Tower on the Azure Coast This sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? "Let's rent a car in Montpellier and drive along the Mediterranean Sea, jumping from town to town." It's not nearly as easy as it sounds, especially when you get stuck inside of a confusing French city for an hour just trying to get out of it! There's so much construction in Montpellier that it's pretty dang crazy. At one point, we even ended up driving through the middle of the town square, at which point we realized we were indeed not on a road any more. This was very embarrassing. But, eventually, we made it down to Marseille. That is another huge city where the roads are as confusing as can be. Parking by the seaside, I took a little walk to see this round tower that shot out into the midday clouds. - 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 > Tower on the Azure Coast This sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? "Let's rent a car in Montpellier and drive along the Mediterranean Sea, jumping from town to town." It's not nearly as easy as it sounds, especially when you get stuck inside of a confusing French city for an hour just trying to get out of it! There's so much construction in Montpellier that it's pretty dang crazy. At one point, we even ended up driving through the middle of the town square, at which point we realized we were indeed not on a road any more. This was very embarrassing. But, eventually, we made it down to Marseille. That is another huge city where the roads are as confusing as can be. Parking by the seaside, I took a little walk to see this round tower that shot out into the midday clouds. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Cart Runners in Old Beijing There are many old pockets scattered all over Beijing. I haven't become totally familiar with all the names of these quadrants yet, but I should get another chance to re-visit all these places. This is actually kind of a weakness in the whole "travel blog" thing. See, a REAL travel blogger would memorize the names of all these places and spout them back to you. But, here is my excuse... and maybe it is not really that bad... but, to me, this kind of photo could be taken in many different places. The exact neighborhood does not matter. In fact, by NOT telling you the spot, you may be more likely to find it just by wandering about.These uniformed guys sat together in between jobs and had a rest. I don't know what struck me about it, but it just seemed like a nice little moment. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Myst Staircase I wish I could have met Gaudi. The only thing I know about him is his art, but I'm guessing he was an interesting guy. I also would have like to own one of his houses, but then I'd be in a pickle. He only designed and built a few of these houses, and I think living inside of them would be amazing. But, since it is such a work of art, I'd feel compelled to share it with the world. You can't live in it AND open it up to the public - so what to do? I'd like to say I'd be noble and open it up to the world, but the wonderfully selfish side of me would want it all to myself. Maybe it's not that different than owning a Renoir. Not that I own one of those either... but it is an interesting decision to think about. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Coming Home to the Inn After Dinner This is a nice feeling -- this idea of walking to dinner and arriving back at the inn with family and friends just before it gets dark. I don't know how to explain it, but perhaps you have experienced this too.This is in the far northern part of the south island if New Zealand. The town is named Nelson, and I think it is one of the five biggest on that island. But all of New Zealand only has four million people, and the vast majority of those are on the north island. I wonder what has happened to towns like Nelson since the big earthquake in nearby Christchurch. Maybe some of our NZ community readers can fill us in with some on-the-ground info.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Climbing Inside the Dyson Sphere When you're inside these megastructures, every room seems like a triumphant masterpiece on its own. I only know a little bit about architecture...just sort of as a general "fan" that can say, "Oh that looks cool," but I wonder about how many architects work on a structure like this. I'm sure it's a full team, and I imagine one of the junior guys getting to design this room. Even that would be a dream assignment, I would think!This towering Escheresque room is inside The Egg, which you can see by looking back at previous photos of Beijing. Or, specifically, here is one photo from inside the egg, and another from the outside.- Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Singularity Device This photo is strange isn't it? Even when I was standing there, I had to wait longer than expected to grok it. And maybe photos like can help you understand how technologically advanced the Chinese have become. In fact, they are absolutely bathed in it.This screen in "The Place" (great name, huh?) that faces downward is supposed to be one of the biggest in the world. I don't know if it's bigger than the one in Texas Stadium, but it must be longer.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Best Fish Evar I have a restaurant suggestion! The best fish I have ever had is in that little viking-house there to the right. You have to duck to get through the door. Once inside, you emerge into a darkened viking-style dining hall (imagine the great hall where Gríma Wormtongue held powah over King Théoden of Rohan). This spot is pretty well-known restaurant called Tjöruhúsið in the little town of Isafjordur. There is a little window in the back where the fishermen come every morning to deliver the fresh fish in exchange for getting to eat there for free. They bring you the food inside giant iron-clad pans… it was so awesome. I’m going back in a few months and I’m going to gorge myself here with giant dinners before heading out for all-night shooting.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Spiralstorm This beautiful staircase was found in a small cloister while I was about to exit St. Paul's Cathedral in London. I took some extra time while I was over there for the workshop to explore places like this. There were only a few days extra, but I tried to make the most of it.I got shut down a few times while in the proper part of the cathedral, but I did manage to get a few shots in. As for this area, it was wide open and no one said anything. I always feel more comfy when I am not rushed and have time to set everything up! In this case, I used a 14-24 lens. I get asked a lot if I use filters on my lens -- but I do not. I don't even know if you can get a filter that fits this bulbous wide angle.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Hallway to the Mona Lisa The Louvre has one hallway leading to another in an endless and awesome labyrinth of confusion. Maybe the most confusing thing is that there don't seem to be consistent floors. There you are on floor three, and then you take half a flight down, and its unclear if you are on 2 or 2.5. And then, you see a sign, and it explains in international language that you are indeed on the "yellow" floor, where in the last wing you were clearly not in a color-oriented floor but instead on 1.5. But, throughout the Louvre are huge signs that say "Mona Lisa" with an arrow pointing in one way or another. I'm sure the guards got SICK of people askin', "So where's this moner lisa gal?" - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Sad and Alone at Night On one of my first evenings in Beijing, I walked around some of the older parts of the city to get a feel for it. Whenever I have extra time in a city, I usually don't go too hardcore with the photography initially - choosing instead to explore on foot and get a sense of the place. But, you know, I do have my camera with me to get a few things here and there...just can't help it. Between a few streets, I came across this little guy sitting on the seat of a small motorcycle. - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at stuckincustoms.com.

