The ROT Biker Rally Every year we get thousands of bikers that descend on Austin for a few days during the big ROT Biker Rally. They cruise up and down 6th Street and close fill the streets with incredible bikes and works of art.  It's an amazing place for photography, so I was able to take a break this evening and go down and shoot for a few hours.I remember when I was growing up that bikers where just about the scariest people on earth.  But now, everyone I have met seems to be much nicer and more affable than the average joe.  They love having pictures taken of their bikes and generally seem to love life.  That's cool.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Flying on a Harley This is the subject of one of the other new videos in the newsletter.  It speaks to a common problem many people have when uploading photos online.  Sometimes, I've noticed, they don't look the same on Flickr as the do on my home computer!  That's no good... I figured out the best way to do it and put it in a little video for you.  You can get to it here at the ColorSpace Video- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Houston at Dusk I've had (the pleasure) to go to Houston a few (too many) times this year.  I always end up staying downtown, which affords me some good opportunities to take photos at dusk.  Usually I am busy (being drained) and can't actually get out to shoot at sunset, so whenever I have a chance, I do my best to get a good one.This was shot from the top of the Magnolia Hotel, which is a very cool place to stay, if you ever make it down thataway.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The 57 Chevy This is a shot of a '57 Chevy.  I saw it when walking back to the Magnolia Hotel on Friday night after dinner in Dallas.  I took a photo of this pretty car under the blue lights of the porte-cochere, went upstairs to my room, downloaded the Topaz Bundle software, made the adjustments, and had the whole thing finished in less than 30 minutes.  That quick turnaround speaks to how easy the software is to use.  I've since used it on a number of other images, including some unpublished ones.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
About to Cross the Stream on the Hike, Approaching the Blue Glacier This is about 20km into our backpacking.  The fertile soil from recent glaciation sprang colorful life everywhere, even as the valley was changing colors for autumn.  Little streams trickled here and there and fell into larger streams.  Fording some of these was always a little sketchy when carrying a bunch of expensive camera equipment, but it was always worth it.I can't explain how often I stopped to take photos along this hike!  I am sure it took about 4x as long as needed, but that was the point of the whole trip, after all...If you zoom into the large or  original size, you can see the glowing blue glacier there, spilling out from between the edge of the Andes.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Approaching the Glacier after a Stormy Sunrise We left while it was still dark to reach this spot by the morning.  The glacier is already a deadly blue, but the morning light gets into the nooks and crannies and makes the blue reflect around like an argon laser.It was really cold when I took this.  And raining.  And windy.  I had a panoply of towels, rags, and other drying agents in various pockets, constantly wiping down the lens.  I also had the sweet lady D3X inside of a clear plastic bag to protect it from the whipping rain.  Every 30 minutes or so, I could hear an ungodly creaking and ripping of ice as another cleaved off into the water below.  I understand if there was going to be a huge piece cleave off that the splash could actually make it all the way to me.  I both wanted it to happen and didn't want it to happen at the same time.  I think my indecision made it not happen.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Parisian Boulevard Where I Should Not Have Been Standing While I was working on this, I was thinking how nice it would be to have someone near me who could speak French... I always love the sound of it, and the words can make matters seem ephemerally okay.Paris is one of those places where the streets are always a little wet, at least in my head.  If they are wet, then they are slippery and traffic will be crazy...  so it sounded like a capital idea to go out into the middle of the Champs-Élysées to get a quick one!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Sunflowers at Sunset This photo was much harder to take than it might seem!First of all, these sunflowers are tall - and I mean tall!  They must be between 6 and 7 feet in the air.  I was on the ground with them, so, of course, I was looking UP at them.  No one wants to see a shot like that...!So, I put the camera on the tripod, set the timer to 5 seconds, extended the legs, set the manual settings correct, then jacked the whole thing in the air, holding it rock steady while it took the exposure.  Getting a steady horizon while holding the camera 12 feet in the air is not easy... and after a number of takes, my shoulders were just about spent for the rest of the night.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Dragon Boats of Commoners on a Lonely Stream near Hangzhou On the weekend while in Shanghai, I was in the mood for an adventure, so I went down to the train station to buy a ticket to Hangzhou.  This was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 12th century and it was in the middle of the Yangtze river delta.  The royalty established a number of temples around West Lake, the dozens of tiny freshwater lakes that were created for the emperor.As I explored around, there were many beautiful things to be seen.  Here is one of many more I have to bring you.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Flying on a Harley


This is the subject of one of the other new videos in the newsletter. It speaks to a common problem many people have when uploading photos online. Sometimes, I've noticed, they don't look the same on Flickr as the do on my home computer! That's no good... I figured out the best way to do it and put it in a little video for you. You can get to it here at the ColorSpace Video

- Trey Ratcliff

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

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(742624212,'',XLarge,'',1024,758);">Flying on a Harley This is the subject of one of the other new videos in the newsletter.  It speaks to a common problem many people have when uploading photos online.  Sometimes, I've noticed, they don't look the same on Flickr as the do on my home computer!  That's no good... I figured out the best way to do it and put it in a little video for you.  You can get to it here at the ColorSpace Video- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Flying on a Harley


This is the subject of one of the other new videos in the newsletter. It speaks to a common problem many people have when uploading photos online. Sometimes, I've noticed, they don't look the same on Flickr as the do on my home computer! That's no good... I figured out the best way to do it and put it in a little video for you. You can get to it here at the ColorSpace Video

- Trey Ratcliff

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