The Tree Alone Against the World There was this interesting tree sitting alone after a morning snow. The snow had melted, but the skies still had these white-out conditions. Those skies normally make for very dull visuals, so I thought this would be a good candidate for textures. I think, by now, you guys know I can’t stand a boring sky in my photos… and since you can’t always have a four-star sunset, maybe it drove me to use the world around me to find textures to re-purpose inside these photos. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll figure out that bit in a while.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog. - Trey Ratcliff | Stuck In Customs

Thank you again for all the comments and feedback - much appreciated and I read them all! A lot of requests come in for my tutorial about how I do these shots - you can find it here: HDR Tutorial

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StuckInCustoms > Crossing the Bridge into Old Lyon This was a pretty tough shot to get! This was a little pedestrian bridge that crossed from the new part of Lyon, France, into the older part. It swayed and buckled in the breeze. Plus, it was night, so you kind of have to leave the shutter open for a long time. I hate to crank up the ISO, but I had to so everything would stay sharp.That night I walked around for about five hours deep past midnight. It was just me and my Russian friend... walking around... solving the world's problems... while he gave me all kinds of hard-ass Russian advice on how to solve my own!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Autumn in New York at Sunset Despite my kind Tweet to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, they would not let me take a tripod on the day I arrived. So, I was forced to do a hand-held HDR shot from the roof at sunset. It was a beautiful night across central park, and I did my best to hold it steady.In Photomatix, I did choose to "Auto-Align" images. It did a pretty good job. I always suggest that you check "Do Not Crop", so that you can line everything up easier later in Photoshop. When it auto-crops, it resets the 0,0 x/y origin and will mix up the alignment later on for final cleanup.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Edge of Chile Today's photo comes from the from the very southern tip of the Americas. It is a bitterly cold place, even in the summer. I believe that the glaciation period is relatively recent, so the peaks are extra jagged and everything feels fresh and raw.I can't believe there are actually people that climb this thing! It was hard enough getting myself up high enough on a distant peak to take this shot. Then again, I'm not exactly in mountain-climbing shape. I've heard the old answer to the question, "Why do you climb the mountain?" The answer is always, "Because it's there". Funny -- that is my same answer when people ask my why I don't want to climb the mountain.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Impossible Mountains The mountain is very spiky and narrow, and it’s embedded in a very rough patch of peaks.So I did my best to capture it in context. There are great super-hairy horses everywhere, and four of them were playing on one side of the river. I set up… and waited…waited…waited…. for them to get in the right spot and then finally took a photo.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > A Godly Dance at the Taj I was barefoot like the rest of them.The day must have been around 95 degrees and as stuffy as can be, but the cool marble seemed to keep me from being drenched in sweat. After a long walk, I had finally made it to the inner core of the Taj Mahal, around the main tomb structure where pilgrims from all over the country had gravitated. The faithful coiled in long lines and snaked their way around the complex, waiting patiently to reflect at the megamausoleum and communing with the god of their choice. How could a billion people be wrong?When I travel, I actually always enjoy talking to Indians (or whoever) about their religion. Here is a little thing I do... I'm not sure it's totally ethical since I say the same thing over and over, but I enjoy seeing people's reaction as a probe a panoply of personalities. Inevitably, when I'm in a taxi or man-powered trike-mobile, there is some sort of deity that is jiggling about on the dashboard or handlebars. It can be anyone from Shiva to Brahma to Vishnu to Krishna to Ganesha and beyond.So, I always ask, "Who is the god to whom you pay reverence?"They respond quickly and directly, usually naming one from of the top ten from the pantheon of possibilities.I respond back, in all seriousness, "Oh! He is a very powerful god!"To this, they always turn to me and nod gravely.My guide there was from no from one of the traditional Hindu sects -- he was a Jain. The Jain don't recognize the divine origins of the Vedas (made popular in the US from Oppenheimer's re-quote after testing the Bomb), nor do they believe in any one supreme deity. They instead revere Tirthankaras who have raised themselves to divine perfection. So anyway, if you ever try out the little trick above, don't bother with a Jain because they will just give you a funny look and a wobble of inconsequential solitude.So if any of you get the chance to go, I recommend it. The people are all nice as can be and very eager to engage in conversation about just about everything. Or, of you've already been, then you know what I mean!By the way, this comes from my new Lucis Tutorial.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Morning. Coffee. Yellowstone. Fog. My poor family. I dragged them all out of bed at 5 AM and put them in the car so I could go take this photo. I did load up on plenty of coffee to keep things fresh and warm on this cool morning, but my kids zonked out in the back of the car anyway. Well, if they're not asleep, they're whining, "Dad??? You stopping again!" ... I rush out the door and trail off, muttering into the wind, "Yes but art must be made, you see..."This spot is not too far from the entrance to West Yellowstone. The warm water that comes from the earth mixes with the cool morning sky. It creates a surreal layer of fog that simply rests on top of the river. It flows up, around, and through the neighboring trees. It reminds me of the dry ice that comes out of cauldrons on Halloween.To take this shot, I set up with a tripod and grabbed 7 exposures from +3 to -3. I always anchor at even zero for these "sun shots." I also set up for matrix metering, since you can't figure out where in the dynamic range to hang your spot.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Approaching London The afternoon yesterday had a typical London rainshower. But it cleared up just before sunset to reveal magnificent clouds. I crisscrossed the Thames River many times to find the right light. After the sun dipped below the horizon, the light finally fell behind Westminster with a delicate palette.- Trey RatcliffRead the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Tree Alone Against the World There was this interesting tree sitting alone after a morning snow. The snow had melted, but the skies still had these white-out conditions. Those skies normally make for very dull visuals, so I thought this would be a good candidate for textures. I think, by now, you guys know I can’t stand a boring sky in my photos… and since you can’t always have a four-star sunset, maybe it drove me to use the world around me to find textures to re-purpose inside these photos. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll figure out that bit in a while.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Waterfall of Certain DoomThis has become one of my favorite remote waterfalls in the world! Whenever I am taking photos of these places, I spend a lot of time there. I often imagine what it would be like to tumble over the edge… wondering various ways I could survive… if I’d get caught in a whirlpool underwater… or if I would just pop up like in the movies.If you are ever near Akureyri, I suggest you visit this spot… if you are feeling bold, clamber down the side of the waterfall like I did here to get this shot…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the entire post, including an announcement of a new eBook at, at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Your Favorites - Enjoy! photo