StuckInCustoms > Ghost from the Dungeon I was walking along the Thames river in London, following up on a lead that a reader told me about. There was supposed to be some cool hidden underground area that you can access from underneath one of the bridges that crosses the river. I never found it, but I did come across this place. Maybe you have seen it before if you are a local? If so, maybe you shouldn't ruin it for the other readers... let them uncover it on their own. Also, if you say what it is, it may ruin the nice mystery of it all, yes? Yes I'm sure since we both know what it is... - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Big Ben at Dusk Halfway through the PhotoWalk in London, we stopped here at Big Ben to get a shot. It's a little tough for me sometimes to do this while on a PhotoWalk because I can't fully focus on the photography. I have to talk, explain, converse, answer questions, and the like. Don't get me wrong... I love all that stuff. But I do find it hard to fully focus on the photography side of the evening!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > My Next Trip to the Louvre You know how sometimes you go some place awesome and you think, "This is really cool, I think I'll probably come back some day." But then, sometimes, after the event, you start thinking that maybe you may not be able to make it back. You never really know I guess. Anyway, when I do go back to the Louvre in July, I'm going to spend a day inside sketching. I do like to sketch (I have a few on the About Me page), and this seems like a great place to do it. I wish I had a whole month in Paris... I'd try to go here once a week for a day of sketching. Maybe I should put this on my to do list... why not? - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Night View from Balcony in Ibiza Ibiza is a really strange place. This hotel (Ibiza Gran) seemed to be typical of hotels in Ibiza when it came to the clientele. Here's the deal... if you have never heard this, you'll think it sounds pretty strange -- and it is. So a lot of people in Ibiza dress in all white. White pants, white shirt, free-flowing fabrics, and cavalier attitudes flow in and out of the hotel lobby, bar, poolside restaurant, and the spa. It's all very strange. It's sort of a combination of a Clockwork Orange and a Euro Sci-Fi Orgy. I can't quite explain it... I'm not sure I understand it, and I didn't succumb, even though everyone did seem very comfy. After a long day of exploring and shooting, I went out on the balcony to get a shot of the pool and the moon behind the clouds. - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Tower on the Azure Coast

This sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? "Let's rent a car in Montpellier and drive along the Mediterranean Sea, jumping from town to town."

It's not nearly as easy as it sounds, especially when you get stuck inside of a confusing French city for an hour just trying to get out of it! There's so much construction in Montpellier that it's pretty dang crazy. At one point, we even ended up driving through the middle of the town square, at which point we realized we were indeed not on a road any more. This was very embarrassing.

But, eventually, we made it down to Marseille. That is another huge city where the roads are as confusing as can be. Parking by the seaside, I took a little walk to see this round tower that shot out into the midday clouds.

- Trey Ratcliff

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