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Guarding the Beaches of LA Being a lifeguard in LA must be a great job. Or it might be a boring job. Or it might have occasions of greatness filled with a long periods of boredom. There was a lifeguard sitting here in the station on Manhattan Beach when I took the shot. I guess I could have asked her while I stood outside her station for 10 minutes with all my glass aimed right at her. I kept giving her a nod of confidence, indicating that everything was okay. I was really just waiting for the colors to get right in the reflection.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Old Bones I Found on the Way to Mordor As for this photo from Argentina, this was found on the second day of hiking into the Andes. The landscape changes very quickly and we emerged from one forest and were suddenly facing another. The stark white roots reminded me of bones coming out of the ground and holding up old trees. In the distance, you can see the final destination of this hike - the mysterious peaks of Fitz Roy. These are covered by clouds 90% of the time, so to have them on a crystal clear day was lucky indeed. Tomorrow, in addition to posting the short film, I'll show you a closer shot of Fitz Roy that was taken around 6 AM the next morning, after an icy hike of 1500 feet in pitch black. Will there be clouds at sunrise, or will it be visible?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Surf in LA as Night Passes There's this moment in California when the sun hits the horizon that I am quite sure most of the natives take for granted. The gradation of sky from the burning sun to the deep blues can only be really appreciated if you swing your head around and purge your short-term memory. The effect is not dissimilar to the optical illusion of the giant full moon on some evenings, seemingly magnified by our inability to establish a frame of reference. I think something along those lines happens with color as the sun dips. You can see this from space, as the sudden band from light to dark rips around the earth -- that same viewing cone can be seen from anywhere on the surface, and it can be best noticed in places like LA, with the nearly infinite horizon.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Cartier on the Champs-Élysées at Christmas I was working on this photo this evening with a friend to show him some of the techniques that have evolved since HDR started getting popular. I find my methodology changes and evolves about every two months or so. I look back at my old stuff in horror!Ah yes… the wet streets of Paris here… Seems like an idyllic place for this little store called Cartier, eh?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Beating Hearts of the Buddhas The morning fog coming off the top of the jungle trees was not like anything I had seen before. There was just enough morning light to give everything a twilight blue and paint the mountains in the distance a deeper color.I tried something a little bit different with this photo. I was holding two flashlights to help me climb the temple in the morning. I think I got there about 5:30 AM when it was still pitch black, so the flashlights helped me find the right footholds and whatnot. Anyway, this was an extremely long exposure, so I used some of that time to "paint" the inside of the bell cages with the beams of my flashlights. Each of those bell cages held a solitary outward-facing Buddha. I'm glad I was there alone, because I'm sure I looked like a loon running around shining the flashlights in patterns to illuminate the Buddhas inside.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Caged Buddhas Look Outward Towards the Sunrise If you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial. I hope it gives you some new tricks!Each of these "bells" is really a stone cage that houses a Buddha statue that is seated, facing outwards. At this time in the morning, you can take little flashlights and peer inside the cages. It's all very eerie and fun...In the distance, you can see a few volcanoes poking through the mist.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Batmobile Everyone likes the Batmobile yes? It's especially cool when you see one on the side of the road in Texas that some comic-book redneck has souped up to be something that is on the edge of street-legal. I jumped out quick to grab a shot before the owner could come out and hit me with some sort of a 2x4, which I only assumed me might be carrying. Actually, you never know... around Austin it's just as likely to be a doctor or lawyer (assuming one of those two to be an honorable, upstanding profession!(also notice the nice only-in-Texas trailer hitch on the back)- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Votive in the Dark Cathedral I love a scary cathedral. They can put you in such a melancholy and gloomy mood if you want them too. You can feel the overbearing saints from above judging your moves, and giving you a few bonus points in the big game if you light one of the votives. In a scientific study, it was proven than a votive makes a prayer 35% more likely to be granted.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
On the Road to Somewhere After an accident on an ATV, I was stuck on this road for a long time while waiting for rescue. Luckily, the camera and tripod were uninjured and the time I was waiting for happened to be sunset. There are worse things in life than this!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Cartier on the Champs-Élysées at Christmas


I was working on this photo this evening with a friend to show him some of the techniques that have evolved since HDR started getting popular. I find my methodology changes and evolves about every two months or so. I look back at my old stuff in horror!

Ah yes… the wet streets of Paris here… Seems like an idyllic place for this little store called Cartier, eh?

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(742623179,'',XLarge,'',1024,680);">Cartier on the Champs-Élysées at Christmas I was working on this photo this evening with a friend to show him some of the techniques that have evolved since HDR started getting popular. I find my methodology changes and evolves about every two months or so. I look back at my old stuff in horror!Ah yes… the wet streets of Paris here… Seems like an idyllic place for this little store called Cartier, eh?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Cartier on the Champs-Élysées at Christmas


I was working on this photo this evening with a friend to show him some of the techniques that have evolved since HDR started getting popular. I find my methodology changes and evolves about every two months or so. I look back at my old stuff in horror!

Ah yes… the wet streets of Paris here… Seems like an idyllic place for this little store called Cartier, eh?

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.
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