The Castle Crackled with Magic as its Gods Held Lightning, Ready to Smite Down the Non-believers Is there anything cooler than the old architecture throughout Europe? I say there is not.In this upcoming article that I’m working on for Smashing Magazine, I mention a membrane between fantasy and reality, and, for whatever reason, seeing things like this help me drift back and forth between what is real and what is not real. I know critics typically get caught up in reality; I get caught up in fantasy. I can’t be in places like this without thinking of the Game of Thrones.- 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 > Where the Impressionists Haunted the Streets Montmartre, in the north of Paris, is a very artsy place and I would love to open a little photography studio there, even if it is a bit touristy now. I don't think they had neon paint-palettes hanging in the streets when it was frequented by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and the whole cast of bohemian characters.I'm halfway through a book now called "The Judgement of Paris", about all these guys had to go through to get their paintings shown in the Salon. Old-school judges would only approve paintings that showed historical scenes and the moral teachings of antiquity. Consequently, dozens of today's priceless paintings were stamped on the back with a big red "R" for "Refused".After the Impressionists' paintings were refused by the selection committee, the artists would gather at cafes here, drinking wine that tasted of "mountwash and soot", and lament about the state of the art, so to speak.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

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 > La Ville de Paris Gets Ready for Night I was on the hill in the Montmartre part of Paris just after the sun had set. I pointed the camera over the sprawl of the city just as the lights were coming on for the evening. I made it my personal mission to walk down into the city that evening, meander around, and visit at least three pastry shops and eat a silly number of desserts. I tricked myself into thinking that I might be burning a lot of calories by doing so much walking. It's amazing how easily I was able to justify French desserts.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Sacred Heart of Paris This is the Sacred Heart Church that sits high on a hill in a very artsy area of Paris. Actually, all of Paris seems artsy to me. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a “full time artist” living in Paris. Wouldn’t that be just about the coolest thing in the world? Or maybe you would become spoiled in just a short while and take it all for granted. It’s very hard to empathize or sympathize with any mystical miserables that might be in that situation.I usually take these with a single RAW, but I kind of like the motion in these people… on occasion it seems okay to me, like here.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Notre Dame in Lyon Lyon is one of those wonderful European cities where things look romantic and timeless from either side of the river that inevitably flows down the center.Here is a view from one side looking across and up the hill to where the Notre Dame de Lyon resides. I'm glad they take the trouble to light it up... it gives the city a lot of character at night I think!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Lyon in the Evening Hiking to the top of this beast with my camera and tripod was a lot tougher than it looked!I saw this area from the train as I came into Lyon, and I was bound and determined to get to the top before dark. As I began the switchbacks, the darkness was falling, so I had to switch my iPod over to some upbeat music to drive me to the top in time. As soon as I got up there, the ferris wheel lit up and the city came alive with light. Like a marine with his gun, I assembled the tripod, ran through my settings on the camera, and fired away.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > The Castle Crackled with Magic as its Gods Held Lightning, Ready to Smite Down the Non-believers Is there anything cooler than the old architecture throughout Europe? I say there is not.In this upcoming article that I’m working on for Smashing Magazine, I mention a membrane between fantasy and reality, and, for whatever reason, seeing things like this help me drift back and forth between what is real and what is not real. I know critics typically get caught up in reality; I get caught up in fantasy. I can’t be in places like this without thinking of the Game of Thrones.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > J’etais en Francais I was walking around close to midnight, taking the long way back to my hotel after leaving Notre Dame. This area was full of life, so I moved around to find a few interesting shots.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Louis and the Ferris Wheel I always wanted a good ferris wheel shot! It’s surprisingly hard to shoot these things. You would assume that it’s just a slam dunk with a long exposure and spinning lights… but it’s not that easy! I’ve thrown away hundreds… until finally it worked out magically one night in Lyon.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Some More Old Favorites from France… Yesterday’s photo brought back such good memories I thought I would serve up one of these too, in case you missed it the first time around!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Merry Christmas from Notre Dame Don't miss the giant Christmas tree in front!I tried my best to sneak inside and go up top with the gargoyles, but the guards at Notre Dame are tough to trick... REAL tough!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Your Favorites - Enjoy! photo

StuckInCustoms > The Chateau in Paris We are all having the most wonderful time exploring the French countryside. I wish everyone could be here with us!I’m sitting in the class right now, showing people how I make blog entries. They now see it is not as exciting as they may have envisioned.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Mont Saint Michel After Paris, I rented a car with Tom and we drove off through France through Normandy. We finally arrived at this magical place — an amazing location I’ve always wanted to visit.It’s a huge fortified monastery atop a fortified and walled city. At low-tide, you can walk out across the sand to get there, but in high tide, it becomes an island. Is there anything more awesome? I don’t think so!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

StuckInCustoms > Where the Bloody Walls Screamed Here is one of the many ill-forgotten and scary rooms in the chateau. Some were fully furnished and perfect, but others had fallen apart after years of neglect. Here is one of those many incredible rooms!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Castle Crackled with Magic as its Gods Held Lightning, Ready to Smite Down the Non-believers

Is there anything cooler than the old architecture throughout Europe? I say there is not.

In this upcoming article that I’m working on for Smashing Magazine, I mention a membrane between fantasy and reality, and, for whatever reason, seeing things like this help me drift back and forth between what is real and what is not real. I know critics typically get caught up in reality; I get caught up in fantasy. I can’t be in places like this without thinking of the Game of Thrones.

- Trey Ratcliff

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