I took this in a relatively “seedy” area of Tokyo near Kabuchiko. It’s not really as dangerous as it used to be. Many years ago, it was pretty rough while I was there with a bunch of Nigerians who were under the control of the Yakuza, so things can go sideways at any time. Luckily, I knew about these things so I never got in any serious trouble. It’s still a bit sketch around there late at night, but it’s a lot better than it used to be.
While on the European Photo Tour, we stopped in Normandy for the evening while on the way to London. We parked the bus in a car park and I jumped out to walk along the coast to enjoy the sunset. It turned out to be a rather beautiful one. I took a lot of photos of the old monastery, but some of the best light was in this direction.
What’s better than a personalized meal in Japan by a master chef? Not much else, as far as I can surmise. This is a photo from our tour across Japan where we visited several different locations all around the country. I think if I had to choose one country’s food for the rest of my life, it would probably be Japan. Most people think it’s just sushi, but the broad range of options is never-ending.
Okinawa, although an island by itself as part of Japan, is like a country of its own. The culture there is like a small parallel universe of Japan, which is like its own parallel universe. The country does not have much of a “beach culture” where families go out to hang out on the beach, so most of them are quite empty. In the middle of the summer, the weather is still pretty hot, but the beaches are mostly empty and ready for you to explore. Like many islands, the clouds are often multilayered and idyllic for photography.
This is the first spot we took people during the Portugal workshop in Sintra. We were staying there in the Ritz-Carlton, and it was quite cool because there were many ruins within walking distance. You can see a bit of the old Roman aqueduct there on the top. Obviously, they built a golf course all around it. I decided to get this vantage point with the quad to make the photo a little confusing on purpose.
If it’s not on a street, it’s still considered Street Art, right? I guess. Anyway, this was on the 2nd level of an old, abandoned WWII listening station just outside of Berlin. We stayed a little too late and got in trouble for being here, but it was worth it!
Early Look at Machine Elf – We Are Made From Stars
If you’re a Passport Member then today you get a look at all 16 minutes of its glory. This is absolutely one of my favorite pieces from Machine Elf, and we have custom music from Joshua Ryan. Enjoy!
Early Look at the New Machine Elf
Man, this one just might be my favorite so far. It’s hard to keep track of all of them! My friend Joshua Ryan did the music for this one… I still have a lot of work to do on it, but this is pretty much 95% complete!
It’s about a four-hour drive to go all the way from Queenstown to Milford Sound, but it is incredibly beautiful. There are parts where you are passing and just kind of thinking… blah… yeah, I’ve seen all this before. But, at those times, I try to jump out of the truck and get the quad up to see if there are any cool scenes. This is one of those!
This is one of my favorite little alleys in Tokyo, and it is very close to Shinjuku. I’ve been there a few times, but I often forget exactly where it is. Sometimes, I purposefully set out to find this place, and I get completely lost and end up in a different area. I mean, that’s okay. I guess I could mark it on Google Maps, but I like the challenge of trying to find this little treasure again.
I’ve gotten really into this show called Hamilton’s Pharmacopia. I’ve probably seen about 10 episodes now, and I just watched this one about an Iboga ceremony in Gabon. This looks way more intense that other ones I have done, some of which you can hear about on my podcast page.
Daily Photo – Above Tunnel Beach in Dunedin
A few years ago I had a TV interview down here on that peninsula. I honestly can’t remember what the interview was about… but as with all TV interviews, the discussion was quite surface-level and we never got into anything deep. I knew that was gonna be the way it was, so I decided to actually do some other stuff while there, like flying my quad to get some cool shots like this!
Well, the first Burning Man NFT (Non-Fungible Token – think “Bitcoin for digital art”) went great and for about 7 Ethereum and you can see how it progressed at https://foundation.app/treyratcliff/burning-embrace-10493 . All the proceeds went to charity, split between 3, with my nomination being a local organization here in Queenstown run by my friend Dr. Rigg called Southern Wellbeing Trust with the tagline “Delivering evidence based innovative community level solutions for Mental health and wellbeing.” Cool stuff… I may have to take all the donations back for my own mental health. Just kidding… fun mental-health humor. Keeping it light, you know… I do wonder how people can get through chaos without a sense of humor. Anyway, it may be clear to you now that I’m not a mental health professional, so it’s probably better to leave that to the experts and support them 🙂
And now there is a new animated Burning Man NFT at Foundation – it’s one of my favorites. Here’ the official description I put on there for this piece entitled “Awakening to what Is”:
“There’s quite an exciting time when one awakens into consciousness, albeit it may indeed be ironically solipsistic. As you ride out into the deep playa of Burning Man, fascinating art pops out of the ground to inspire you while you’re on your own grueling Joseph Campbellesque type quest. “Awakening” by Geurts/Elmendorf makes for the perfect meditation of serenity. As with all my Burning Man works, a percentage goes back to the creator of the sculpture. For the 4K 30s file, contact after auction.”
Also, I have made a new video that describes the weird world of digital art and NFTs. I currently am only working with Foundation, but soon, I’ll be doing drops on Makersplace. I’m also interested in working with Nifty Gateway and OpenSea, but I don’t really know anyone there… so, if you do, hook me up! 🙂
Oh, and we’ve started a 2nd account for Machine Elf animated NFTs on Foundation Check those out…They are quite visually appealing along with the amazing music. Here is a short preview from Machine Elf 36 – Open Heart. Click here to see it in full with original music from Sam Wave.
Stay awesome! 🙂
Daily Photo – The Remarkables on a Saturday Afternoon
I have a small hike I do from my home here that takes me to this place. I usually listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I walk and look at nature. I walk up this fairly big hill, and along the way, there are little ponds. I stopped to grab this photo… I feel like just having a little reflection in the shot gives it a little pizzazz.
