Death Valley – Stuck in Customs

Ancient Muds of Death Valley

Daily Photo – Ancient Muds of Death Valley

Death Valley is a pretty harsh place. It’s especially harsh if you happen to live your life as mud.

Ancient Muds of Death Valley

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-25 11:06:19
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/250
  • Aperture16
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-1

Comments

Hot Folds

Daily Photo – Hot Folds

I took this while I was cooking alive in Death Valley, California. It must have been like 130 degrees outside (but quite dry) or something. That’s next level stuff but the rock formations were just so fascinating I had to keep exploring.

Hot Folds

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 12:33:53
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/250
  • Aperture5.6
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length85.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

The Rock Moved So Slowly That I Did Not Notice

Daily Photo – The Rock Moved So Slowly That I Did Not Notice

Here’s another one of the images from my 1000 Stories from 1000 Places NFT drop. It sold out in minutes, but they are now available to trade on OpenSea and X2Y2, etc so be sure to check them out.

This is one of the six uber uniques from the collection where the owner on the 31st March 2023 gets the large format physical print!

This is a mysterious place!

This magical place is deep in Death Valley and virtually inaccessible. These massive rocks move across the desert pan, carving trails of time behind them. Countless theories exist about what causes this phenomenon. I stayed here all night, and this was taken just after midnight as the moon rose to make new shadows. I thought the moon might give some clues, but it did not. I lay on the hard pavement near the rock to see if I could sense movement. After half an hour, not only did I see no movement, but I also felt quite redonkulous.

I was completely nude while taking this photo. That has nothing to do with the photo, but I thought you might like to know.

The Rock Moved So Slowly That I Did Not Notice

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 01:20:33
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time15
  • Aperture4
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

The Milky Way over the Burning Bush

Daily Photo – The Milky Way over the Burning Bush

I took this photo in Death Valley one evening. The bush is red and mysterious because of a bit or light-painting with my headlamp. My neck got a bit tired from multiple tries. That glow around it? I don’t really know… maybe a bit of the dust from the desert caught the red light. Either way, I like how everything looks all funky and Zen. Even in the middle of the night, it was still over 95 degrees with a hot wind blasting into my camera and face.

Death Valley, California

The Milky Way over the Burning Bush

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-25 03:30:14
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time30
  • Aperture2.8
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

the rock moved so slowly that I did not notice

Daily Photo – the rock moved so slowly that I did not notice

This is a mysterious place!

This magical place is deep in Death Valley and virtually inaccessible. These massive rocks move across the desert pan, carving trails of time behind them. Countless theories exist about what causes this phenomenon. I stayed here all night, and this was taken just after midnight as the moon rose to make new shadows. I thought the moon might give some clues, but it did not. I lay on the hard pavement near the rock to see if I could sense movement. After half an hour, not only did I see no movement, but I also felt quite redonkulous.

I was completely nude while taking this photo. That has nothing to do with the photo, but I thought you might like to know.

California, USA
TreyRatcliff.com

the rock moved so slowly that I did not notice

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 01:20:33
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time15
  • Aperture4
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

Best Of: California!

And here are some favorite photos from California! Enjoy!

Moonrise Kingdom

Girl Running in Santa MonicaThis is the first photo I got during the LA PhotoWalk. After I was on the steps and gave my little speech-thing, I went down right to the water's edge to see what I could find. This little girl was running up the beach to her dad, so I grabbed a quick one while I talked through the shot for the crowd. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, since everything was unplanned.- Trey RatcliffRead the entire post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Burning Through the Deserts of Death Valley This was my first real experience in a proper desert. The thing that surprised me most was the blast of hot air that kept rushing into my face. I was only here in Death Valley for a few days, so I’m not exactly an expert in deserts. But, while I was there, a nonstop wind full of hot, wet, heat that was pounding into me. The “wet” part was the most interesting… it did not feel as dry as I expected.The other thing I noticed is that walking up these sand dunes is not as easy as it is in video games.- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

The Fog You Can Only See Through From Above

The Rock Moved So Slowly That I Did Not Notice

The Fog You Can Only See Through From Above

Comments

The Folds of the Earth

Subscribe to my new podcast!

Hey, this is kind of a fun announcement! I’ve now recorded about eight different “Walk n’ Talk” discussions with clever people from all around the world. They were all originally recorded on this 360 video camera that I hold in front of us while we walk through beautiful places in the world… When you watch those on YouTube you can grab the camera and aim it any direction you want if you get tired of seeing me and my guest! We also decided to release these as “Audio Only” versions for traditional podcast mechanisms. Just go sign up with your favorite podcasting tech (iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify or in some regions Google Play) and give them a bunch of stars! 🙂

$800 of Mushrooms

This video is super funny.

