Queenstown from the Air I’m happy to be back home in Queenstown!It’s strange to me to come “home” to the kind of place I used to go on vacation. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. There is a very nice feeling when the airplane approaches this place. If you ever have a chance to fly in here, then you will know what I mean.Airplane pilots have to go through some kind of special training or planning before an approach here. They have to spiral down and get between the mountains. I don’t know much about it, obviously. But I do know there is a very nice pilot on Air New Zealand that is a frequent reader of the blog! He came up and said hello to me when I was on his plane one day. Hi Captain! :)- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Another Road Through an Endless Valley I rode down this one with Karen Hutton, Scott Kublin, and Curtis Simmons. Every five minutes they wanted to get out of the car and take a photo. I know the feeling! You see, I already have done this hundreds and hundreds of times… now I only get out on new roads or of the clouds/light is just different “enough”. It doesn’t take much, because there is a lot of variation. And, as most of you know, I’m not one to take a bunch of photos in the middle of a blue sunny day. But, on this day I was!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Sheep Says Baaaaa I know I sound like a total tourist, but I still like watching sheep. Maybe because I’ve lived here less than a year, but they are still fun for me to watch. They kind of move around like lily pads on a pond, in kind of a random way. Every now and then they line up and run to one area or another, but it’s mostly random drifting. And it’s fun for me to catch the random drifting and try to compose something interesting. As more and more sheep enter the frame, it cranks up the degree of difficulty, like Olympic diving!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Another Bridge in Melbourne I like these cities that get all fancy with their bridges. Melbourne certainly does! Each bridge tries to out-do the next. There’s no common theme and its sort of a mish-mash of styles, to say the least. I think that not everyone likes this, but I do. I don’t mind all the variety, especially from the perspective of photography.It’s kind of the same way with the buildings and other decorative elements around downtown Melbourne. There are so many styles, most of which are one flavor of “modern” or “contemporary”. I enjoy mixing and matching different elements into compositions, but it is not easy. There is a challenging aspect to it that I don’t get in many other cities.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Awesome Ship in Sydney Harbor Tom and I walked down to the Rocks one night, which is one of the oldest parts of the Sydney Harbor. I was wondering, actually, if I should spell it “harbour” now that I live down thisaway. I do like the British spellings of things… they seem so much more… well, British and sophisticated. I guess I’ll just stick with “harbor” – I don’t want people thinking I’ve turned native so quickly.Anyway, the ship was moving a lot in the sea, so I had my ISO up pretty high to compensate. Usually, what I’ll do in this situation is take a normal set of brackets at a low ISO to get a nice HDR shot, and then I’ll take another at high ISO to freeze the movement… and then I do my best to Frankenstein it all together.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Tom in Sydney That’s Tom Anderson there (the MySpace Tom). We had a very fun time running around Australia together, and especially here in the State Theater. It is an amazing place! The entryway, as you can see, is insanely ornate. And then once you enter, you go through one hall to the next, each as grand as the previous one.I’d love to have an event here one night… I don’t know what I would do… maybe just bring in a bunch of people and we can all post-process all night together! :) That sounds lame but also kinda awesome.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Skyline of Melbourne from Across the River Melbourne has one of the most “walkable” skylines I’ve seen. It runs all up and down the river and looks pretty from both sides. It also works out well because there is very little to obstruct your view. It’s the complete opposite, of, say, Bangkok, where getting a view across the river is next to impossible.I look forward to going back to Melbourne to walk along this river many more times!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Forest on the road to Paradise When you leave Glenorchy and start driving on the dirt road to Paradise, there are a few little wet forested areas that you’ll pass through. It’s worth pulling over your car and just going on a random walk. I recommend following a stream or river so you can always find your way back. Because if you get more than 100 meters from your car and you lose your way, you’ll never find your way again! The heaviness and thickness of the forest is totally confusing, and you’ll be hopelessly confused… but following a little stream is usually a good ticket to find your way back.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Moody Skies Over the Dark Church I keep going back to Tekapo to see the skies over the lake. If it is clear, you can see amazing stars! But, if cloudy, it’s not so bad because you can get this kind of moody, long-exposure stuff… !- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Queenstown from the Air


I’m happy to be back home in Queenstown!

It’s strange to me to come “home” to the kind of place I used to go on vacation. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. There is a very nice feeling when the airplane approaches this place. If you ever have a chance to fly in here, then you will know what I mean.

Airplane pilots have to go through some kind of special training or planning before an approach here. They have to spiral down and get between the mountains. I don’t know much about it, obviously. But I do know there is a very nice pilot on Air New Zealand that is a frequent reader of the blog! He came up and said hello to me when I was on his plane one day. Hi Captain! :)

- 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(2489191939,'',XLarge,'',1024,657);">Queenstown from the Air I’m happy to be back home in Queenstown!It’s strange to me to come “home” to the kind of place I used to go on vacation. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. There is a very nice feeling when the airplane approaches this place. If you ever have a chance to fly in here, then you will know what I mean.Airplane pilots have to go through some kind of special training or planning before an approach here. They have to spiral down and get between the mountains. I don’t know much about it, obviously. But I do know there is a very nice pilot on Air New Zealand that is a frequent reader of the blog! He came up and said hello to me when I was on his plane one day. Hi Captain! :)- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Queenstown from the Air


I’m happy to be back home in Queenstown!

It’s strange to me to come “home” to the kind of place I used to go on vacation. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. There is a very nice feeling when the airplane approaches this place. If you ever have a chance to fly in here, then you will know what I mean.

Airplane pilots have to go through some kind of special training or planning before an approach here. They have to spiral down and get between the mountains. I don’t know much about it, obviously. But I do know there is a very nice pilot on Air New Zealand that is a frequent reader of the blog! He came up and said hello to me when I was on his plane one day. Hi Captain! :)

- Trey Ratcliff

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