convert the metallic entropy into bicycles…

The second photo below was taken in a similar fashion, although it was in the backstreets of Bangkok, Thailand.

Filed under the categories: Malaysia, Melaka, Nikon D2XS, Travel

I’m working on my biggest photo ever over the weekend and putting on the finishing touches. In the meantime, a commenter reminded me of a fun shot I did of some children in Indonesia, so I thought I would put up some of my favorite kids’ shots from around the world (that are not my own kids!)

The children below are from, in the following order, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Bangkok, Malaysia, Thailand, and Iceland.

Filed under the categories: Musings

I remember how hot it was in Thailand… Things are nice and cool here in Montana – especially at night. I was going through a few old photos last night and wanted to put them up here…. not that I am in Thailand now, but these struck me, so I wanted to post them!

Filed under the categories: Musings

I get weekly status reports from these various statistic plugins that are hidden all over this site. I don’t know why I have them installed or what they are supposed to tell me, other than random bits of information from which I am supposed to intuit 2.0 swarm behavior. But I do see interesting things like everyone seems to be looking at a lot of my work from Thailand. I don’t know why this is… but here are a few of my favorites from that region:

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Hey everyone… after many days of FastSpring guys setting up servers, bandwidth, etc, we can now release the tutorial. It’s got 100 textures and a full hour+ video tutorial that weighs in over 1 gigabyte of one-of-a-kind material.

To find out more, visit the textures tutorial!

Here are a few testimonials:

Jeff Clow: “This collection of textures is truly world class – and by that I mean not simply how brilliant they are, but the fact that they’ve been compiled from fascinating places around the world. The unique textures work superbly well as backgrounds and overlays, and I highly recommend them to any photographer who wants to improve and enhance their images. This texture package is ‘must have’ tool for any serious photographer.”

Scott Dungan: ” What a resource! Stuck in Customs World of Textures has provided me with textures that are difficult or impossible to produce in Photoshop. These textures allow me to produce images with the hand coated look of early photographic processes. Thank you for your World of Textures Stuck in Customs.”

Scotty Graham: “I just downloaded the premium package, and am very impressed with both the quality of the textures and the video tutorial. Trey’s video tutorial is worthwhile to the professional as well as the Photoshop beginner. As a professional photographer, I enjoyed watching Trey’s workflow and creative process unfold right before my eyes….(would be nice to see the same kind of thing with his HDR images). His textures are bar-none some of the best I have seen and/or used. They rival anything else you may see for sale on line, and for 100 textures, his price is very fair. If you are looking to move your photography style up one notch, don’t hesitate to purchase this package….you will not regret it.”

Thelonius Gonzo: “Just viewed the tutorial. I know dollars are worth something (less and less everyday) but honestly, if you are interested at all in texture effects, and like me, are not already a Photoshop expert, then this tutorial is well worth the asking price. I swear I may need a few weeks to really ingest all of it. The only downside of this is that I feel like I’m cheating.”

And here are just a few of the textures that are included in the packages:

Mumbai, India – the peeling and rotting wall near where the kids played

Leipzig, Germany – the stains of the building that is not mentioned in polite conversation

Yellowstone, Montana – the sulfur in the evening

Bangkok, Thailand – the mossy edge of the building that smells like fish and children splashed in puddles

Filed under the categories: Musings

Welcome to “Stuck in Customs Textures”, a special video tutorial product that will give you the tools you need to stand out from the crowd!

What is included?

• A 90+ minute video that shows all my latest techniques for using textures
• Thorough examples from beginning to the end of seven example photos including landscapes and portraits
• 25-150 hi-res exotic and unique textures, depending upon the package you choose
• Two bonus videos that show bonus techniques for two more photos (with the Ultimate package)
• Countless tricks and techniques that will help your photos be unique and stand out
• A 100% money back guarantee if you are not satisfied

Purchase and Download Now – Thank you for your support!

Basic Package $99: An hour-long video plus 25 unique textures from around the world. All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Premium Package $349: The same as above, except with 100 unique textures (75 Additional textures). All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Ultimate Package $399: Includes everything above plus and 50 additional textures from Secret Locations. This gives you a total of 150 hi-res textures.  FREE – Now included 2 Bonus Videos with extra Tricks!

Get the Above Packages on DVD!

