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Join me in Los Angeles on September 9th!

I am excited to announce that I am hosting another Photo Walk. This time we will be in... Los Angeles! For more details and to let us know you're coming please RSVP on the Facebook event. This is a free event, and all skill levels and cameras (yes even mobile phones) are welcome!

It should be a beautiful sunset and a great chance for you to come learn some new photography tips & tricks, and you'll meet a bunch of awesome people. Plus you never know what will happen. The last time we did a photo walk in Los Angeles our group happened upon a crazy cosplay photo shoot (that's one of the images on the right). Speaking of awesome people, the photo walk is sponsored by Air New Zealand.

We just selected a winner for the big Air NZ contest to fly out here and spend a week with me at a photo workshop in New Zealand. Thanks again for the thousands of incredible entries – very inspirational!

3 Unexpected Things In Japan

Here’s some random videos I crammed together from Japan. If you like this sort of thing, let me know and I can do more. It really has nothing to do with photography… really.

The PetaPixel Podcast Turns 200!

The team over at PetaPixel just hit Episode 200 of their podcast so I helped out my buddy (the host), Mike "Sharky" James, with a fun intro. Have a listen by clicking the image below, the show is packed with useful photography news so it is well worth checking out!

4 Tips For Taking Surprising Mobile Photos

It doesn’t matter if you use an iPhone or an Android there are a few things you can do to get your mobile photography to the next level. All of the example photos included for these tips tips were taken with my Google Pixel phone. I normally shoot with a big Hasselblad camera, but sometimes all I have with me is my phone. I’ve come up with some great tricks to make them look as surprising and incredible as possible.

Don’t hit that big circle on the screen to take the photo. Use the Vol Up button on the side! One, when you jab the screen with your finger, you’re causing camera-shake and it will make your photo more blurry. Two, using the volume up button allows you to hold the camera much more steady with one or two hands.

Experiment with the mobile app Snapseed! It’s free and available for Android and iOS. This is, by far, the best app for editing your photos on your phone. There are many tools in there and many different filters. One great thing about Snapseed is you can layer many different filters together to really give your photo a unique look. People will wonder how you did it!

Take some cheeky street photos. If you’re like me, as you walk around the streets, you often see interesting people, crazy outfits, or just kooky things you find interesting. It can sometimes be embarrassing to blatantly aim your phone at these things, so get used to using the Volume Up button to take the photos. On the Pixel phone, for example, I can turn on the camera by double-clicking the power button. Then I move my finger to volume-up to take the photo. Your horizon will probably be off, but you can fix that later.

Try combining your phone with an iPad or tablet to edit your photos and take them to the next level. Professional photographers know that a photo reads differently on a larger screen. Next time you’re at a coffee shop, why not zap your photo over to your tablet (via Google Photos or Airdrop), then use Snapseed to edit it there. A good photo always looks better bigger on a tablet, so don’t feel like you’re forced to use that tiny little screen.

Scroll down to see some examples of photos I have taken with my mobile phone!

StuckInCustoms.com is a personal blog where Trey puts up a new unique photo every day and writes about the art, the technology, and the story of the adventures. Actually, this is Trey writing about this in third person. Both Trey and I appreciate your support very much!

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Here are some examples of photos I've captured using my phone!

Olya in action

This was taken an underground Turkish bath in Budapest, Hungary. This is Olya, my crazy Russian videographer, who traveled through Europe with us to make some inspirational and tutorial videos.

Family Fun

Here's a fun family photo from a few months ago when we rode camels near the pyramids in Egypt. I used Snapseed filters to give it this "look."

Off to Hans Zimmer Live

Here's a cheeky street photo I took in Budapest, Hungary. This is my assistant Tane. He's not posing; this is literally how he looks all the time.

Aruba Sunshine

This a photo I took in Aruba. I was jogging on the beach, and of course I had my mobile phone with me. I was able to cover a lot of ground quickly, and there's no way I would go on a jog and carry a Hasselblad! But it's nice to always have the phone with me and take a ton of photos, picking out the best after I sit down to relax.

Close to home

Here's a panorama of three different photos I took while on a walk here near my home in New Zealand. Since I have an Android, I use Google photos. One great thing about Google Photos is there's a little AI assistant that will "gift" you a panorama if it senses you took a lot of photos close together.

Lake Hayes Sunset

Near my home on the South Island of New Zealand, there is this amazing place to watch the sunset called Lake Hayes. I forgot my big Hasselblad camera, so all I had was my phone. There's a saying that the Best Camera is the one you have with you!