Daily Photo – The Folds of the Earth

I took this while I was cooking alive in Death Valley, California. It must have been like 130 degrees outside (but quite dry) or something. That’s next level stuff. On another note, I heard there are a lot of hate groups forming in this area, but it’s not that bad because it’s a dry hate.

The Folds of the Earth

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 12:33:53
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/250
  • Aperture5.6
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length85.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

The Colors of Death Valley, New Portfolio, Kim Dotcom, and a giveaway!

Win a free Capture Camera Clip V2!

We’re giving away a whole amazing kit (Capture Pro, Leash & Cuff) in honor of their Kickstarter campaign for the Capture Camera Clip V2! Just comment below if you want one – We’ll pick a random winner in one week… so jump on in – Good luck!


And the winner is … !

The randomly selected winner from over 1,500 comments is Tyler Kirkland! Congratulations Tyler! You’re going to love this great product from Peak Design.


 

Kim Dotcom in Queenstown and on today’s show!

Kim is down from the North Island and he’s popping over to be on the show today! It’ll be fun… We’ll kind of get the show started talking about the New Mega — I’ve started securely uploading some photos and important stuff up there. The encryption is really amazing… I had no idea till he started telling me more about it. I also dig it intellectually as it seems like an important piece in an evolving and free Libertarian ethersphere. But that’s another subject… ! [Edit: Here’s the show below!]

Kim Dotcom

New Bag

I feel like such a girl… I think about bags so much.

But now that my whole system is lighter, I think I need a smaller bag. No, I KNOW I need a smaller bag. This actually took my a while to get my head around. You know, this NEX is 6x smaller than the D800. (I guess you saw the new Sony NEX-7 Review here on the site since I switched from Nikon.) The lenses too! It’s like I have room for 6 NEXs and 6x lenses in my bag… so… well I guess I should do some bag shopping and have a girl’s day out! 🙂

Updated my Portfolio Site

I made a few more tweaks to my portfolio site below… hope you enjoy! What to know more about the portfolio manager I use? See the new SmugMug Review here on the site! 🙂

Daily Photo – The Colors of Death Valley

It took me a long time to get to Death Valley in life. It’s one of those places you hear about a lot but never really get to. For some reason, I decided to make my first visit in the middle of the summer. I’ll never forget the feeling of standing out here at night and having hot (and, surprisingly, wet-feeling) air just blasting me in the face. It was like nothing else. It was actually totally awesome, even though I was looking forward to getting back into my air-conditioned RV! 🙂

The Colors of Death Valley

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 12:32:10
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/500
  • Aperture5.6
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length48.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

The Crazy Colors of Death Valley

Rock Guides on Road Trips

If you’re planning on taking a road trip through a state or area, you should try to get these Rock Guides for each State. I have forgotten the exact name, but it tells you what you are driving past. Like it would say, on Highway 5, just before you get to So-and-So, you’ll pass a rock-cliff wall full of the a special kind of granite that was used to build the Texas State Capitol or whatever whatever. Okay that was a stupid example, but these guides are actually really cool… I recommend them!

Daily Photo – The Crazy Colors of Death Valley

I had no idea Death Valley would be so full of colors! Of course, the HDR process takes the existing colors and really helps them to stand out… and, as everyone knows, that’s perfectly cool with me!

I was close to this area back in college when I used to have a double-major in geophysics and computer-science. I ended up dropping the geo bit of it because of a fight with the professor, but I’ve always kept my fascination with rocks. I don’t know enough about everything I see… like, when I see this below, I have a few ideas on what probably made it like this, but I don’t know for sure. Either way, it’s awesome… I’m glad for all the sulfur and iron in the area and its apparent randomness!

The Crazy Colors of Death Valley

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-26 12:44:15
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/500
  • Aperture5.6
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length190.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments

Genie Time Lapse Photography Camera Device

New Timelapse Device Now Available!

See the full “Time Lapse Photography Syrp Genie Review” here on the site.

I bought one during the Kickstarter phase, but now they are generally available. These guys happened to be here in Queenstown, New Zealand, and they wanted to give you a few coupon code options. If you go to the Genie SYRP Shop you have a choice. You can either get a $110 ballhead for free or save $70 off the purchase of a Genie with that coupon code! Once you get to final checkout, if the ballhead is in your cart, that will be free when you enter the code.

Here are the codew:
STUCKINCUSTOMS110 – Free ballhead
STUCKINCUSTOMS70 – $70 off the Genie

Here is a new video made by the creators of the Genie.

Daily Photo – The Milky Way over the Burning Bush

I took this photo in Death Valley one evening. The bush is red and mysterious because of a bit or light-painting with my headlamp. My neck got a bit tired from multiple tries. That glow around it? I don’t really know… maybe a bit of the dust from the desert caught the red light. Either way, I like how everything looks all funky and zen.

The Milky Way over the Burning Bush

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-25 03:30:14
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time30
  • Aperture2.8
  • ISO1600
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramManual
  • Exposure Bias

Comments