Midnight In Paris Class Starts in a few hours!

See more on the Midnight in Paris page!

How to Find Users/[username]/Library on your Mac

This is a very geeky tip. I usually don’t put these up here, but this slowed me down about 30 minutes today! I finally figured it out.

If you like to poke around your own file system on your Mac, you may have noticed that something is missing when you upgraded your Mac OS. They decided to Hide the Users/[username]/Library to keep you from flubbing things up. To add it back:

1) Open a Terminal Window (go to Spotlight and type “Terminal”)
2) Type in the command “chflags nohidden ~/Library/”
3) Now it will appear when you go to Users/[username]

Daily Photo – What Does The Road Look Like on the Way to Mount Cook?

It looks like this.

Filed under the categories: Travel

The Newsletter

Did you miss the latest Newsletter? It was a good one!

Many people hit “reply” on the email, and it actually goes straight to my inbox… I read them all. We decided to put more photos and descriptions in the newsletter going forward based on feedback — thanks for that! And thanks for forwarding the newsletter to your friends.

Daily Photo – The Milky Way over Queenstown

Tom and I went up to the top of the gondola a few days ago to get some shots of the stars. The sky was clear and we were lucky!

I made this with the fisheye lens and then did the lens correction on it. A bunch of stuff ended up getting cut off, but only I know that… It bothers me because there was some other awesome stuff! But since you don’t know what you’re missing… well I hope it is just good enough.

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Nikon D800, Queenstown, Travel

Sydney Morning Herald – What’s up?

Errr… Anyone heard of Creative Commons Noncommercial? Maybe someone involved with copyright there at the Sydney Morning Herald perhaps? I like how they say, “a selection of our readers’ photographs” — very sly. This both indicates that they have legions of readers and that all the photographs are from these adoring legions. I just checked my doorstep here in Queenstown, New Zealand. Nope, I don’t see the Sydney Morning Herald there.

My license, which is quite generous and clear on the site says noncommercial. Now, I know newspapers are commercial, even though they are hemorrhaging money as people flock online to get more timely news and better photos (which, apparently, they are doing too for content-mining). So, the commercial use is definitely a no-no.

But in worse form, I think it’s a bit rude not to give credit down there towards the bottom of the photo. Instead, they used that valuable space to indicate that “oh we’re just one big community with ‘our readers’ who take these pics for fun.” Oh no, I didn’t pay thousands of dollars to fly to your country and stay in a hotel and buy camera equipment so I could take photos of your duck to adorn your newspaper. /said in the voice of Tim from The Holy Grail when he said “I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you *knew*, didn’t you? Oh, it’s just a harmless little *bunny*, isn’t it?”

(thanks for the tip off on Google+ from Daniel Shortt.)

Speaking of Copyright Infringement…

I saw a comment on Google+ from CNET reporter Lexy Savvides

Hilariously timed +Trey Ratcliff given that the SMH [Sydney Morning Herald] last week recently posted pieces on photographers having content stolen. See this article

Looks like it was used online too, littered with revenue-generating ads…

Good person “Dawnstar Australis” sent me this tweet that it is also being used online (image):

@dawnstarau: @TreyRatcliff Incidentally here’s the digital copy of the article with your image front and centre – http://bit.ly/VVQ4po

Update…

There has since been an article on another Australian media outlet by Nic Christensen where he got in contact with the editor of the SMH.

Daily Photo – Rubber Duck by Florentijn Hofman

I think it is a wonderful surreal work of art! Then again, I’m a huge fan of David Lynch and Twin Peaks. Anything surreal in my parallel universe gets a big thumbs up…

Artist: Florentijn Hofman

Filed under the categories: Australia, Sydney, Travel

Watch me edit this live

I decided to throw in a bonus for Day 2 of the online class that starts this weekend on the Midnight In Paris page! Each day you’ll learn a lot about photography from me and Miss Aniela. You’ll learn landscape, HDR, post-processing tricks, and even the special tricks that Miss Aniela employs with her models.

At the end of the Q&A session for day 2, I’ll be editing this photo below from beginning to end!

Daily Photo – The Colors of the Museum

Right before the in-person Midnight In Paris event, we took the class on a private photowalk to my favorite museum in the world! We ended up spending several hours here. I didn’t even get in trouble for my tripod this time!

I have soooooo many photos of this place. I’m trying to hold back and not post them all, even though I want to! We’ll just both have to wait, I guess…

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

FlatBooks Author Recap!

