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Saying Goodbye to Google+

On April 2, 2019 Google will officially shutdown the Google+ social platform. I’m not bitter about it. It doesn’t matter to me personally since I’m on all the other social networks, and, most importantly, none of those have a significant impact on my business or personal life. They are just sorta “fun” places to share your creations, help people, get inspiration, and inspire others. We could all use a little more of that. Through G+ I made hundreds of new friends, met thousands of people and amassed millions of connections. And for that, I'm very grateful. I recently wrote an article where I share what I would have done if I was designing Google+ now.

One of my favorite memories from the early days of G+ was a massive photo walk we did in San Francisco in May 2012. Hundreds of photographers, from all walks of life, having fun, enjoying photography, making new friends... it was a great day! And yes, we were geeking out with our Google Glasses, haha! You can see more photos from the event here, but you'll have to do so before G+ shuts down!

Come join the Party in my Funky Lounge!

This also seems like a great time to invite you over to our very active Facebook Group called Becoming an Artist - Trey's Funky Lounge. It's a great group of new and experienced photographers and creatives! We do giveaways, critiques, tutorial videos, and more! Plus, everyone in there is super-nice, so it's a safe place for you to share your creations and get/give feedback. One thing I do ask, if I may be so bold, is to comment on all the photos that you find interesting. People love getting feedback, and this is a great place to do it.

Editing a photo with Aurora from Japan - Ginzan Onsen

Here's a new how-to video where I edit a photo from my recent trip in Japan using Aurora HDR 2019!

Passport Exclusive - Experimenting with a New Photoshop Feature

Here's a video we just released exclusively for members of Stuck in Customs Passport Every week I release a new video specifically for members plus they get access to tons of extra goodies... you can learn more here and subscribe for the price of just a couple of cups of coffee. And, as always, if you're not extremely happy, well you can cancel at any time. No worries.

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! If you think your family or friends might like this Newsletter (subscribe for free), please forward this to them. It'll make a fun email chain!

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Some recent photos from StuckInCustoms.com

Driving Across Iceland

Here's a photo from one of my many road trips across Iceland. I've been thinking about going back here for another solo road trip during the summers there when it never gets dark. It's hard to explain how different it is at the latitude of 66 degrees. I thought New Zealand would be similar, but we're only at 45 degrees. The summers here keep the sunlight all the way past 10 PM, but there are still many hours of darkness until the morning. I find it hard to force myself to be awake for 4 hours in total darkness to wait for the sunrise, but it's a lot easier in Iceland where there is no wait at all!

Sunset in Wanaka

This is one of my favorite sunset situations... pastel pink clouds on top of a pastel blue sky. When I see this, it reminds me that I need to get over the hill more often to Wanaka. It's only an hour away, so I really have no excuse!

Over Tokyo

Here's one of my new favorite kind of drone photos: a photo of a city where you can't see the skyline. I like this because you can't quite work out what city it is. I notice when people look at my portfolio, they are always quite ready to guess (or know) what city it is. Actually, I'd probably be the same way... but now I find it interesting to purposefully confuse people.

More of the Moeraki

I haven't been back to the Moeraki boulders in probably for years, but I did recently finish working on this shot. Seeing it reminds that I need to get back over there! It's only about 2 or 3 hours away from here, and it sounds like another good reason for a road trip!

The Sydney Opera House Before the Storm

We spent an amazingly fun day out on a yacht sailing around the Sydney harbor. It's tough to take a bad photo out there! We did have a bit of an incident with the quadcopter, though. It got so far away from us that we were unable to figure out how to get it back. It was just a tiny white speck, and you could tell if it was moving forward or backward or right or left. After quite a bit of panic, we finally figured out the right orientation and brought her home!

Beautiful Venice in Morning Light

The two best times to explore Venice are at sunrise and sunset/night. In the middle of the day, cruise ships dump off thousands and thousands of people, so it's quite touristy. That, in itself, is not bad, but it can have a certain feeling of chaos. It can also be hard to get photos when there are people crawling all over everything. In the middle of the day, after the crowds arrive, I usually go to a quiet non-touristy place to eat an early and long lunch, have wine, and then go back to the hotel for a 2-3 hour nap so I am fresh for the night!

The Heights of Antarctica

Whenever I was lucky enough to get into a helicopter while in Antarctica, I went absolutely photo-crazy. It was so cold when holding my camera out the window, but I toughened up so that I could get some clean shots. I also had a very strange problem with my camera where the internal shutter kind of shattered. I don't know how the wind got INSIDE the camera... maybe some blasted in through the edge of the lens. Either way, the camera was a goner but at least I had a backup!