Basic Package DVD $119: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you. Premium Package DVD $379: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you. Ultimate Package DVD $419: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you.

By purchasing, the customer hereby agrees to the Terms and Conditions.

Testimonials from tutorial downloaders (thanks y’all!):

David duChemin - “But remember there is room for technique that broadens the apparent dynamic range of an image and it doesn’t have to hit people over the head to be effective. Don’t throw out the guitar just because some people play it more loudly than you’d like. And for those that do love it, Trey’s stuff is solid teaching.”

Jeff Clow: “This collection of textures is truly world class – and by that I mean not simply how brilliant they are, but the fact that they’ve been compiled from fascinating places around the world. The unique textures work superbly well as backgrounds and overlays, and I highly recommend them to any photographer who wants to improve and enhance their images. This texture package is ‘must have’ tool for any serious photographer.”

Maurice Guerrieri “Trey, your textures are the best! It paid it self off in less than 24 hours. Hats off to you. If you have arrived at this page, it means that your interested in bringing your photography to the next level, and no doubt Treys textures will help you achieve that.” – Maurice from Australia

Scott Dungan: ” What a resource! Stuck in Customs World of Textures has provided me with textures that are difficult or impossible to produce in Photoshop. These textures allow me to produce images with the hand coated look of early photographic processes. Thank you for your World of Textures Stuck in Customs.”

Scotty Graham: “I just downloaded the premium package, and am very impressed with both the quality of the textures and the video tutorial. Trey’s video tutorial is worthwhile to the professional as well as the Photoshop beginner. As a professional photographer, I enjoyed watching Trey’s workflow and creative process unfold right before my eyes….(would be nice to see the same kind of thing with his HDR images). His textures are bar-none some of the best I have seen and/or used. They rival anything else you may see for sale on line, and for 100 textures, his price is very fair. If you are looking to move your photography style up one notch, don’t hesitate to purchase this package….you will not regret it.”

Chris Nowakowski: “All I have to say is WOW! These textures are amazing! They blow everything and anything that I have seen out the water! The video tutorial is so easy to use, even the pro that I am, I still learned a few new tricks! I still remember when I first heard about you and I used your tutorial on HDR to further develop my skills. That tutorial helped me make the art I do today. Now, with this tutorial not only am I not worried about getting my ROI out of it, but I also know that it will inspire me as an artist to further per sue my photography and take it to new heights. It’s hard to sum it all up. All I know is that this rocks as much as you do.”

Thelonius Gonzo: “Just viewed the tutorial. I know dollars are worth something (less and less everyday) but honestly, if you are interested at all in texture effects, and like me, are not already a Photoshop expert, then this tutorial is well worth the asking price. I swear I may need a few weeks to really ingest all of it. The only downside of this is that I feel like I’m cheating.”

About the tutorial?

My HDR Tutorial is free as the birds and I was glad it helped tens of thousands of people. This one I simply have to charge for because it is too valuable. It has taken a small eternity to collect these amazing textures from all over the world. I’ve looked around, and there is nothing else this one-of-a-kind offering available.

I first offered the tutorial in 2008. Since then, I have created a brand new tutorial to replace the old one. The video now is much higher quality and it includes all the new tricks and tips I’ve picked up over the years.

The video is one hour long and it is full of tons of examples. It’s definitely a no-BS video. Beginners, amateurs, and pros will all benefit from these techniques. Because the video can be downloaded (or played off a DVD in your computer), you can play it as many times as you like. If I go to fast in a section, you can just go back and watch frame by frame what I do.

These textures will help you do amazing things with your photos. I can’t promise 100% success, but if you are already a decent photographer (and you know it when you are), then these can take your final result to the next level. Most photographers reach a level of comfort before they are ready to push through to the a new level of excellence and experimentation. These techniques that I have perfected will bring a unique level of polish to your art.

Who am I?

Regular visitors to the site know me and now find all of this personal stuff mundane. I’m really quite humble and enjoy my ego on my own time, but it’s hard to be humble when writing an “Who Am I” section. But you want to know some credentials since you are about to buy something? I understand. Very quickly, here is a random list of things that will either be impressive or strange to you:

• had a photo hang in the Smithsonian
• represented by Getty
• been on the BBC, ABC, FOX, and NBC television talking about innovations in photography
• my mom thinks I am a good photographer

Are you a Wedding or Child Photographer?

