TEDx Queenstown and Beautiful London at Sunset – Stuck in Customs

TEDx Queenstown and Beautiful London at Sunset

TEDx Queenstown

I’m very much looking forward to the big event in about 9 days here in Queenstown. I know we have a few people flying in for it… be sure to come over and see me during one of the in-between events — don’t be shy… just come on over; I am very nice! 🙂

HDR Photo

Here’s the press release:

Trey Ratcliff, author of the number one travel photography blog ‘Stuck in Customs’ will be speaking at the TEDxQueenstown event on Sunday April 19.

Ratcliff is the latest to be announced in a plethora of speakers descending upon Queenstown later this month at the independently organised version of the TED (Technology Entertainment Design) talks, another phenomenon to have taken the internet by storm.

Speakers have less than 18 minutes to wow their audience – something which could prove tricky for the adventurous photographer who has travelled and snapped Antarctica to Zurich and most places in between.

TEDxQueenstown organiser Trent Yeo said he was ‘excited’ to announce Ratcliff as part of the line-up.

“There’s a great range of speakers and performers at this year’s event and Trey is a wonderful addition.

“Queenstown somehow attracts very purposeful and influential people so it’s great we can invite a local to address what he shares to his global community, but in person,” said Mr Yeo.

Ratcliff is also well known as a pioneer in High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, a technique whereby multiple levels of light are captured of a single scene and then combined into a single photograph. The resulting image is richly detailed and more closely resembles how you’d recall a scene in your mind.

Ratcliff spent three weeks photographing Antarctica earlier this year, capturing the continent’s icy wilderness. The trip included survival training, carving an ice cave and overcoming the daily challenge of living in such a harsh and unforgiving environment.

He has over 60 Billion views on Google along with over 13 million followers cumulative across Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Originally from Texas, US, but now living in Queenstown with his family, Ratcliff said that he believed it was ‘the greatest place on the planet’ and was supportive of the TED mission.

“Queenstown seems to be a vortex of interesting people and the TEDxQueenstown event will take that to the next level,” Mr Ratcliff said.

“Preparation for the event has been a lot of fun, my talk will be unexpected and full of surprises and a secret that people might just figure out in the first 17 minutes…”

Ratcliff joins fellow adventurer Jamie Fitzgerald who holds the world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, archaeologist Leslie Van Gelder and well-known Wellington musician Graeme James among others.

Trey Ratcliff is the final speaker to be announced out of the 11 who will participate in this year’s event at Queenstown’s Memorial Centre.

Mr Yeo said tickets were almost sold out.

“I love this town, the depth of people that live here, the amazing influence of the person next door.

“So I’m really excited to welcome Trey to the TEDxQueenstown stage, a chance to meet a person that thinks constantly about how to positively influence the world”

TEDxQueenstown ticket details:
www.tedxqueenstown.c