Leo Laporte, Hard at Work This photo below is a 5-exposure HDR.  It was shot with a Nikon D3X (see my Nikon D3X Review) in aperture priority.  The five shots were at -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2.  Of course, Leo was moving around betwixt the exposures, so there are some tricks to fix that.  It's all there inside the free HDR Tutorial.But you don't need a big expensive camera like that to make HDRs.  I have good/better/best suggestions on my HDR Camera recommendations page.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Power Lunch Here is a wonderful photo mystery. Can anyone name this spot?  Where could it be?  I hope this is the hardest photo mystery yet.  Whenever I put up one of these, the clever people in the community get it almost right away.  But perhaps this one is a bit different.If no one can figure it out, it will be revealed in an upcoming story tomorrow...  Actually, tomorrow is the first of a long-form three-part story.  ...something a bit different for you!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Lime Couches One of my favorite sites for finding boutique hotels is Tablet Hotels.  They are not an advertiser or anything...  I just wanted to thank them for having an awesome service!  I quite like staying at boutique hotels.  These are usually smaller, quaint, with unexpected interiors.  Often times, I like them better than the huge hotels because they seem more intimate and I sometimes get more personalized services.This hotel is The Magnolia in Houston.  At least, I am 95% sure that is the name of the place!  It was one of those I found on Tablet...  give it a try next time you travel and let me know if you like it too!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Azure Blue Indoor Pool at Hearst Castle I was able to get a private tour throughout Hearst - so that made for an amazing and long day!Thank goodness I had a mass of memory cards... I got so much footage it was crazy!I could have picked a bunch of shots to be the "first", but I thought this one was particularly wonderful.  There are two enormous pools at Hearst Castle, and this is the indoor one.  This is a nice vantage point because this spot is actually quite difficult to reach!  There is no door behind me... so I had to "shimmy" along that edge you see... It was NARROW... the shimmy was like a video game, except while holding a $10,000 camera!  Sketchy!  But I just had to get over here because I could visualize the shot before it happened...Here's a cool fact about this pool.  Nearby, there is a huge room that was intended for a gymnasium that Hearst never constructed.  The State then made it usable for IT and Archive area, so the water cools the computers...  wild, eh?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
An Amazing Day at the Met On Sunday, I set aside about six hours to spend alone at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.   Most of you may know by now how I am obsessed with the Impressionists.  Don't ever go to a museum with me, because I will bore you for hours on end with strange tidbits.  Anyway, the Met has a fantastic collection that kept me busy most of the time...  It's rather nice of them to hang on to my paintings for me.  One day, when I get some time, I'm going to make a little page here and show some of my favorites.The Man would not let me take a tripod inside, so that was unfortunate.  I did manage to do a few hand-held HDRs however... here is one that I have processed thus far.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Sea of Glass - The Chihuly Exhibit at the Bellagio in Vegas I've always thought the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures are some of the coolest things in the world.  I'd love to learn how to blow glass.  It always looks dangerous and exotic.  I remember when I got my HDTV a few years ago, one of the first shows I saw was when Chihuly was doing this exhibit in Venice.  He spent some time in Murano, which is near Venice and a famous place for glass blowing.  They made these amazing sculptures then hung them all over Venice.  I wish I could have gone there to take photographs of the event!In other news, I was interviewed yesterday by an extremely nice guy named Victor Cajiao who hosts a podcast called "Typical Shutterbug".  Click there and you can hear my interview.  We talk a little about the upcoming book, HDR, do's and don't, and this sort of thing.  If you enjoyed the show, leave him a comment there -- I'm sure he'd appreciate it!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Ghost in the Cathedral The Byzantine gold glowed hot when I got inside, a divine signal to me that God was mad because I brought my camera inside.  However, I reasoned with God, the sign read "No Cameras" in a Cyrillic lettering, a lettering style I do not recognize since the Jesuits trained me in the Romance languages and not these Slavic uncials.Besides, I was inside Saint Michael's Cathedral, and I was holding a camera, and, as the saying goes, when in Rome, shoot interiors of churches in Rome, and when in Kiev, break Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Councils.While God was busy figuring out my flawless reasoning, I spotted a cloaked HeiroMonk in is post-Matins chanting, moving in a pattern indecipherable by my camera, thus the ghostly visage in this seeming partial transcendence.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Umbrellas at the Shoppes at the Palazzo This shot is from the recent expansion from the Venetian shopping area. It’s really beautiful inside and these designers should be given some kind of award! The best I can do here is try to honor their design with good photo of the place. It’s actually quite a difficult venue to capture! I have it from a few angles. There are many other beautiful ones, including one from down below looking up. I’ll be sure to include that at some point in the future!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Inside the Borg Ship There is an amazing hallway that connects the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay with the rest of the casino.  It's long and at its end is a cool bar, which is a welcome respite no matter what kind of night you had in Vegas.  Actually, I wouldn't really know since I don't drink... but, I do like to hang out in them, drink tomato juice, and process photos on my latptop.  Yes, this is lame, I know.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Inside the Borg Ship


There is an amazing hallway that connects the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay with the rest of the casino. It's long and at its end is a cool bar, which is a welcome respite no matter what kind of night you had in Vegas. Actually, I wouldn't really know since I don't drink... but, I do like to hang out in them, drink tomato juice, and process photos on my latptop. Yes, this is lame, I know.

- 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(742620367,'',XLarge,'',1024,753);">Inside the Borg Ship There is an amazing hallway that connects the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay with the rest of the casino.  It's long and at its end is a cool bar, which is a welcome respite no matter what kind of night you had in Vegas.  Actually, I wouldn't really know since I don't drink... but, I do like to hang out in them, drink tomato juice, and process photos on my latptop.  Yes, this is lame, I know.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Inside the Borg Ship


There is an amazing hallway that connects the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay with the rest of the casino. It's long and at its end is a cool bar, which is a welcome respite no matter what kind of night you had in Vegas. Actually, I wouldn't really know since I don't drink... but, I do like to hang out in them, drink tomato juice, and process photos on my latptop. Yes, this is lame, I know.

- Trey Ratcliff

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