These textures and the tutorial will really give you a nice edge to separate you from the competition. I’ve received countless emails of thanks from people all over the world. These textures have helped to create a special look that keeps them unique, pleases the clients, and have paid for themselves many times over. Even better, when you watch the video, you will see how these 150 textures can be mixed and changed around in a way so that every photo will be totally unique.

What You Need

You will need a copy of Photoshop and that is about it! Even if you are horrible terrible awfulest worstest at Photoshop, then you will be able to follow my tutorial. The tutorial is in a video file you can play on your computer, so even if I go too fast, you can just go frame by frame and replay as many times as you like if I go too fast in one area or the next. Both the video and the textures work fine in PC and Mac.

What you Get

I have three packages, and they all come with the same video tutorial. I know everyone has different budget levels so I wanted to make the low-end affordable and a great value. The higher end packages are for the real over-achievers that want the best.

All the textures are huge, unique, and wonderful. They are all ultra-high quality images that are a staggering 6100 x 4100 pixels. These specially selected textures come from amazing and adventurous places all around the world and it has taken me an eternity to get them all together. You will find unexpected and wondrous fine art textures from Venice, Italy; ancient and well-worn marbles from the Taj Mahal in India; unearthly steamed moss from the geothermal areas of Iceland; distressed surfaces from cesium irradiated Chernobyl, Ukraine, and delicate romantic textures from Paris, France, just to name a few. Every texture will take your photo on an adventurous journey as you use the context to create your own story and vision of the image.

These textures represent the most refined and flexible options for the techniques I describe. In addition, I’ve spent over 4,500 hours in Photoshop (making mistakes so you don’t have to, as I like to say!), so I’ve come up with some pretty nifty techniques no matter your level of familiarity with Photoshop.

Purchase and Download Now – Thank you for your support!

Basic Package $99: An hour-long video plus 25 unique textures from around the world. All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Premium Package $349: The same as above, except with 100 unique textures (75 Additional textures). All hi-res textures at 6100 x 4100 pixels. Ultimate Package $399: Includes everything above plus and 50 additional textures from Secret Locations. This gives you a total of 150 hi-res textures.  FREE – Now included 2 Bonus Videos with extra Tricks!

Get the Above Packages on DVD!

Basic Package DVD $119: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you. Premium Package DVD $379: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you. Ultimate Package DVD $419: Same option as above but on DVD, shipped to you.

By purchasing, the customer hereby agrees to the Terms and Conditions.

A Sampling

Here is a sampling of textures before some examples below. See the one of the girl going down the stairs in the dress? That is the famous photographer Miss Aniela. The rest are from yours truly!

Below are the results of various results using the basic, premium, and ultimate texture packages.

And here are just a few of the textures that are included in the packages:

Mumbai, India – the peeling and rotting wall near where the kids played

Leipzig, Germany – the stains of the building that is not mentioned in polite conversation

Yellowstone, Montana – the sulfur in the evening

Bangkok, Thailand – the mossy edge of the building that smells like fish and children splashed in puddles

What music was playing in the background during the video?

I am always playing music in the background! I get a lot of requests for that playlist, so here it is. You can purchase these through iTunes or Lala.com.

Filed under the categories:

This was shot in Thailand… I think buddhists get a discount.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Here we are at the heart of a wonder of the world (in my book).

I sat in the corner of the temple for a long time, just chilling out and listening to my ipod. Dozens of monks from all over Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Tibet, and places even further away came streaming through the temple complex to meditate.

The monks from the local wats are allowed to choose from six different color robes, and you can see two of them below.

Filed under the categories: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

Here is another temple I found while getting lost on purpose through the steamy backroads of Bangkok.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

There is nothing as soul-scorching as the search for Venture Capital.

This is normally a photography blog, but since my real life is comprised of running the stealthy John Galt Games (not currently seeking VC funding, incidentally), we are intimately involved with the games industry, acquisitions, investment, and the like. We were invited out to the Rutberg Quarterly event, ponderously entitled “Emerging Opportunities at the Convergence of Video Games, Social Networks, and Media”, in San Jose a few weeks ago by Peter Daley, who likes us because he is a closet objectivist and has a penchant for disruptive technologies.

