Stuck In Customs

Special Photos – Dinner in Akureyri

Normally, I do one new photo a day, but today I wanted to do ten of them! Something a bit different to keep things fresh, perhaps!

So, when I was in Iceland, I went to visit my friend Helga Kvam who lives on a fjord in the far north near a town called Akureyri. She lives in a farmhouse right up against the water. Helga was with her long-time boyfriend Völundur Jónsson, who is also a photographer. Even though they live in a beautiful place, I don’t think they ever take it for granted… this is a nice side-benefit of being a photographer. You can read more about them on their About page on their website.

I slept in their basement one day, and woke up in time for dinner time (I stay awake all night to take photos and sleep during the day). Völundur and Helga were hard at work making a fantastic meal! I pulled out my camera and took some photos of the evening, so I can share it with here below.

If you’d like to see some other photos I took in and around this area, check the Iceland category!

Völundur is outside getting the grill ready. The weather was perfect and Helga opened the windows so we could smell everything. You can see the fjord behind Völundur...	Helga, for being a photographer, is very shy about having her photo taken! So I took this one of her sitting with her nephew in the window sill, as they watched the food cook outside.
While dinner is cooking, Helga's nephew goes outside to play and shows me where he built his tree house earlier in the day.	He prepared a ton of amazing and fresh food. I think the only time they get to cook outside is the summer, and they take full advantage of it.
Helga was telling me about what things have been like after the economic crisis in Iceland recently. She said people have gotten back to the basics, and she knitted these gloves for herself. I tried to convince her to make finger-flapped knit gloves for photographers and I would help her promote on the website! But I don't think I convinced her...	Her house has all sorts of nice details and colors. Even before I met her, I knew she was very into rich textures and colors.
Helga and Völundur go into her kitchen to make last-minute preparations for dinner.	This meat was incredibly tasty and tender. I won't tell you what it was... since people often seem overly judgmental (or stuck in customs, the second meaning of the blog that few people ever get).
Fresh vegetables on skewers. They tasted as good as they look.	And for dessert, we had these insane bacon-wrapped dates. These things are amazing. I did find them one other place -- at a tapas restaurant in San Antonio. But anyway, stay on the lookout for these things!

Also, I just got a note from Helga that her mom has started an Icelandic skin care company called Urtasmidjan. So there you go… you can vist to get some Icelandic products… looks like a girly thing 🙂

TWIT Photography Show 2

Here’s another show for you full of helpful tips! It was a good one with Lisa Bettany and Leo Laporte. We talked a lot about mobile photography, and I spoke a lot about creativity. We also touched on things like the Space Shuttle launch, some fun gear from my bag, and more. If you have comments for the hosts, it’s best to leave the on the YouTube page.

And… shhh… this isn’t officially announced, yet, but it is available in the App Store. Version 3.0 of 100 Cameras in 1 is out — featuring a brand new camera interface! (see screenshot)

Daily Photo – Four Horses

It was one of those long summer afternoons when you are sure it must be 5 PM, and you check the clock and it’s only 2 PM! You know these days. Anyway, I decided to pick up my camera and walk around the ranch in Yellowstone for a little while The stable area is always a target, rich environment, so I headed right over there to find these four horses lined up so nicely.

EG Conference

This is the first print release of the new year. This is the stunning azure blue pool in Hearst Castle.

I know we’ll have a few people attending the EG Conference in Monterey next week, so be sure to come up and say hello! If you’re not coming to the conference but are in the area, maybe you can join us at the PhotoWalk on Sunday (see below)!

Free Monterey Area PhotoWalk

This will be on Sunday evening on April 10th at 6:30 PM. See and contribute to the details at PlanCast! I don’t have a path figured out yet… so please drop your ideas there into the PlanCast!

Carmel Area suggestions for lodging?

After the conference, I’m staying a few extra days and wondered if you had some suggestions? Perhaps a few nights in Carmel and one down in Big Sur. I usually find my own places, but I find that YOU are such a tremendous resource for suggestions, that I should ask your opinion!

New Print Available!

This is the first print I have released in 2011. As you can see on the Prints page, these are all available in unique numbered series on paper, canvas, and metal.

This photo, like the one below, was taken on a trip up the California coast. I stopped in Hearst Castle for an amazing private tour of the facility. While there, I visited the indoor pool area and had to sidle along a wall to get to this spot. I had a feeling it would splay out some nice shapes for me.