We had a fun show recently with all FlatBooks authors! We decided to make a special bundle at 50% off all their books! You can get the whole Author Bundle at http://www.stuckincustoms.com/AuthorBundle

Here are the people that joined me (and a the books included in the bundle!) in the video below.

• Big World Little Lens – +Justin Balog
• Diary Of A Body Painter – +Paul Roustan
• Goals – +Christa Laser
• I | We – +Karen Hutton
• Killer Tips for Getting the Most out of Your Canon Camera – +Joseph Linaschke
• Light Painted Night Photography – +Troy Paiva
• The Beauty of Ambiguity – (me!)

Daily Photo – Downtown Sydney from the Rocks

The Rocks is the oldest part of Sydney, and it’s down by the harbour. I have to make sure I get the “u” in there to appease local sensitivities. Anyway, it’s a cool area full of a lot of old-world charm. Now there are a lot of restaurants, bars, and little hotels that are sprinkled around the area.

I took this one from the top of a 3-story salsa bar. I didn’t even really go into the bar, except for the way to find the top of it! I looked quite strange walking around the salsa dancefloor to get to the other side, dancing with my tripod!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Nikon D800, Sydney

Trey’s Variety Hour #66: Photography Hangout

Trey’s Variety Hour #66: Photography Catchup!

I am joined by Thomas Hawk, Dallas Nagata White, Cliff Baise, and The Gino Barasa for a photography hangout where we share our work and have a fun discussion!

Site Dallas was talking about to go on a lava tour: http://www.kalapanaculturaltours.com/

G+ Discoveries:
Keith Moyer, David Chatsuthiphan, Lace Andersen, Dave Morrow, Cameron Siguenza, Jessica Ambats, Jim Weise, Joe Azure, and Ricardo Liberato.

Thanks to Dave Veffer for helping out with the whole production!

The show airs each Monday at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET. (Check your local time)

See questions submitted:

SmugMug’s Video we showed of the Google+ Long Exposure Photowalk at the Golden Gate Bridge:

Official website:http://www.StuckInCustoms.com

You can subscribe for free to my YouTube channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/stuckincustoms

Subscribe to the Podcast and View Past Episodes

• Subscribe for free to My YouTube channel.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching the show, I hope you enjoyed it! While you’re here be sure to have a look around!

• Tutorials – Discover the Art of Photography, Free HDR Tutorial, HDR Video Tutorial and Textures Tutorial
• Reviews – Detailed camera reviews, photo software reviews (and coupon codes) plus what’s in my photo bag!
• eBooks – Flatbooks.com has many topics include photography techniques, photo composition, photo editing, HDR photography and lifestyle.
• Applications – We have several beautiful and fun apps you might enjoy: 100 Cameras in 1, Photo Voyages and Stuck On Earth.
• Newsletter – Subscribe to the our newsletter. It’s free and pretty and we promise not to spam you!

Filed under the categories: Podcast

Try out the New Store!

There’s NO risk in the store… I always give back 100% if you are not mega-mega-happy! So, it would be cool if you wanted to pop into the all new Store.StuckInCustoms.com to have a quick look around! I hope you find something you like, and I’m very interested in your experience in and around the new interface. And, since you are the first in the world to see the new store, you just may notice a few new products in there! Hmmm…. what could they be? I won’t tell, but you have to go behind the curtain to have a looksee… you will be excited! A big thanks to the team for getting this all put together! If you have any problems, Real Human Beings are standing by to help you at support@stuckincustoms.com. They’ll answer any questions, big or small. Enjoy!

Daily Photo – The Horse in Paradise

Tom and I just took a drive out to Paradise, NZ (Yes, this is a real place!), just beyond Glenorchy. Along the way, we saw all kinds of amazing landscapes and dramatic animals. Here’s one of the dramatic horses, striking a pose!

I used one of my Lightroom Presets (new store link) to make this image… this one is an HDR-in-Lightroom setting called “Drama in the Center”!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Paradise, Travel

Visiting Dunedin

When I got the shot below, I only visited Dunedin for one day and one night. It was not enough time! There were many more things I wanted to do there… and even though I am not a bird photographer, I was very interested in seeing the albatross colony – but I ran out of time! Maybe next time I will schedule in a bit more…

Daily Photo – Tunnel Beach

This is a really beautiful and unique beach just south of Dunedin. It’s not a drive-up-and-visit-beach. It’s a drive-up-and-walk-a-long-way-then-down-a-long-tunnel-beach. Once we got down there, hardly anyone was at the beach. The views are amazing, and we even saw a few cliff divers. I think those guys are a bit crazy!