Rutberg & Co is a research-centric investment bank that focuses in the wireless and digital media space. In my judgment, they are a leader in the games space and I always enjoy listening to Peter’s ruminations and reading his reports. He was nice enough to share the following data with me.

Oh, and since this is supposed to be a photography blog, I put a picture from the tech-booming Bay area below as well as a picture of the “Capitalist” in Ukraine, where our company does a lot of games work with brilliant ex-Soviets that used to launch rockets with slide-rules.

Directly below is a list of VC deals in the games space + Mergers & Acquisitions activity in the games space:

VC Deals (in no particular order):

Company: Red 5 Studios, Aliso Viejo, CA
Investment: $ 8.9 million
Investor: Benchmark Capital
Description: Red 5 Studios is an online game studio which develops original MMO games.

Company: Digital Chocolate, San Mateo, CA
Investment: $ 22.5 million
Investors: Bridgescale Partners; Chengwei Ventures; DN Capital; Glynn Capital Management; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Montagu Newhall; Outlook Ventures; Sequoia Capital; Sutter Hill
Ventures; WHI Capital
Description: Digital Chocolate is a developer of games and applications for mobile phones.

Company: Electric Sheep, New York, NY
Investment: $ 7 million
Investors: CBS; Gladwyne Partners
Description: The Electric Sheep Company designs experiences and delivers add-on software for 3D virtual worlds. The Company delivers strategic, creative, and technical insight and services to organizations, works with multiple virtual world platforms, and has developed many projects on behalf of brands.

Company: Double Fusion, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 26 million
Investors: Accel Partners, Hearst Corporation, IDG; Ventures Pacific, Jerusalem; Venture Partners, Norwest; Venture Partners, Sedona; Capital, Time Warner
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: Kongregate, San Francisco, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Independent investors
Description: Kongregate seeks to create an online hub for players and game developers to meet up, play games, and operate together as a community. By wrapping user-submitted Flash games with various community features, Kongregate’s site allows users to play great web-based games alongside friends.

Company: Cellufun, New York, NY
Investment: $ 3 million
Investors: Longworth; Venture Partners
Description: Cellufun is an ad sponsored mobile gaming portal providing free entertainment content and casual, connected, and multiplayer games for web-enabled mobile phones.

Company: Vollee, Hertzliya, Israel
Investment: $ 4 million
Investors: Benchmark Capital; BlueRun Ventures
Description: Vollee’s interactive video streaming platform delivers a catalog of PC and console titles with 3D graphics, artificial intelligence, and deep game play on mobile devices. Vollee packages the games it licenses from traditional publishers in an interactive mobile portal and partners with mobile operators to distribute and market the service to 3G subscribers.

Company: Exponentia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Investment: N/A
Investors: Emmis Communications
Description: Exponentia is a developer of mobile games and interactive applications for sports and entertainment clients that enable them to engage their fans across broadband and mobile devices.

Company: Atomic Moguls, Seattle, WA
Investment: $ 1 million
Investors: Amazon.com; Second Avenue Partners
Description: Operates a movie-based fantasy games website.

Company: GameGlance, Bangkok, Thailand
Investment: $ 2 million
Investors: Independent investors
Description: GameGlance is an in-game advertising network. GameGlance’s strategic planning, design, advertising, production, and gaming experiences have been applied across a number of gaming formats and categories.

Company: Areae, San Diego, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Charles River Ventures; Crescendo Ventures
Description: Develops technologies and content related to MMO video games

Company: Bunchball, Redwood City, CA
Investment: $ 2 million
Investors: Adobe Ventures; Granite Ventures
Description: Bunchball is a provider of social gaming services to personals sites, social networks, and online communities. Its hosted gaming service enables members to start and play games with each other, without leaving the customer’s site.

Company: OGPlanet, Torrance, CA
Investment: $ 1.5 million
Investors: Independent investors
Description: OGPlanet is a publisher of free online multiplayer games that generate revenue through the sale of virtual items.

Company: Mind Candy, London, United Kingdom
Investment: $ 7 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Index Ventures; NewMedia
Spark
Description: Mind Candy is an interactive entertainment company focused on puzzles and alternate reality games.

Company: Greystripe, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 1.2 million
Investors: Incubic Venture Fund; Monitor Ventures; WS
Investment Company
Description: Greystripe’s solution provides mobile content free to consumers in an ad-supported model. Greystripe operates an in-game mobile ad network and ad-supported mobile game distribution platform. Its advertising network takes full screen images, videos, and scrolling banners and dynamically delivers them into mobile games and applications.

