The Sacred Heart of Paris This is the Sacred Heart Church that sits high on a hill in a very artsy area of Paris. Actually, all of Paris seems artsy to me. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a “full time artist” living in Paris. Wouldn’t that be just about the coolest thing in the world? Or maybe you would become spoiled in just a short while and take it all for granted. It’s very hard to empathize or sympathize with any mystical miserables that might be in that situation.I usually take these with a single RAW, but I kind of like the motion in these people… on occasion it seems okay to me, like here.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Dark Temple Corridor in Morning Mist at 4 AM I arrived at the temple of Borobudur a little after 4 AM. I had a tiny disposable flashlight, and, other than my driver idling about a mile away, I was the only person here. In fact, it was my second day in a row to do this, since I had so much fun the first. I was there with my friend Will, and he decided to sleep in the second day… but I had a few shots in mind I wanted to grab before the sun came up. There were these strange argon lights around the temple to light up areas of excavation. They cast a gloomy and surreal light on the Buddhist reliefs that make concentric circles up to the top. I was able to get about 45 minutes of nice darkness with unexpected light until the sun started to appear over the nearby volcanoes and jungle mist. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Secret Church Who would have ever guessed that this immense, classically architected church is in the middle of Chicago, Il?  It's quite amazing, isn't it?My friend Fiona took me here around the time of the Chicago book launch party.  It is a great place place for all kinds of HDR photography. - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Pillars of God This is an awesome church in Paris.  These places are great to photograph.   I believe this one was taken inside Le Sacre Coeur up near the altar.   At the PhotoWalk, I had a few questions about how to get a tripod into a church, of all things!  I wrote up a 10-step guide for this sort of activity a while ago that you can view at your leisure!I'm spending the weekend in Atlanta.  It's about 10 degrees cooler than Austin here, which means it's still inhumanly hot!  I did get a chance to do a little shooting this evening.  I'll see if I can grab the sunset tomorrow night!  I don't yet have a good Atlanta shot...  I'll hope for some good clouds!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Bombing of Dresden This is one of the most famous churches in Dresden that was bombed to bits in WWII. When it was rebuilt just recently, they reused some of the old burned black bricks in the construction. If you look close, you can still see them in there on occasion.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Sacred Heart of Paris This is the Sacred Heart Church that sits high on a hill in a very artsy area of Paris. Actually, all of Paris seems artsy to me. I've always wondered what it would be like to be a "full time artist" living in Paris. Wouldn't that be just about the coolest thing in the world? Or maybe you would become spoiled in just a short while and take it all for granted. It's very hard to empathize or sympathize with any mystical miserables that might be in that situation.Trey's Tip: I usually take these with a single RAW, but I kind of like the motion in these people... on occasion it seems okay to me, like here.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Godly Dance at the Taj I was barefoot like the rest of them.The day must have been around 95 degrees and as stuffy as can be, but the cool marble seemed to keep me from being drenched in sweat.  After a long walk, I had finally made it to the inner core of the Taj Mahal, around the main tomb structure where pilgrims from all over the country had gravitated.  The faithful coiled in long lines and snaked their way around the complex, waiting patiently to reflect at the megamausoleum and communing with the god of their choice.  How could a billion people be wrong?When I travel, I actually always enjoy talking to Indians (or whoever) about their religion.  Here is a little thing I do... I'm not sure it's totally ethical since I say the same thing over and over, but I enjoy seeing people's reaction as a probe a panoply of personalities.  Inevitably, when I'm in a taxi or man-powered trike-mobile, there is some sort of deity that is jiggling about on the dashboard or handlebars.  It can be anyone from Shiva to Brahma to Vishnu to Krishna to Ganesha and beyond.So, I always ask, "Who is the god to whom you pay reverence?"They respond quickly and directly, usually naming one from of the top ten from the pantheon of possibilities.I respond back, in all seriousness, "Oh!  He is a very powerful god!"To this, they always turn to me and nod gravely.My guide there was from no from one of the traditional Hindu sects -- he was a Jain.  The Jain don't recognize the divine origins of the Vedas (made popular in the US from Oppenheimer's re-quote after testing the Bomb), nor do they believe in any one supreme deity.  They instead revere Tirthankaras who have raised themselves to divine perfection.  So anyway, if you ever try out the little trick above, don't bother with a Jain because they will just give you a funny look and a wobble of inconsequential solitude.So if any of you get the chance to go, I recommend it.  The people are all nice as can be and very eager to engage in conversation about just about everything.  Or, of you've already been, then you know what I mean!By the way, this comes from my new Lucis Tutorial.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Votive in the Dark Cathedral I love a scary cathedral.  They can put you in such a melancholy and gloomy mood if you want them too.  You can feel the overbearing saints from above judging your moves, and giving you a few bonus points in the big game if you light one of the votives.  In a scientific study, it was proven than a votive makes a prayer 35% more likely to be granted.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Lost Hindu Temple in the Jungle Mist If you want to see how I made this (and how you can too!), visit my HDR Tutorial.  I hope it gives you some new tricks!I took an afternoon hike in the remote area of Java just outside the town of Jogjakarta to explore this temple.  It's called Prambanan, and it was built around 850 CE.The rain was pouring down, which left me and Will there pretty much alone, except for a few wild deer in the area.  I waited through the rain because I knew if it cleared there would be a great sunset.  I had a little baggy over my camera to keep it dry until everything passed...While waiting on the rain to stop, I walked around and did more up close exploration of the temples of Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, which were three of the largest in the complex.  All the temple blocks were on the edge of collapse, after many centuries of Indonesian earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Dark Temple Corridor in Morning Mist at 4 AM


I arrived at the temple of Borobudur a little after 4 AM. I had a tiny disposable flashlight, and, other than my driver idling about a mile away, I was the only person here. In fact, it was my second day in a row to do this, since I had so much fun the first. I was there with my friend Will, and he decided to sleep in the second day… but I had a few shots in mind I wanted to grab before the sun came up.

There were these strange argon lights around the temple to light up areas of excavation. They cast a gloomy and surreal light on the Buddhist reliefs that make concentric circles up to the top. I was able to get about 45 minutes of nice darkness with unexpected light until the sun started to appear over the nearby volcanoes and jungle mist.

- 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(1137344047,'',XLarge,'',1024,715);">The Dark Temple Corridor in Morning Mist at 4 AM I arrived at the temple of Borobudur a little after 4 AM. I had a tiny disposable flashlight, and, other than my driver idling about a mile away, I was the only person here. In fact, it was my second day in a row to do this, since I had so much fun the first. I was there with my friend Will, and he decided to sleep in the second day… but I had a few shots in mind I wanted to grab before the sun came up. There were these strange argon lights around the temple to light up areas of excavation. They cast a gloomy and surreal light on the Buddhist reliefs that make concentric circles up to the top. I was able to get about 45 minutes of nice darkness with unexpected light until the sun started to appear over the nearby volcanoes and jungle mist. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Dark Temple Corridor in Morning Mist at 4 AM


I arrived at the temple of Borobudur a little after 4 AM. I had a tiny disposable flashlight, and, other than my driver idling about a mile away, I was the only person here. In fact, it was my second day in a row to do this, since I had so much fun the first. I was there with my friend Will, and he decided to sleep in the second day… but I had a few shots in mind I wanted to grab before the sun came up.

There were these strange argon lights around the temple to light up areas of excavation. They cast a gloomy and surreal light on the Buddhist reliefs that make concentric circles up to the top. I was able to get about 45 minutes of nice darkness with unexpected light until the sun started to appear over the nearby volcanoes and jungle mist.

- Trey Ratcliff

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