Filed under the categories: Dunedin, New Zealand, Nikon D800, Travel

Next Disney Cruise

We liked the last one so much that we booked another cruise. This time, we are going to try the Alaska cruise, which should be pretty awesome. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the cruise, since I’m not really a cruise-kinda-guy, but the Disney ones are very nice!

Daily Photo – Full Speed Engines on the Disney Cruise

I woke up early almost every morning on the Disney Cruise to see what I could see. When you can see the horizon, it makes it pretty predictable that you’ll get a good sunrise. I did go through that painful routine of waking up early and staggering over to the window to open the curtains and look at the clouds. Whenever I saw there were just a few clouds, I’d go for it! Otherwise, if there were a ton of clouds or rain, I would just get back in bed. I swear that is one of the best feelings in the world!

Filed under the categories: Disney Cruise, Nikon D800, Travel

Photos in Nepal for Charity – Let’s do it!

Firstly, I will say straight away that I’m paying my own way on this Nepalese adventure with Patrick Rothfuss, and I won’t use any of the charity’s money. 100% of the money raised goes to the Heifer International!

This year, the goal is $500,000. Last year, it hit $310,000, but this year we can blast through that! Your $20 or $120 is quickly multiplied thanks to sweet sweet social media! Donate a Flock o’ Chickens at http://goo.gl/8RXm0

Now, who is this enigmatic Patrick Rothfuss? I’ve told many of you that upon reading his book “The Name of The Wind” you automatically level up as my friend. Some of you are level 1, others are level 2. Some are even level 3. (But seriously, every week I get dozens of emails from people profusely thanking me for introducing them to that book. Rothfuss is teaching us all…)

And insofar as Rothfuss is teaching us all, he is the man behind the brilliant Worldbuilders, which is a really fun way to raise money for Heifer International. By donating, you also have the chance to win incredible prizes, especially if you are a geek. And, if you’re not a geek, I hope you have a few geeks in your life. We’re everywhere now, since, finally, geeks rule much of the world. Anyway, see all the incredible prizes and more on blog’o’Rothfuss at http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/11/worldbuilders-2012/

There is a bonus charity auction as well, full of all kinds of geeky-goodness! http://tinyurl.com/aw85xbh

So, when I’m in Nepal with Patrick, we’ll be taking all kinds of photos of the families you’ve affected so you can see what your money has done. I’ll do hangouts and answer questions and take special requests! Want to see me milk a yak?

Donate: http://goo.gl/8RXm0

Going to Visit Hobbiton

I’m on my way to visit the real Hobbiton! I went there many years ago, but now it’s been upgraded — this is exciting… to see everything and visit the actual Green Dragon!

Daily Photo – The Blue of Lake Pukaki

This is the view that you get on the way to Mt. Cook. It was my first time going there… and I was so happy to see the amazing color of the water! I don’t know if it is like this all the time, but I figure it is. I’m about to go for a second trip, so I will report back soon!

There are many places to stop along the road to get this shot. I think I could get a better one if I did a bit more hiking, but I was feeling a bit lazy this day!

Filed under the categories: New Zealand, Travel

How-to

I have more about the how-to of this photo in the Part 1 of the upcoming Midnight in Paris video! Both Miss Aniela and I are really looking forward to this thing!

Daily Photo – Triangle of Fauna

Sorry for the dumb name of this photo. I was feeling VERY lame when I made it up. Even here, into my third sentence, I still can’t come up with anything better. Either way, I hope you enjoy the photo!

Filed under the categories: France, Nikon D800, Paris, Travel

Thanks Melbourne! It looks like our PhotoWalk in Melbourne got a world record! The count by Paul Pavlinovich was 289 people! Thank you to Locky Downing for taking the photo — really an amazing group of photographers… You can see a TON OF PHOTOS from the Melbourne PhotoWalkers here in the G+ Event. I’m still going through them all… but it is interesting as always to see what other people saw during the same night! I sincerely thank all of you for coming, and it was a pleasure when you walked up to me to say hello and talk for a while! I hope my explanation to everyone there made sense… I am glad the processing turned out okay!

Daily Photo – Jane Fondle, the Light Dancer in Melbourne

After hour THREE of the mega-photowalk, we came across this gal. She said her name was “Jane Fondle,” which I thought was kind of strange. And I thought it was even more strange when she gave me a brochure and it said that she does live performances in front of children so they stay in shape. Jane Fondle! hehe…

Anyway, this was a tough shot… as you can probably tell… getting HDR with movement is especially tricky — and double-tricky when playing with light trails!

Filed under the categories: Australia, Melbourne, Nikon D800, Travel