Daily Photo – Off the PCH at Sunset

Whenever I go to California lately, I have meetings in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Rather than fly between the two, I like to take my time and drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It’s such a famous highway, but it’s usually fairly empty. There is always a beautiful sunset… it’s pretty much a guarantee. I popped out of my car and hiked through the brush a bit to grab this one so you can see what it looks like.

Peter Takes Times Square

This is a weird one. Now, I don’t know Peter Lik, and I can’t figure out why in the world he would do this on his Facebook page I got a ton of tweets and emails about it. Anyway, it seems like a pretty sorry thing to do.

I don’t really understand. Peter’s photos are just fine on their own… he (and/or his team) should not need to do something like this. What do you think?

Also, see this video of Lik’s new TV show.

All my photos are Creative Commons Noncommercial. It means anyone can use them with proper credit, as long as it is not for commercial purposes. So, kind of two strikes here. No credit AND this is a commercial purpose. The Internet Knows All. For reference, the original New York City shot is here.

Update:
1) A rambunctious discussion started on Facebook, and then
2) Peter Lik’s team removed the post (a copy for reference), and then
3) A gentleman from their social media team apologized on our Facebook wall.

My Facebook Page

Lest you be confused, pop over to good ol’ “Trey’s Facebook Page”, where you are welcome to continue sharing your own work and I can leave comments for you!

365 New Photos a Year

This is tough! A daily photo that I consider worthy! I’ve kept it going at a good 99% rate here for the past few years, but it takes a lot of work. I’m not gonna lie. This came up in the recent Mostly Photo show with Leo Laporte and Lisa Bettany (PS Leave comments there on YouTube for feedback). I guess people might think it is easy to do this every day… or maybe I am accidentally making it look easy. But, rest assured, it’s hard as hell.

Daily Photo – The Pier at the End of Times

Here is a good tip for you when it comes to sunsets. It also works if you have something in the center worthy of attention, which is commonly the case with sunsets.

When you use a wide-angle lens, like this 14-24, you will automagically get a feeling that everything is pointed to the middle. That is obvious, but you can “help the cause” and make the effect more pronounced by doing the following. If the there are repeating elements of roughly the same size (in this case: 1- slats of a dock and 2- blobs of clouds), then those elements will create leading lines to the horizon as they get logarithmically smaller towards the infinity point. In a sense, the slats only do part of the job, but the clouds do the rest of the job. Then, this allows you to have leading lines that take people in and out and back around the work.

So, one thing to look for when shooting with the wide angle lens is multiple objects of roughly the same shape. After that, you can try to set up so they repeat ever smaller towards the horizon.

This particular photo was taken in Ibiza one evening, just after the sun dipped into the Mediterranean.

100 Cameras in 1 for iPad – Finally Available!

You can Get it Now in iTunes!

A Video from Robert Scoble

As you can see in this video below, we rebuilt the whole app specifically for the iPad.

Photo Editing on your iPad to a whole new level!

Here are some sample shots for you!

How does the camera work? (iPad 2 only)

We’ve used an innovative “popup camera” system that lets you take a photo very quickly when you press the camera button. It will switch to portrait or landscape, depending upon how you hold the iPad. When you take the photo, you immediately get all 100 versions, or you can choose to “retake” the photo. Simple!

And here are a few more screenshots!

Live on TWIT today (Tuesday)

I’ll be on live with Leo and Lisa today at 1:30 PM PT. Tune in live at http://live.twit.tv/. I’m not sure what we’ll be talkin’ about… but something cool, no doubt.

HDR Tutorial now in SIX (!!!) Languages

Thanks again to the amazing community that has helped to get this translated far and wide. Awesome!

Welcome to the International HDR Tutorial!

• Speak English?  See the fun HDR Tutorial.
• Vous parlez français? Bienvenue sur le Tutoriel HDR en français.
• Parli italiano? Leggi il tutorial HDR in italiano!
• Fala Português? Confira o Tutorial HDR em Português.
• Hablas Español? Clic Tutorial HDR en Español.
• Mluvíte ?esky? Pokra?ujte zde!  HDR Tutoriál v ?eském jazyce.

Daily Photo – The Gate in Malibu

On my recent trip to California, I decided to stay in Malibu. I’ve stayed almost everywhere in the LA area, but never out here. I found a really cool place on the beach using Jetsetter.com. I’ve used that three or four times now – always with good results. The other places I used it for was London and Ibiza, and both were outstanding hotels.

