The Dock to Forever One of the advantages of going down all the side roads is that you get to find cool places!  After leaving Nelson on the South Island, we found a little lake on the map that looked about perfect.  After a few hours of meandering, we discovered this place was almost completely empty (just like every place else on the South Island!).  Even better, there was a perfect little dock jutting out into the lake.I first took a bunch of shots with my 14-24mm lens...  but it was not really getting the dock with the distant valley in the right way.  So, I put on my 70-200mm, zoomed in almost all the way, then backed up quite a bit to get the compression effect of the valley.  Remind me to post the other version someday so you can see the comparison!  I haven't processed it yet -- but it is in my "Pile to Process" -- which is now 22,000 strong.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Rapture The drive to Milford Sound is probably the prettiest in the world.  The landscapes were just outrageous.  It's a 2-hour drive, but it took me about 5! Along the way, the clouds and sun were doing some crazy things.  I drove down to the beach to grab this scene, just at the perfect time. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Homestead I took my campervan from 90 KPH to 0 as soon as I saw this place on the side of the road! This caused some mild excitement with my two kids that were nestled in their clubhouse above my driver's seat.  This was a move they came to expect over the coming days.It seemed just like the kind of place that I needed to shoot.  The old house was abandoned and falling apart.  So, of course, after I took shots of the outside, I ventured inside to really have a look.  I got a ton of photos, and here is the first.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Bay at Portofino This isn’t really Portofino, but it sure does look like it, eh? We might even make the case that it is more pretty than the real Portofino! This is a beautiful resort in Orlando, over at Universal Studios.  All the colors in the sky and the buildings seemed to melt together, so I stopped for a quick photo.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Morning at the Secret Lake This was shot in the Andes of Southern Argentina just near the border of Chile.I spent several hours of hiking in the dark just so I could get to this spot at sunrise.  All the darkness in the lower half is the shadow of the mountain behind me as the morning sun rose above it.  I was so thirsty from the hike, and had not brought any water with me.  Looking on Google Earth beforehand, I knew there was a lake up here and I could fill up… so I got down on my hands and knees and drank like a horse…  oh boy that was some good fresh water…  You can see my little footprints in the snow there on the left.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Frozen Granite Getting to this spot in Glacier National Park wasn't easy.  It was even tougher trying to get Ethan and Tina into the exact spot too.  Even though this area had all this cool granite around it, there was a bit of a swamp there that we had to traverse first.  And, just around the corner was a nice sandy beach!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Solar Flower - The Giant Robot of Buenos Aires This thing is enormous.  In grinds and churns as it follows the sun.  The metallic petals flex and bend with the light as the sun sweeps across the sky.  I had never seen anything like it in my life.  It sits in a park and public walking area of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I walked around it for a while to get a good angle of the monster.  My tripod was stuck in customs, so I had to do this one handheld... and do my best to keep the camera as steady as a T-1000.In less than 24 hours, I will endeavor to introduce a new type of photography to you guys.  I don't have a name for it.  It's experimental.  You'll have to help me come up with a good name for the technique.  People that get the Newsletter (it's free!) will get a sneak peak tomorrow a little early.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
 The Place in Texas Where They Found the 17 Bodies Now this is a proper Texas ghost town! It was always one of those things that fascinated me as a child.  Pretty much anything with the name "ghost" in it was cool back then, including my "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.  I remember there was one called "Deadwood" or something like that, which always had a creepy ghost town feel to it.Anyway, this is a strange abandoned town outside of Brenham, Texas (Home of Blue Bell Ice Cream!).  And no, 17 Bodies were not found here... just being a bit dramatic.  Or maybe there WERE 17 bodies here but the authorities are just covering it up.  It's all true.  I heard Alex Jones say it.Last, I have updated my Nikon 14-24 Review and my Nikon 24-70 Review with new photos and the like.  I know that only about half of our audience is photographers, but some people are looking to get into it more seriously, so maybe those will be helpful to you!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Violent Volcano I thought this mountain and cloud formation was too perfect to ignore.  Clouds always do strange things when they pass over mountains, but this one seemed particularly violent and unexpected.This is not actually a volcano.  it's just a regular old mountain in the Andes that had a nice little volcanic shape.  I skirted around it for a while (skirting is quite a trek at this radius), until the angle seemed about right... although I had to skirt fast before the clouds changed.  I have always wanted to take a photo of a volcano that is erupting.  I climbed up part of a volcano that was erupting in Costa Rica, and you could see the red rocks, but I got absolutely zero good shots.  Oh well... some day!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Place in Texas Where They Found the 17 Bodies


Now this is a proper Texas ghost town!

It was always one of those things that fascinated me as a child. Pretty much anything with the name "ghost" in it was cool back then, including my "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. I remember there was one called "Deadwood" or something like that, which always had a creepy ghost town feel to it.

Anyway, this is a strange abandoned town outside of Brenham, Texas (Home of Blue Bell Ice Cream!). And no, 17 Bodies were not found here... just being a bit dramatic. Or maybe there WERE 17 bodies here but the authorities are just covering it up. It's all true. I heard Alex Jones say it.

Last, I have updated my Nikon 14-24 Review and my Nikon 24-70 Review with new photos and the like. I know that only about half of our audience is photographers, but some people are looking to get into it more seriously, so maybe those will be helpful to you!

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Place in Texas Where They Found the 17 Bodies


Now this is a proper Texas ghost town!

It was always one of those things that fascinated me as a child. Pretty much anything with the name "ghost" in it was cool back then, including my "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. I remember there was one called "Deadwood" or something like that, which always had a creepy ghost town feel to it.

Anyway, this is a strange abandoned town outside of Brenham, Texas (Home of Blue Bell Ice Cream!). And no, 17 Bodies were not found here... just being a bit dramatic. Or maybe there WERE 17 bodies here but the authorities are just covering it up. It's all true. I heard Alex Jones say it.

Last, I have updated my Nikon 14-24 Review and my Nikon 24-70 Review with new photos and the like. I know that only about half of our audience is photographers, but some people are looking to get into it more seriously, so maybe those will be helpful to you!

- Trey Ratcliff

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