Company: Trion World Network, Redwood City, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Doll Capital Management; Trinity Ventures
Description: Trion World Network is a publisher and developer of games and original entertainment.

Company: WildTangent, Redmond, WA
Investment: $ 13 million
Investors: Granite Global Ventures; WPP Group
Description: WildTangent is an online game network in North America offering online and downloadable games from publishers; WildCoins, an arcade style, per session payment system; a virtual game console, which facilitates the discovery of and access to games; and in-game and around-game advertising solution.

Company: Sulake, Helsinki, Finland
Investment: $ 7.6 million
Investors: Movida Group
Description: Sulake is an online community, entertainment, and media company focusing on virtual worlds, casual multiplayer games, and social networking. Sulake operates the Habbo community.

Company: IGA Worldwide, New York, NY
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Intel Capital
Description: IGA Worldwide provides in-game advertising solutions. Its ad serving network enables advertisers to target consumers across a range of platforms and genres. They also provide strategic consulting services
including integrated product placement and co-promotion through its wholly-owned communications consultancy, Hive.

Company: Stardoll, Stockholm, Sweden
Investment: $ 6 million
Investors: Index Ventures; Sequoia Capital
Description: Stardoll is a paper doll dress-up community site. Stardoll allows users to create their own doll or choose from a collection of celebrity dolls and dress them in virtual fashions.

Company: TVHead, Mountain View, CA
Investment: $ 11.5 million
Investors: Apax Partners; Bay Partners; Mitsui Incubase
Description: Operates an on demand television gaming service

Company: Winster, San Mateo, CA
Investment: $ 1.5 million
Investors: U.S. Venture Partners
Description: Winster.com is a social community where players cooperate to help each other solve puzzles to win prizes.

Company: Double Fusion, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Jerusalem Venture Partners
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: Super Computer International, Atlanta, GA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Verizon
Description: Provides free online communication, collaboration, and community, which provide gamers with additional features for their multiplayer gaming interactions, a set of social networking tools and a range of gaming experiences.

Company: Three Rings Design, San Francisco, CA
Investment: N/A
Investors: Mercury Capital Partners
Description: Three Rings is a startup developer of persistent world online games.

Company: Terraplay Systems, Solna, Sweden
Investment: $ 3.2 million
Investors: Cisco Systems; IT-Provider; Nordic Venture
Partners; VPSA
Description: Terraplay operates the Global Gaming Network, a hosted service enabling game publishers, network operators, and service providers to link their games offerings to a global gaming community and deliver revenue-generating connected gaming services across all channels. The Global Gaming Network supports mobile connected gaming on all platforms, including storefronts, content download, community, in-game payments and multiplayer.

Company: Linden Lab, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 11 million
Investors: Benchmark Capital; Catamount Ventures; Globespan Capital
Partners; Omidyar Network; Independent Investors
Description: Develops massive multiplayer online role-playing games, including Second Life.

Company: Exent Technologies, Bethesda, MD
Investment: N/A
Investors: Cisco; Intel Capital
Description: A solutions provider for broadband-based monetization of new and existing PC and video games. Exent’s product line supports multiple solutions, including digital distribution of video games, platform enablement, in-game advertising and community building solutions.

Company: Telltale Games, San Rafael, CA
Investment: $ 0.8 million
Investors: Keiretsu Forum
Description: Telltale develops and deploys cinematic quality animation and storytelling technologies, to create interactive content. Telltale offers content development and custom publishing services to assist license-holders in adapting their properties for interactive delivery.

Company: Stardoll.com, Stockholm, Sweden
Investment: $ 4 million
Investors: Index Ventures; Independent investors
Description: Stardoll is a paper doll dress-up community site. Stardoll allows users to create their own doll or choose from a collection of celebrity dolls and dress them in virtual fashions.

Company: Nephin Games, Galway, Ireland
Investment: $ 1 million
Investors: Independent Investors
Description: Nephin Games develops a marketing communications channel, accessible to mobile phone users, which enables brand to promote films, television programming, and consumer goods, while capturing consumer data and forming customer relationships.