One sunset, I walked over to the Malibu docks at sunset. They were pretty empty, with just a few people strolling around. And there was this nice painted gate looking so nice in the evening lights. It made for such a good pic that I took one with my phone and my D3X!

The Art and Business of HDR Photography

I had a long video discussion about creativity, business, and my thinking on this world of photography. Here are a few topics discussed:

• Micro stock photography and how this is basically slave labor
• Employees and the team at Stuck In Customs and how we operate
• Getty Images and how it’s highway robbery
• How photography and making money can put unnecessary stress on relationships
• HDR photography and how the brain experiences it
• The future of photography in terms if HDR
• How long it takes me to process photos

Thanks to Antonio Marques, Jim Goldstein, Dave Wilson, and Sean Galbraith and the team at PhotoNetCast.

Daily Photo – A Girl and Her Grandma in Beijing

As I came out of a museum, I saw this young girl sitting with her grandmother and reading books. They were sitting on a simple bench and there was a wall of bamboo behind them. The light was falling perfect, so I dropped down onto one knee and took a quick shot.

Do you like taking photos of strangers in public? Or maybe you have a bit of a problem with it? If so, I wrote an article last year called “Five Tips for Photographing People” (click link to read).

I met Jen Scheer, head of the Space Tweeps society, at SXSW. We spent a few hours planning out the shuttle launch, viewing angles, time of day, etc etc.

Upcoming Trips…

I’ve spent the past week arranging a ton of flights, cars, and all sorts of stuff. Here’s a list of some upcoming travels. First, I’m headed out to Monterey, CA to speak at the EG Conference. We’ll also have a PhotoWalk out there.

Then, I have tickets and some very nice inside access to go see the Space Shuttle launch. I’m so excited. I’m also really thinking about taking a cool photo. This has occupied way too much of my brain in the past few weeks. I hope my brain works it all out so I don’t have to.

After that, I have Iceland for the solstice, then Yellowstone, Paris, Nimes, Switzerland, Burning Man, China and probably another trip to New Zealand before the end of the year. Man, I gotta pack!

Daily Photo – Flying Through the Night Skies of Kuala Lumpur

My grandmother told me that Kuala Lumpur was one of my grandfather’s favorite cities. I wonder what he would think of it now… but I know what he means – it’s also one of my favorite cities! I have many friends there, and people are generally as friendly as can be.

Recent Article You May Have Missed

According to the stats, most people come every day, but some people come every other day or perhaps once a week. That means sometimes things may slip through the cracks!

I recently wrote a long-form article called “Nine Things For Your Photo-Brain To Consider” that you may enjoy. Enjoy!

Daily Photo – The Soft Hills on the way to Paradise, New Zealand

Just beyond Glenorchy, which is just a shade beyond Queenstown, lies a little place called Paradise. The road gets tinier and tinier as you get closer. A few miles before the road becomes all dirt, I pulled over to these soft rolling hills. They were covered with little sheep families, walking to and fro.

One the rare occasion when I am in the field with students, I have them notice a bunch of things. I’ve touched on this before, and this is another good example. It has to do with the location of the sunlight. There are three elements that can be lit here – the hills and/or the mountains and/or the clouds. Every combination looks dramatically different in the final shot. When you are there on the scene, the light changes so gradually, you don’t notice. So you have to teach yourself to be mindful of the untimely flow of light.

Poll – How do you read eBooks?

We still have a free eBook over at Flatbooks.com when you sign up for that newsletter — and I was wondering how most people read the eBooks. Our eBooks arrive as PDF files, and you can read it in many different ways. We have a 24-hour support team, and we get all kinds of questions concerning how to read the eBook. Most of them are about “How do I get this eBook on my iPad?”

Anyway, we really have very little data about how people actually consume these eBooks, so I am very interested!

[poll id=”5″]

Daily Photo – The Sanctum of the Santa María del Mar Cathedral

Here is another amazing place in Barcelona, Spain — this is the famed Santa María del Mar Cathedral.

I do like taking photos in these old churches, and I hope one day to photograph the inside of the Sagrada Família. It’s still under construction, and I think getting the right kind of permission is fairly difficult. I’d like to be there at the perfect time of day with just the right kind of lighting. I don’t mind all the construction going on — I think something pretty amazing could come out of the shot. Anyway, this is one of those things on my personal photo bucket-list!