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!

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Daily Photo – Driving from Te Anau to Kingston

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!

Driving from Te Anau to Kingston

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2017-02-19 16:41:38
• CameraFC6310
• Camera MakeDJI
• Exposure Time1/500
• Aperture6.3
• ISO100
• Focal Length8.8 mm
• FlashNo flash function
• Exposure ProgramProgram AE
• Exposure Bias

A New Video!

A New Photo-Video for you – All New Zealand awesomeness…

I have a Landscape Photography Tutorial based here in New Zealand available over at https://stuckincustoms.com/landscape-and-travel-photography-tutorial-new-zealand/

Animation/Slideshow – more info at https://stuckincustoms.com/links/animoto — or see my review at https://stuckincustoms.com/animoto-review/

Amaze-maze music by the New Zealand band, Arma Del Amor – see more at https://www.facebook.com/ArmaDelAmorNZ

A great blog post

Here’s a very nice blog post about Being Brave from Marjorie McDonald. Thanks so much Marjorie! She’s one of the lucky Apprentices to get into The Arcanum and her Master is the great Ron Clifford!

New Post on the Flatbooks Blog

Did you know that we started a new blog over at Flatbooks? We’re posting articles full of tips & tricks from our authors over there. A new one just went up from Scott Wyden Kivowitz on neutral density filters.

We also have a new Facebook page as well – make sure you follow it to get all the latest!

Daily Photo – Walking on an Alien Surface

I don’t know if I could ever find this place again! But wow, it was so cool!

I was about 25 minutes outside of Te Anau, and I pulled over to take a break. I walked over a little hillock and saw this massive sea of hot yellow sponge on the ground. It was amazing! It was SO SOFT to walk on… each footstep had me sink down about 2 inches! It then sprang back up, good as new. I even laid down on it for a while to watch the clouds soar overhead… oh New Zealand, you are full of surprises!

Walking on an Alien Surface

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2014-08-17 15:04:00
• CameraILCE-7R
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/500
• Aperture8
• ISO160
• Focal Length28.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Her Handiwork

See Bel in the field in today’s photo? Here’s some of her handiwork… she made this whole video! If you want to know more, see the Landscape Tutorial Series page! 🙂

Daily Photo – Bel in the Field

Here is Bel Jones, caught in the middle of filming the New Zealand photo adventure a few months ago. We stopped in a field on the way to Milford Sound to do some shooting… She got low in the grass like an African predator to get her shots… so turned the camera back at her for a moment while she was getting some b-roll!

Bel in the Field

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2013-02-09 06:26:52
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/640
• Aperture7.1
• ISO250
• Focal Length116.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Many New Books on Flatbooks.com

I know many of you go to www.FlatBooks.com to have a regular look at the latest offerings, but let me go ahead and give you these three in case you missed them!

• Travel Photography Exposed, by Mike Marlowe.
• Crowd Control, by Corwin Meunch
• Travel Not Required (Vol 1 and 2 Bundle) by Jason Muench

Daily Photo – Sheepstorm

On the drive down to Te Anau from Queenstown, you pass countless fields of sheep with dramatic mountain backdrops. I think sheep in fields are already pleasant enough to look at, but it gets even better when there is drama in the mountains and drama in the skies!

I’m not exactly the Sheep Whisperer yet, but I have noticed that you have to be quiet as a mouse when approaching a fence to take a photo. If just ONE of them gets scared and runs, they ALL get scared and run.

Sheepstorm

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-10-27 02:00:17
• CameraNIKON D3S
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/8000
• Aperture2.8
• ISO200
• Focal Length110.0 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-2

$250 Contest from Adorama

It continues! Check out some of the latest #TreysLightroomPresets entries here.

For the month of November we are running a photo contest to see all of the creative ways you use Trey’s Lightroom Presets. The winner will receive a $250 gift certificate from Adorama!

To enter, simply post your photo to Google+, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest and add the tag #TreysLightroomPresets along with the name of the preset you used to the photo’s description. You can post as many photos as you want during the month of November. On December 1, 2012 we’ll pick a random winner from the entries. Good luck and have fun!

Daily Photo – Crossing Monkey Creek

As you drive into Milford Sound, you may well decide that the drive itself is better than the destination. And that’s saying a lot, believe me!

I think one of the best unofficial hikes is right around Monkey Creek here. It’s certainly worth parking your car and spending a few hours walking around the area. Even without your camera, it’s still a feast for the eyes.

Crossing Monkey Creek

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-10-27 18:56:02
• CameraNEX-7
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1600
• Aperture3.5
• ISO100
• Focal Length18.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-0.3

The Car Trip

A few days ago, I posted a grouping of three photos from the car trip, so here are three more for you! Also, maybe you saw some of these in the new video that launched yesterday… so here they are a bit bigger and whatnot! 🙂

On the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound, you cross a perfect little stream called Monkey Creek. This spot is worth at least a few hours of exploration!

I woke up early in the morning to visit the sound to see what was happening. Everything seemed in slow motion while the fog slowly wafted across the water…

Daily Photo – Sailing on Lake Wakatipu

The car trip started here in Queenstown on Lake Wakatipu. It was a perfect spring day, and there was a lone sailboat down on the lake. Everything is on such a big scale here, maybe you can get a sense of the overall size of the lake from the tiny sailboat on there… it looks like a toy!

Sailing on Lake Wakatipu

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-10-27 23:09:29
• CameraNEX-7
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1000
• Aperture5.6
• ISO100
• Focal Length45.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-0.3

Why Did I Move to New Zealand?

There’s a long story to it all… but I think you can see a lot of the reasons in the video below.

By the way, if you are looking to buy a house here and need a recommendation, contact me via [email protected] and the team will get you to me. I can make an excellent recommendation for you!

This video was made with Animoto!

I used a cool online thing called Animoto to make this video. I also wrote up a full Animoto Review here on the site.

You can also use the Animoto Coupon Code of “STUCKINCUSTOMS” to get 2 months free with a pro account… thanks for the team there for providing that for us!

New Video – Turning to Peace in New Zealand

It’s a hi-rez video… I recommend listening with earphones or good speakers too – enjoy 🙂

A fun weekend on the South Island

I jumped in the car with the family to take a little road trip down to Milford Sound. I took a bunch of photos, but wanted to go ahead and share three of them here with you. I know I usually just share one a day, but this is a little bonus I guess! 🙂

The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound is insanely beautiful. After a long drive through a meadow, you come to this small forest that leads deeper into the mountains.

Driving along the road through the mountains, you pass about 100 waterfalls. I’m not kidding! Many of them are buried in fresh green fauna, and you can’t see them unless you happen to be looking directly at them.

Daily Photo – Navigating Across the Rivers of New Zealand in the Morning Mists

I woke up in the morning before everyone else to go on an extended scouting mission. I arrived around this river just as the morning mists were lifting enough to give me a view into the distance.

Navigating Across the Rivers of New Zealand in the Morning Mists

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-10-27 15:30:35
• CameraNEX-7
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/60
• Aperture7.1
• ISO100
• Focal Length45.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias-0.7

YouTube Channel Reminder

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you get to see videos first! It’s recently updated… enjoy!

Daily Photo – Pink Mountains During Morning Sunrise

Te Anau is a great little town down in the southern fjord area of New Zealand. It’s sort of the stopping-off point for Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. It’s also a great home base for photography, because there are countless things to see within just a short drive. I woke up early one morning to drive out towards Doubtful Sound and I saw this scene in my rear-view mirror.