StuckInCustoms > Ginza, alive at night Rain is good. Rain is bad. I can't decide!You have no idea... (or maybe you do !!) how hard it is to carry around two cameras, a tripod, AND an umbrella. I already have every one of my 10 digits fully employed with handling everything. But... an umbrella! Well that really requires five fingers! I can usually get by with 5 on my tripod/camera too. I walk around with everything hooked together. However, a problem ensues when you have to expand and retract the legs of the tripod. That is really a two-hand operation. So what do you do with the umbrella during this time? The neck/shoulder pinch is right-out... the umbrella gets caught in the wind and it is a recipe for disaster.- Trey RatcliffFrom this entry at stuckincustoms.com.

StuckInCustoms > The Pond and the Sunset Stormclouds I had a wonderful evening with Eden Brackstone, even though he uses a Canon. I can overlook these trifle matters, but I do not forget them lightly.We were in Gibbston, New Zealand, about 20 minutes from Queenstown. After a wonderful dinner with his delightful family, I popped out onto his farm to shoot some HDR. He started recording video on his aforementioned Canon-thing, and put together the little dealio at the link below. Enjoy!Here is the final photo that was taken just before I we started recording the video.- Trey RatcliffSee the video here at Trey Ratcliff's travel photography blog, Stuck in Customs.

StuckInCustoms > Spiralstorm
There are secret vortexes everywhere, no? I think we all find our own, and we keep them secret. No one would ever talk about the best ones. I'm not exactly sure what happens in them. Perhaps there is something where the right and left brain switch sides and everything flows together.

This is another one of my most amazing and accidental finds in my recent explorations... can anyone figure out where this is? I'll reveal it of course, but I think it is fun when people guess away...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Weather Station
I don't think I could exactly geo-locate this photo if I had to. But, believe me - it's in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not completely sure, but I think this is one of the many remote weather stations scattered around Iceland. They are these perfect little triangular things that sit there, as lonely as can be.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more (and some Black Friday love) here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Tree Alone Against the World

There was this interesting tree sitting alone after a morning snow. The snow had melted, but the skies still had these white-out conditions. Those skies normally make for very dull visuals, so I thought this would be a good candidate for textures. I think, by now, you guys know I can’t stand a boring sky in my photos… and since you can’t always have a four-star sunset, maybe it drove me to use the world around me to find textures to re-purpose inside these photos. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll figure out that bit in a while.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Tree Alone Against the World

Camera: Nikon Corporation (Nikon D3x) |

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