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Snow in Nikko It was a freezing cold morning when I woke up to explore this temple area of Nikko. Luckily, I was the first person to arrive, and I was pretty much alone for this early morning because of the snow. It gave me a peaceful period to explore with my music on… taking my time and moving around the temple to take in the big picture and all the nice little details.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Silent Bridge When I woke up in Nikko, snow had been falling all night. I started a long walk from the old lodge where I was staying towards the older area that has all the temples. Along the way, I passed by this old bridge with it's ancient and lavish design. Underneath it, the crystal-clear water flowed quickly as the snowmelt was giving it a bit more action than usual. It was very peaceful and nice.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Red Gate After Rain When I’m someplace interesting, I usually set the alarm to get up quite early. Painful, yes. And then, when I’m in that half-wake state, I stumble to the window to look at the clouds and weather. If it’s a mess, I don’t go, and joyfully crawl back into bed. That’s just about the best feeling in the world.But, sometimes, I force myself to go out anyway… that is what happened on this day. It was one of those frustrating mornings when it was raining — which makes carrying an umbrella + tripod + two cameras + camera bag quite a drain! But after walking a few kilometers, I found this giant red gate that led to a quiet temple complex. I set up for a few shots before venturing into the beyond.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Old Forest After the Snowmelt On another one of those painful mornings, I woke up early to explore all around Nikko. Some snow had fallen during the night, and a warm morning sun helped to melt everything into reflective wet surface. It also helped the leaves and bark to glow in an inviting way. There are many beautiful old areas of Nikko that are separated by these long pathways through the forest. It's right out of a Final Fantasy game, and I could not help but stop every few hundred feet for another photo! - Trey Ratcliff Read more, including my secret of taking photographs without people in them, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Nikko Waterfall from Afar I’ve been pretty lame, frankly, in finishing up my Nikon 18-200 Review. But, this is a photo that I took with that lens when I was in Japan. I wanted to show the vast range of the lens, and this is the “zoomed out” view. In coming weeks, I’ll post the “zoomed in” view, so you can see the tremendous range. Yes, it’s a cropped lens so I can’t use my full-frame, but it’s not really the end of the world. It’s light, cheap, and very flexible… these are some nice plusses!I had never gotten to a waterfall in such a unique way! I started at the top of this thing and took an elevator DOWN, hundreds of feet. I then went through about a quarter-mile of caves to emerge at the bottom, where I got this perspective. It was really unique and messed with my whole sense of location. I’m so used to taking the elevator “up” to get somewhere interesting. I had to put on my earphones to listen to some unique music to get my bearings back before shooting this photo.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Icy Part of the Waterfall This waterfall was enormous! I've never been to Angel Falls in South America, although that is on my list. I know that these places are extremely difficult to photograph. Luckily, for this one, I had a good vantage point at the bottom that let me zoom in.I took this photo in the very early spring, during cherry blossom season in Japan. There is still snow and ice in the highlands, and you can see a small pack of it here behind the waterfall. I also have a "zoomed out" version of this on the review page mentioned above. - Trey Ratcliff Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Lake at Nikko This place was Cold with a capital C, as you can plainly see. And worse, I had forgotten my special little gloves with the flip-up fingertips. So I was goin' finger-commando while trying to line up this shot. The wind was pretty stiff in my face. The wind always seems to be against you, eh? I think I just never notice it when it comes from any other angle.By the way, there is only one place that is convenient to quickly warm up your fingers ... - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest at the Stuck in Customs blog!

Old Forest After the Snowmelt


On another one of those painful mornings, I woke up early to explore all around Nikko. Some snow had fallen during the night, and a warm morning sun helped to melt everything into reflective wet surface. It also helped the leaves and bark to glow in an inviting way. There are many beautiful old areas of Nikko that are separated by these long pathways through the forest. It's right out of a Final Fantasy game, and I could not help but stop every few hundred feet for another photo!

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more, including my secret of taking photographs without people in them, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
here at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(977552424,'',XLarge,'',1024,663);">Old Forest After the Snowmelt On another one of those painful mornings, I woke up early to explore all around Nikko. Some snow had fallen during the night, and a warm morning sun helped to melt everything into reflective wet surface. It also helped the leaves and bark to glow in an inviting way. There are many beautiful old areas of Nikko that are separated by these long pathways through the forest. It's right out of a Final Fantasy game, and I could not help but stop every few hundred feet for another photo! - Trey Ratcliff Read more, including my secret of taking photographs without people in them, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Old Forest After the Snowmelt


On another one of those painful mornings, I woke up early to explore all around Nikko. Some snow had fallen during the night, and a warm morning sun helped to melt everything into reflective wet surface. It also helped the leaves and bark to glow in an inviting way. There are many beautiful old areas of Nikko that are separated by these long pathways through the forest. It's right out of a Final Fantasy game, and I could not help but stop every few hundred feet for another photo!

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more, including my secret of taking photographs without people in them, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.
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