Company: IGA Worldwide, New York, NY
Investment: $ 12 million
Investors: DN Capital; Easton Capital Group; Morgenthaler Ventures
Description: IGA Worldwide provides in-game advertising solutions its
ad serving network enables advertisers to target consumers across a range of platforms and genres. They also provide strategic consulting services
including integrated product placement and co-promotion through its wholly-owned communications consultancy, Hive.

Company: LiveHive Systems, Waterloo, Ontario
Investment: $ 1.8 million
Investors: Tech Capital Partners
Description: Provides two-screen, interactive solutions for the entertainment industry. LiveHive offers solutions for TV broadcasters, fantasy sports sites, and web portals.

Company: PlayFirst, San Francisco, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Mayfield Venture Partners; Rustic Canyon Partners; Trinity Ventures
Description: Publisher of original casual games, available across multiple platforms, including PC, Mac, and mobile devices.

Company: Mind Candy, London, United Kingdom
Investment: $ 3 million
Investors: Index Ventures
Description: Mind Candy is an interactive entertainment company focused on puzzles and alternate reality games.

Company: Double Fusion, Jerusalem, Israel
Investment: $ 10 million
Investors: Accel Partners; Jerusalem Venture Partners
Description: Double Fusion is a provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions. The company’s technology delivers a range of advertising possibilities inside and around video game and casual game titles.

Company: watAgame, Copenhagen, Denmark
Investment: N/A
Investors: Private Investors; SEED Capital; Vaekstfonden
Description: Develops and operates made-for-girls mobile and web entertainment concepts. The company partners with mobile networks and portals, media companies, brand managers, and agencies.

Company: Jagex, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Investment: N/A
Investors: Insight Venture Partners
Description: Develops and operates java-based online games. Jagex focuses on persistent character games with immersive environments, which are 3D and can be played in-browser.

Company: Quazal, Montreal, Quebec
Investment: N/A
Investors: Collar Capital; FondAction CSN; La Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement du Québec; Viavar Capital
Description: Delivers multiplayer technologies to the videogames market. Quazal provides game developers with an SDK that includes features such as real-time data propagation and synchronized game inputs. Quazal also provides a lobby server that host game communities on all gaming platforms.

Company: Cellufun, New York, NY
Investment: N/A
Investors: Vaux Les Ventures
Description: Cellufun is an ad sponsored mobile gaming portal providing free entertainment content and casual, connected, and multiplayer games for web-enabled mobile phones.

Company: Massive, New York, NY
Investment: $ 10 million
Investors: DFJ Gotham; DFJ New England; NeoCarta Ventures; Newlight
Associates; RRE Ventures; Tobat Capital
Description: Massive operates a network for dynamic video game advertising that allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video, and game object formats.

Company: Xfire, Menlo Park, CA
Investment: $ 5 million
Investors: Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Granite Global Ventures; New Enterprise Associates
Description: Xfire is a free tool that tracks when and where gamers are playing PC games online. It works across game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using.

Company: Sulake, Helsinki, Finland
Investment: $ 23 million
Investors: 3i Group; Benchmark Capital; Elisa Group
Description: Sulake is an online community, entertainment, and media company focusing on virtual worlds, casual multiplayer games, and social networking. Sulake operates the Habbo community.

Mergers & Acquisitions:

Target: 19% stake in Neowiz
Acquirer: Electronic Arts
Transaction: $105 million (Announced 3/19/2007)

Target Description: Develops and publishes online games in Korea, marketing its products under its online game portal www.pmang.com.

Acquirer Intent: To expand the existing co-development and publishing relationship and bring new titles to new markets in Asia.

Target: AdScape Media
Acquirer: Google
Transaction: $23 million (Announced 2/15/2007)

Target Description: Adscape Media offers dynamic delivery of in-game advertising with plot and storyline integration.

Acquirer Intent: To add value to users, advertisers, and publishers through the addition of Adscape Media’s technology and team to Google’s current advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers.

Target: Skyworks
Acquirer: Gottaplay Interactive
Transaction: N/A (Announced 8/14/2006)

Target Description: Skyworks Technologies develops video game content to engage mass audiences across multiple platforms including online, web downloadable, hand held video game consoles, and mobile phones.

Acquirer Intent: To achieve core business strategy of being a cross-platform gaming leader, and to leverage Skyworks’ library of over 100 casual games for both online and mobile delivery through in-game advertising, subscription fees, and downloadable game revenues.

