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.
 The Place in Texas Where They Found the 17 Bodies Now this is a proper Texas ghost town! It was always one of those things that fascinated me as a child.  Pretty much anything with the name "ghost" in it was cool back then, including my "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.  I remember there was one called "Deadwood" or something like that, which always had a creepy ghost town feel to it.Anyway, this is a strange abandoned town outside of Brenham, Texas (Home of Blue Bell Ice Cream!).  And no, 17 Bodies were not found here... just being a bit dramatic.  Or maybe there WERE 17 bodies here but the authorities are just covering it up.  It's all true.  I heard Alex Jones say it.Last, I have updated my Nikon 14-24 Review and my Nikon 24-70 Review with new photos and the like.  I know that only about half of our audience is photographers, but some people are looking to get into it more seriously, so maybe those will be helpful to you!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Broken Bridge Patagonia is marked with a change of terrain every half hour or so.  The 40km hike took me from mountains to plains to rivers to forests to swamps the to rolling hills.  All of these would be re-combined into interesting formations that kept my camera full and my backup system whirring away.  I'm glad the 20 pound battery of the D3X lasts about 6 months (exaggeration... but not by much)!This was a particularly dense area of forest in Patagonia that was fed by a nearby stream system that came tumbling down off the Andes.  I came across this old bridge.  There is no telling how long it had been there...  I tried to imagine it was built by Fuegian Indians back in the day...- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Meditation It's sort of hard to find time to meditate nowadays, eh?  I mean, there is a lot of stuff going on.  I wonder if the old-school Buddhists would be as good at meditating if they had broadband.  It's quite easy to distract yourself online.  By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for distracting yourself with the blog!  I guess I'm happy to be a source of distraction for you.And, should you find the inspiration to meditate a little, maybe this shot from Siem Reap, Cambodia will help.- 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 Secret Emerald Lake I saw the craziest and most unbelievable things in Patagonia.  It was like nature rewrote its own rules to build this place.  I'd like to make a reference to the ill-fated Genesis project in Star Trek II, the Wrath of Kahn, but I won't.I came across this shockingly clear and mysterious green lake.  The water magnified the pure green algae that covered every strange underwater formation.  There were also fish swimming around inside, but I kept the ISO so low on these shots, the fish got blurred out.  I do have some higher ISO shots of the fish I will add at a later date.  They were these little blue-colored fish.  I think they were trout, but I'm not totally sure.  Anyway, I felt lucky to be here in the Autumn, just after a small rainstorm, making all the trees nice and moist with a glistening glow.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
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.
New York, New York Is it a sad thing to say that one of the most fun things I did in Vegas was walk around by myself and take photos?  Yes, I think that sounds kinda sad.  But it's true!  What a great place for photography.  The lights are insane, the textures are off-the-wall, and everywhere you look is a feast for the eyes.  It's also a real challenge to try to get everything just right in the photo.  With so many light levels working against one another on your sensor, it takes a bit to get it right.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Sheep Aren't these some cool-lookin' sheep?  I was driving through the countryside of Iceland and there are these super-bushy sheep that float around the fields with their busy little legs underneath.  Then, from a distance, I saw these mega-bushy fellas all piled up on top of one another.  They were quite far away, so I attached my 70-200 mm lens to get a tighter shot at f5.6.  I had to make a wide variety of strange animal noises to get that guy on top to look at me.  Luckily, I was alone with the sheep.  That sounds funny.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

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 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(742624086,'',XLarge,'',1024,679);">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.

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 Ratcliff

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