Hong Kong from the Peak on a Summer's Night 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 had a long day waking up at 5 AM to take a series of subways and trains up to Shenzen for some meetings. I had a Chinese VISA, which you don't need to get into Hong Kong, but I had to use to cross the official Chinese border after getting off the train. I didn't realize that it was a one-time use VISA, and I had to go to Shanghai the next day. This caused a lot of problems with the Chinese officials, a body of government with which I do not enjoy causing problems.Anyway, after I got back to Hong Kong after a day in Shenzen, I was hot and sweaty and in the sort of meeting clothes that aren't great for being hot and sweaty in. But, everything about Hong Kong was still awesome and I had too look hard for things to complain about. The sun was setting, and I made it up to The Peak just in time for a shot.This was a 5-exposure HDR shot at 100 ISO, and, of course, a sturdy tripod to get all the lights as steady as possible.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Bamboo Forest While exploring Kyoto, I eventually found my way to this fanciful bamboo forest.  There had been a light rain most of the morning and everything was quite lovely.  The rain does strange things as it moves its way through these sorts of trees.  I waited and waited, and that was nice too.  In the early afternoon, the rain stopped while the sun peeked through the top.  It shone down while the earlier rain misted down from the tops of the trees.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Farewell India I had a truly wonderful time in India and I can't wait to return.  After spending most of the day exploring the Taj Mahal, I found a car to take me across the river.  The bridge was over 100 years old and crowded with every type of locomotion - from donkey to pull cart to bike.  After working my way down to the river, I found I could not quite get low enough to take the photo I wanted.  So, reluctantly, I took my camera off my tripod and buried it in the mud, about half an inch above the water.  I spent all night in the bathroom saying I was sorry to the camera... cleaning her up back into her old self once again.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Hans Zimmer's Studio I don't know if words do it justice, but I hope these photos do. The studio is even bigger than I thought, and I was reminded of the Crimson Lounge in Chicago.  In fact, I pulled up the image on my laptop there on the table to compare textures and light.  I thought everything worked well together -- the decadence and richness of the decorations integrated with the technology.   I don't know if there is a word for such a look... It's something out of a Phillip Pullman novel, somewhere between Steampunk and Techno-boudoir.  Again, words fail.The first two photos I have placed on Flickr.  You can click on them to go to Flickr and then zoom into the full-res size.  Amazing details -- especially in the chair photo. I'll post more in coming weeks, months, and years, as usual.  So, stay tuned... my ongoing quest continues!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Stuck in Customs in Space I love this shot!  It came out wicked. I used to say wicked a lot in grade school and I still like saying it.  This may or may not make me lame, and I can't be objective about such things.This is the airport in Bangkok, Thailand.  I am not sure who the architect is, but it came out quite inspired.  Taking photos of beautiful architecture is somewhat of a sport of mine.  I want to try to honor the lines and the textures via a good composition and a good HDR treatment.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Giant Sun Sinks into the Tasman Sea Despite what I said in the podcast, sometimes you do want to go beyond +2 to -2 !  I can't go through every caveat in those short soundbytes... but this exemplifies such a case.  In this photo of the sunset over the Tasman Sea, off the coast of New Zealand, I did take 7 exposures form +3 to -3.  Whenever you aim the camera right into the sun, you need to expose even more range than normal.I am going back to New Zealand for about a month in October.  It will be a blast!  This time, I'll be spending most of my time on the South Island, exploring around...  I hope to bring back more wonderful finds from the wild for you! - Trey Ratcliff There's more, including video of my chat with Leo Laporte's The Tech Guy, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Exploring the Old Village If you ever get to Mont Saint Michel, give the whole place a full circle on the curtain wall. It’s easy to get up on the wall (and quite safe to walk on… even though walking on a wall sounds dangerous). There are stairs to get up there and everything. Anyway, the wall circumnavigates about a third of the old village and monastery. There are countless good angles. It’s also worth walking this route at least three times – Sunrise (or sunset), mid day, and night! - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.

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