Target: Atom Entertainment
Acquirer: Viacom’s MTV Networks
Transaction: $200 million (Announced 8/9/2006)

Target Description: Provides marketing and distribution solutions of broadband entertainment, including online games, on-demand viewing of film, and animation titles.

Acquirer Intent: To advance its multiplatform strategy of building a universe of music, gaming, entertainment, news, and interactivity for targeted audiences.

Target: Eiko
Acquirer: Double Fusion
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/10/2006)

Target Description: Eiko Media is a marketing agency that specializes in the promotion and utilization of emerging technologies to build marketing and branding campaigns.

Acquirer Intent: To offer the fullest range of marketing solutions, from dynamic in-game spot buys to fully-realized in-depth product placements with measurement and dynamic features.

Target: RedOctane
Acquirer: Activision
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/9/2006)

Target Description: RedOctane is a publisher, developer, and distributor of interactive entertainment software, hardware, and accessories.

Acquirer Intent: To achieve an early leadership position in the fast-growing music-based gaming genre.

Target: Massive
Acquirer: Microsoft
Transaction: N/A (Announced 5/4/2006)

Target Description: Massive operates a network for dynamic video game advertising that allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video, and game object formats.

Acquirer Intent: To broaden it’s commitment to providing advertisers with a highly effective means of reaching specific demographic groups of consumers in the rapidly growing and interactive medium of online gaming, incorporate dynamic advertising into other online environments, such as Windows Live and MSN, and to make it available on the adCenter advertising platform.

Target: Xfire
Acquirer: Viacom’s MTV Networks
Transaction: $102 million (Announced 4/25/2006)

Target Description: Xfire is a free tool that tracks when and where gamers are playing PC games online. It works across game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using.

Acquirer Intent: To build a universe of music, gaming, entertainment, news, networking, and interactivity for focused audiences as part of its multiplatform strategy.

Target: IGN
Acquirer: News Corporation
Transaction: $650 million (Announced 9/8/2005)

Target Description: IGN Entertainment is a leading Internet media and services company focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. The company’s network of videogame-related properties provides a video game information destination that attracts a concentrated audience of young males.

Acquirer Intent: To become a leading and profitable Internet presence by enhancing its online reach and furthering its strategy to leverage the unique competencies the company enjoys with its news, sports, and entertainment assets to create a leading Internet destination.

Target: Neopets
Acquirer: Viacom’s subsidiary MTV
Transaction: $160 million (Announced 6/21/2005)

Target Description: Neopets owns and operates a virtual pet site on the Internet offering games, trading, auctions, greetings, and messaging.

Acquirer Intent: To move forward in its multiplatform strategy in addition to aligning its audience with MTV Network brands.

Target: MiXTV
Acquirer: Zone4Play
Transaction: Stock (Announced 3/11/2005)

Target Description: Provides an end-to-end solution to deliver multi-player interactive TV applications to all analog, digital, terrestrial and DBS-based networks.

Target Description: Provides an end-to-end solution to deliver multi-player interactive TV applications to all analog, digital, terrestrial and DBS-based networks.

Target: Stadeon
Acquirer: Yahoo!
Transaction: N/A (Announced 3/4/2005)

Target Description: Stadeon enables players to use mobile devices while competing with players on PCs.

Acquirer Intent: To strengthen its online games business by expanding into mobile phone games.

Filed under the categories: California, Musings, San Francisco, San Jose

I found a little bit of everything in Thailand. Here, while shopping on the river on a Saturday morning, I found a boat full of flip flops. I might have stopped to buy some, but I was busy choking on some unidentifiable fruit that I bought on the previous boat.

Filed under the categories: Thailand, Travel

Here is my longboat captain flying under a bridge in back canals of Thailand at 50 knots. After I pass, the kids go diving wantonly into our wake.

This was certainly a rip-roaring ride and not for the faint of heart. We went off the main river in Bangkok and found ourselves deep into a series of canals surrounded by collapsing metallic homes and colorful happy kids. I didn’t get a chance to ask any of them if they had an XBox Live account. This longboat only cost a few US dollars to rent for a few hours, but you can’t put a price on seeing a variety of dead mammals and mutated pachyderms floating down the river beside you.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Thailand, Travel