Man Crossing Street I spent a lot of time in this dynamic area of Tokyo.  It's sort of the techno-nerd electronic center of the Japanese world.  So I felt right at home there with my fellow nerds.  But this guy certainly stood out.  He was crossing the street and looking extremely Japo-cool.  I pulled up my 50mm and waited for the time to feel right before I snapped the photo.  Afterward, of course, it is kind of fun to look at little bits of the photo and find out, compositionally, why the photo did indeed feel "right" to take at that moment.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
A Silent Evening in Kyoto Under the Cherry Blossoms The beautiful white cherry blossoms were in full bloom and their gentle petals would fall down like snow, collecting on the ground.To get here to Kyoto, I took the bus from Osaka — and this was not the most simple thing in the world. I’m used to traveling in strange places and getting around confusing transport systems, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy! The Japanese transportation system is particularly perplexing. The train system is the easiest to figure out. The bus system is second. The subway is last — dead last.Many of these places I end up have no one that speaks English, so there’s a bit of guesswork involved. After I’m on a bus for 5-10 minutes, I start to have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps I am on the wrong one! With no one to ask or no one to call, it’s a bit more uncertain than I prefer it!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Impressions of Paris I had a nice conversation with a friend this evening about the Impressionists of Paris and all they had to go through to get their work seen.  The old-guard painters than headed the selection committee for the Salon of the late 19th century had a distaste for the Impressionists, and their work was continually rejected.  I feel lucky that we all live at a time where our own impressions of the world can freely be shared.  I hope sites such as HDRspotting can help everyone get their work better exposed to the world.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Tokyo from the Air Wow this city is amazing.  I have to go back soon!I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top.  On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator.  I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building!  How cool!  I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys.  If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version.  You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
New York is Alive and Well It's been a few years since I have been to New York, and Times Square is better than before!  I was actually in New York on 9/11, so it's always good to go back to the city and see everything is still awesome.  Maybe next time I come, we can all do a flash mob and hit B&H Photo for a while - that would be fun!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Meandering in the French Streets After Dark I don't sleep much, even when I am home.  I get a good 5-6 hours of sleep a night; but when I travel, I'm so charged up I get less.  These foreign city streets seem to have a romantic sense about them, so that impedes even more on my sleep since there are so many great places to shoot.This perfect little European medieval street was in Lyon, if I am not mistaken.  Sometimes I forget here in my old age.  There's a 10% chance it is in Paris. There's a long path from click to final image and my memory fades betwixt.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Flying on a Harley This is the subject of one of the other new videos in the newsletter.  It speaks to a common problem many people have when uploading photos online.  Sometimes, I've noticed, they don't look the same on Flickr as the do on my home computer!  That's no good... I figured out the best way to do it and put it in a little video for you.  You can get to it here at the ColorSpace Video- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Mini-Land of San Francisco Everyone always seems to like San Francisco, eh?  It's one of those places that people either have fond memories of, or an ongoing feeling like they need to go there.I know some photographers are probably familiar with this tilt-shift type of shot.  For those of you not familiar with it, there is a way to take photos and convert them into something that looks like a miniature.  You can do it in-camera with a certain kind of lens, or afterwards with some post-processing.  I don't do a lot of tilt-shift stuff, but I thought I would share this one!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Magic of Disney's Main Street at Night Disney after dark is very cool...  All the lights change and it comes alive even more, if possible.  One trick that I have picked up is the essential nap while at Disneyworld for the entire family.  We head back to the room after a busy morning and a carbo-bloat lunch for a family nap.  It keeps everyone sane.  And then, we can all stay up late with minimal chance of breakdown.  Seeing kids breakdown at Disneyworld is just not right... it's not so Disney...- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Tokyo from the Air


Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!

I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".

- Trey Ratcliff

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

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(742624848,'',XLarge,'',1024,716);">Tokyo from the Air Wow this city is amazing.  I have to go back soon!I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top.  On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator.  I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building!  How cool!  I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys.  If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version.  You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Tokyo from the Air


Wow this city is amazing. I have to go back soon!

I found one of the tallest buildings and scooted my way around inside until I found an elevator to the top. On the way up, I was lucky to be on a glass elevator. I was as shocked as you when I saw that soccer field on top of a building! How cool! I'd love to get up there and play around with those guys. If you'd like to see the details there, or anywhere else, be sure to see the original sized version. You can find that by following the photo to the Flickr site, clicking on "All Sizes" and then "Original".

- Trey Ratcliff

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