Driving Along the Lakes of New Zealand When I drive along the countless electric-blue lakes of New Zealand, I keep thinking, “This reminds me of Switzerland!” But this is actually a strange thing to think, because I’ve only spent a short amount of time in Switzerland. Really, you can make the case that New Zealand is more like Switzerland than Switzerland. This is a very confusing thing to say, but maybe you know what I mean.For this one, I’m afraid I did have to jump a fence. But this lake near Wanaka (Lake Hawea) is pretty much completely devoid of houses or any lake-side habitation. You can drive for hours and never see anybody or anything. I’m not big on jumping fences, but it seemed pretty harmless here… and, besides, I just HAD to take a photo of this tree! You know how it is…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Lonely Tree in WanakaThis is one of three tree photos I will publish over the coming weeks. You may remember a previous one where the bottom of the trunk was on fire… that one DID have a bit of Photoshop… We’ll also go over that one in the class.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the entire post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Lonely Tree Aflame After having a great flat white with Tim and Bel, Abe (my intern for the winter/summer) and I went down to the lake. I picked out some trees I wanted to re-visit in the evening light. As I was driving around, I got an idea… it was dark and blue and I thought about what it would look like if the tree was instantly on fire… so I gave Abe some specific instructions and a secret signal.I set up for the shot with the 14-24mm, prepared the timer, then made the secret signal to Abe. We gave it a few different tries until I felt like we had it right before driving back home over the crown range in the dark.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Beginning of Time I spent most of a weekend working on this photo.  One common question is, "How long do these photos take?"  They take me anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.  It's not contiguous work, of course, but some are so challenging that I have to keep returning to them time and time again.This spot in northern central Iceland is a bit perilous to reach.  It's so perilous here at Godafoss, in fact, that I am glad my mom didn't see me getting into position.  Is the water cold?  Yes,  yes it is.- Trey RatcliffRead the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Glacier in the Fog
Yesterday's photo was of Glacier National Park, and today we have another glacier - but this one is from Argentina.

The glaciers in Glacier National Park are really quite boring.  I'm sure that's not a nice thing to say, but it's true.  The only ones I saw were quite far away and not very epic-looking.  Maybe I was in the wrong place, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more (and see a video of a cool workflow presentation) here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Solstice This came from one of my favorite nights in Iceland!  This was shot around 2 AM, right when I started feeling loopy.I was on the edge of some precipitous volcanic rock, and there was a waterfall behind me.  It fed this little area of rapids that emptied out into one of the fjords.  There had been a light rain for a few hours, but the setting sun cut underneath the clouds to unleash some godly colors.About 10-20% of my HDRs are in portrait mode.  I am just usually in landscape mode for some reason.  Part of it has to do with the way people consume these things -- on monitors.  I don't like making people scroll up and down to see a photo.  That's kind of a drag.  That's another reason I don't like those super-wide panoramas.  They are so difficult to pan around, even though there are a lot of slick tools.  It's just not a "viewing" experience while you are busy using a tool to manipulate the photo itself.  Do you know what I mean?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Cavebirds in the Gentle Evening How awesome is his little gem in Iceland? It's a small town not too far from that big volcano called "Vik".  It is the home to many different birds, and a lot of them nest inside these tiny caves in the cliff walls.  In this area just north of the town, the local residents decided to light the side of the cliff at night to give it a special feel. - Trey Ratcliff The rest of this entry is here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Hill at Sunset On one of the first hikes into Patagonia, I was greeted by a very interesting sunset.  And what do you know -- I had my camera!  Shocker, I know. But I am often at places where there are beautiful sunsets and I have no camera.   This is always a bit frustrating to me in one way - in another - I justify it by thinking of the thousands of good sunsets every day all around the world... I can't be at them all!  So, if I am just missing one more out of a thousand, then I don't feel so bad...- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Morning at the Secret Lake This was shot in the Andes of Southern Argentina just near the border of Chile.I spent several hours of hiking in the dark just so I could get to this spot at sunrise.  All the darkness in the lower half is the shadow of the mountain behind me as the morning sun rose above it.  I was so thirsty from the hike, and had not brought any water with me.  Looking on Google Earth beforehand, I knew there was a lake up here and I could fill up… so I got down on my hands and knees and drank like a horse…  oh boy that was some good fresh water…  You can see my little footprints in the snow there on the left.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Driving Along the Lakes of New Zealand


When I drive along the countless electric-blue lakes of New Zealand, I keep thinking, “This reminds me of Switzerland!” But this is actually a strange thing to think, because I’ve only spent a short amount of time in Switzerland. Really, you can make the case that New Zealand is more like Switzerland than Switzerland. This is a very confusing thing to say, but maybe you know what I mean.

For this one, I’m afraid I did have to jump a fence. But this lake near Wanaka (Lake Hawea) is pretty much completely devoid of houses or any lake-side habitation. You can drive for hours and never see anybody or anything. I’m not big on jumping fences, but it seemed pretty harmless here… and, besides, I just HAD to take a photo of this tree! You know how it is…

- 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(2183052583,'',XLarge,'',1024,689);">Driving Along the Lakes of New Zealand When I drive along the countless electric-blue lakes of New Zealand, I keep thinking, “This reminds me of Switzerland!” But this is actually a strange thing to think, because I’ve only spent a short amount of time in Switzerland. Really, you can make the case that New Zealand is more like Switzerland than Switzerland. This is a very confusing thing to say, but maybe you know what I mean.For this one, I’m afraid I did have to jump a fence. But this lake near Wanaka (Lake Hawea) is pretty much completely devoid of houses or any lake-side habitation. You can drive for hours and never see anybody or anything. I’m not big on jumping fences, but it seemed pretty harmless here… and, besides, I just HAD to take a photo of this tree! You know how it is…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Driving Along the Lakes of New Zealand


When I drive along the countless electric-blue lakes of New Zealand, I keep thinking, “This reminds me of Switzerland!” But this is actually a strange thing to think, because I’ve only spent a short amount of time in Switzerland. Really, you can make the case that New Zealand is more like Switzerland than Switzerland. This is a very confusing thing to say, but maybe you know what I mean.

For this one, I’m afraid I did have to jump a fence. But this lake near Wanaka (Lake Hawea) is pretty much completely devoid of houses or any lake-side habitation. You can drive for hours and never see anybody or anything. I’m not big on jumping fences, but it seemed pretty harmless here… and, besides, I just HAD to take a photo of this tree! You know how it is…

- Trey Ratcliff

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