from Trey Ratcliff at www.stuckincustoms.com
Four Horses It was one of those long summer afternoons when you are sure it must be 5 PM, and you check the clock and it's only 2 PM!  You know these days.  Anyway, I decided to pick up my camera and walk around the ranch in Yellowstone for a little while  The stable area is always a target, rich environment, so I headed right over there to find these four horses lined up so nicely.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Jack Horner De-choppering This is another picture from that mysterious ranch in Montana that I hint at from time to time.  The only way to get there is a 3 to 4 hour horse ride or to take a private helicopter over the Rockies... it descends into a secret green valley... something right out of Galt's Gulch.Every few days, new guests arrive and depart.  And, on this day, the chopper brought in the great Jack Horner.  He's one of those guys that's awesome and doesn't even try to be.  He just is.  Later that night, he gave a talk in front of everyone about some of his new discoveries in the world of dinosaurs.  It turns out that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur!  Cool.  He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum.  He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age.  Very interesting stuff.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Liftoff at the Ranch I ran out into the field to capture this just as the helicopter takes off after unloading another group of guests.  The lighting and angle were perfect, so I was curious to see if I could catch the helicopter blade totally still.  I did!  A good experiment...  note that many of my experiments fail... but this one worked out.And yes, obviously, this is an HDR from a single RAW.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Approaching the Ranch This photo is a new one from just on the north side of Yellowstone.  I took it just after one of those afternoon thunderstorms that sometimes pass across the countryside.  This path was made by many years of horse-drawn wagons.  There's a ranch out this way, and motorized cars are forbidden... so it took a long time to make these tracks.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Storm Hitting the Barn It was about 3 in the afternoon and things were getting over-the-top warm.  You know that feeling when the weather gets so uncomfortably warm that you expect something to happen soon?  This feeling washed over me about 30 minutes before these violent clouds form to sweep over the Rocky Mountains towards the barn.The tripod was nearby, so I grabbed it to go outside and set up the easel. - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest of this entry here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Falls of Yellowstone This is a very famous waterfall in Yellowstone National Park.  I was there smack dab in the middle of the day, which is just about the worst time to take photos.  So be it, Jedi.I got out the old trusty and handy 200-400mm lens to take a shot.  It's not that big.  It'll fit right in your back pocket.  (BTW, see my Nikon 200-400 Review for more).- Trey RatcliffRead more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Morning. Coffee. Yellowstone. Fog. My poor family.  I dragged them all out of bed at 5 AM and put them in the car so I could go take this photo.  I did load up on plenty of coffee to keep things fresh and warm on this cool morning, but my kids zonked out in the back of the car anyway.  Well, if they're not asleep, they're whining, "Dad???  You stopping again!" ... I rush out the door and trail off, muttering into the wind, "Yes but art must be made, you see..."This spot is not too far from the entrance to West Yellowstone.  The warm water that comes from the earth mixes with the cool morning sky.  It creates a surreal layer of fog that simply rests on top of the river.  It flows up, around, and through the neighboring trees.  It reminds me of the dry ice that comes out of cauldrons on Halloween.To take this shot, I set up with a tripod and grabbed 7 exposures from +3 to -3.  I always anchor at even zero for these "sun shots."  I also set up for matrix metering, since you can't figure out where in the dynamic range to hang your spot.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Horses on an Evening Meadow Every night before sunset, the horses would be let out of the corral for a bit of "personal" time.  They spent almost no time at all on the Internet, and, instead, just meandered around this grassy meadow at the ranch. The grass looks nice eh?  And there was no lawn-mowing necessary. - Trey Ratcliff Read the rest, including a discussion on some Topaz issues, here.

Jack Horner De-choppering


This is another picture from that mysterious ranch in Montana that I hint at from time to time. The only way to get there is a 3 to 4 hour horse ride or to take a private helicopter over the Rockies... it descends into a secret green valley... something right out of Galt's Gulch.

Every few days, new guests arrive and depart. And, on this day, the chopper brought in the great Jack Horner. He's one of those guys that's awesome and doesn't even try to be. He just is. Later that night, he gave a talk in front of everyone about some of his new discoveries in the world of dinosaurs. It turns out that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur! Cool. He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum. He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age. Very interesting stuff.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur! Cool. He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum. He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age. Very interesting stuff.

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(1208153324,'',XLarge,'',1024,682);">Jack Horner De-choppering This is another picture from that mysterious ranch in Montana that I hint at from time to time.  The only way to get there is a 3 to 4 hour horse ride or to take a private helicopter over the Rockies... it descends into a secret green valley... something right out of Galt's Gulch.Every few days, new guests arrive and depart.  And, on this day, the chopper brought in the great Jack Horner.  He's one of those guys that's awesome and doesn't even try to be.  He just is.  Later that night, he gave a talk in front of everyone about some of his new discoveries in the world of dinosaurs.  It turns out that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur!  Cool.  He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum.  He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age.  Very interesting stuff.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Jack Horner De-choppering


This is another picture from that mysterious ranch in Montana that I hint at from time to time. The only way to get there is a 3 to 4 hour horse ride or to take a private helicopter over the Rockies... it descends into a secret green valley... something right out of Galt's Gulch.

Every few days, new guests arrive and depart. And, on this day, the chopper brought in the great Jack Horner. He's one of those guys that's awesome and doesn't even try to be. He just is. Later that night, he gave a talk in front of everyone about some of his new discoveries in the world of dinosaurs. It turns out that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same dinosaur! Cool. He had shown me research a year earlier at his underground (literally) lab in Montana that rests underneath the dinosaur museum. He had huge computer screens showing the bone histology, and how it changes as the dinosaurs age. Very interesting stuff.

- Trey Ratcliff

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