And on the way to Paradise… On the way to Paradise, New Zealand is Glenorchy. Be sure to stop here and take a walk around their new boardwalks that go out through the wetlands. You better set aside 2-4 hours, like all the “little” walks around here! Some days have the water at a pretty high level, and you can sometimes see nice shapes like this one here.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Tom with the Horse The first time Tom and I took photos of horses was on Oahu. This was our second horse-encounter here in New Zealand! He got up close with his fisheye while I backed up with the 70-200 f/2.8 to get this shot.I really like those mountains behind Tom. I want to get a shot of them this winter when they are all covered in snow! - 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 RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Snow over the Creek There is a place called Pyramid Lake just past Glenorchy that is perfectly wonderful in the winter as long as you have the traction. This shot is from the end of last winter when I caught a little bit of snow. You’ll notice I don’t have a ton of snowy shots from NZ yet, but I think I’ll get a lot more this winter. I’m really looking forward to some good snowfalls, in fact! I’m sure if you’re in the northern hemisphere that you are sick of the cold and ready for the warm… but I really am looking forward to the change!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Kayaks Along Lake Wakatipu I’ve never taken a kayak out onto that lake. I’m not much of a kayaker, but also, I’m not a big fan of deep bodies of water. Actually, I will just go all the way from “not a big fan” to “outright afraid”. You never know what kind of nonsense is happening underneath you, you know? I don’t like swimming to being in a little boat on top of deep water. I don’t mind being in a big, sea-worthy boat. That’s fine. But swimming and being in a little boat… that’s not for me. This is strange, because I know it’s irrational. And I don’t really have any other irrational fears… but I can’t figure out a way to get around this one (nor do I see the need to do so, which is probably part of the problem itself).- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Road to the Woolshed After shooting the sunset, the entire class and I walked down this road together to have dinner at the Wool Shed. It was a fun, catered event, and a great way to wrap up the week. We didn’t end up walking down the road at the same time. In fact, I’m surprised everyone found their way here. We were spread out all over creation (although I invited people to stay near me if they wished!). A few people stayed with me, but others went off to seek their fortune on other faraway hills around Bendemeer. I had trouble finding the spot, so maybe they did too!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Hay for the Winter You may remember this photo from the New Zealand Landscape tutorial video I released. I’m glad everyone is enjoying those videos btw!This is my first Autumn in Queenstown. I watched these fields grow all summer long, and it’s cool to watch them all be cut down and rolled into these nice bales of hay. I notice that most farmers seem to wrap them up in plastic to protect them from the water… they are not as pretty then, so I was happy to get this photo before they were wrapped up!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Hijinks in the Golden Fields And here we are a day before the workshop in New Zealand began, goofing off in the fields along the lakes and mountains of New Zealand. That’s Karen Hutton there taking a photo of Curtis Simmons. It’s very meta and all that. You can also see my new truck there on the right. It’s a Volkswagen Amorak. Who’s ever heard of that? Not me! I didn’t even know Volkswagen made trucks till I moved here. Everything here has a different name… it’s kind of like a parallel universe when it comes to cars. The focus of this paragraph has shifted.- 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.

And on the way to Paradise…


On the way to Paradise, New Zealand is Glenorchy. Be sure to stop here and take a walk around their new boardwalks that go out through the wetlands. You better set aside 2-4 hours, like all the “little” walks around here!

Some days have the water at a pretty high level, and you can sometimes see nice shapes like this one here.

- 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(2499781380,'',XLarge,'',550,768);">And on the way to Paradise… On the way to Paradise, New Zealand is Glenorchy. Be sure to stop here and take a walk around their new boardwalks that go out through the wetlands. You better set aside 2-4 hours, like all the “little” walks around here! Some days have the water at a pretty high level, and you can sometimes see nice shapes like this one here.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

And on the way to Paradise…


On the way to Paradise, New Zealand is Glenorchy. Be sure to stop here and take a walk around their new boardwalks that go out through the wetlands. You better set aside 2-4 hours, like all the “little” walks around here!

Some days have the water at a pretty high level, and you can sometimes see nice shapes like this one here.

- Trey Ratcliff

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