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All New Travel Photography Tutorial!

This new photography and travel video tutorial has everything you need to both inspire and teach you to expand your creative life!

This is probably the most unique video tutorial I've ever made because I do it in a story-telling manner. The three countries I visited in Africa (Botswana, Zimbabwe and Madagascar) have completely different photography situations, so that's why I thought it would be perfect to base a tutorial to follow my travels. That means the seven lessons include packing and equipment, landscape photography, HDR, people and portraits, wildlife, mobile photography, and street photography.

When you get this bonus edition, you'll also see how I organize my photos and handle DAM (Digital Asset Management) in addition to getting most of the photos I share in all the lessons.

Visit the store to learn more and order the tutorial now!

Become a Passport Member and the New Tutorial Is Included!

My new Travel Tutorial was available FIRST and for FREE to all Passport Members. Membership is just $10 per month (cancel any time) and includes unlimited access to my best tutorials, tip videos, presets, ebooks, discounts and more. Approximately once per week I share a new video or tip exclusively for Members and there are over 175 available now. Click here to learn more about SIC Passport Member benefits.

Passport Members get all of these Tutorials, Presets, eBooks and more!

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 of My Favorite Images from Africa

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Come stay in my home in New Zealand!

I hope you're having a great holiday and not stuck in too many awkward family situations! If you are, then have a flask handy as it will take off the edge, at least that what my doctor says.

Now, I have something cool to announce! I've opened up one of my New Zealand homes and Art Gallery so anyone can come to stay! It's basically a 5-bedroom home that sits on about 10 acres in Queenstown and has views of mountains in every direction. You'll love it! I had a friend help me convert it to an AirBnB, so now it's open to everyone! Here is the website for the property that I called "Secluded Paradise" - you can get an idea of the place! I have about 10 pieces of my art from Series 1 and 2 hanging throughout the property. If I happen to be in town, I'm happy to come give you a personal art tour then maybe we can go take photos! I live on the same land... in another house that is about a 2 minute walk away. I don't bother most people that rent out the home... but if you're a newsletter subscriber, maybe you don't mind be bothered by me! After all, thanks for not being bothered to get this email!

New Zealand Workshop

And... if you are going to come to my New Zealand Photo Workshop on April 20 then you can start planning now and maybe stay a few extra days at my house! It's likely to fill up fast, but that's another fun option. 100% of people that come to my workshop wish they could stay at least another week because there is so much to see and do and photograph around here!

Anyone who books a workshop slot before December 31st gets a 20% discount on the workshop. Passport subscribers save an additional 5%!

What happens on my photo adventures?

Become a Passport Member!

Regular readers will be aware that my new Travel Tutorial was available FIRST and for FREE to all Passport Members, adding to hundreds of other videos which are available for just $10 per month (cancel any time). Subscribers also get access to presets (including some not available anywhere else), ebooks, discounts and more. At least once per week I also share a new video or tip exclusively for Members and there are over 175 available now. Click here to learn more about SIC Passport Member benefits... a great last minute gift for you or a photographer friend!

Check out a little Passport preview!

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some of my favorite images from the property...

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Vanity Fair Exhibition at the Oscars with Trey!

Here’s kind of a cool thing that fell into my lap! Vanity Fair is pretty well known for their epic parties during Oscars week, and I’m going to be doing my own exhibition there with about 10 photos. Fun, eh? It’s been a lot of work to put everything together and it’s all rather last-minute. In fact, while you read this, I’m probably flying to LA to make sure the hangings look perfect for the event. All the partners involved with this are Vanity Fair, Ritz-Carlton, and Conde Nast. You should have heard some of these conference calls I was on to do image selection and other details. It was one of those phone calls with about 20 people on there, so you can imagine the kind of back-and-forth that was required.

Anyway, if you follow my Insta, I’ll be posting a few fun stories on there along the way. I don’t really take any of this Hollywood stuff seriously at all, but I guess it will be kinda fun anyway. Also, if you’re a Passport Member, I’ve already made a video that is about to be available to you about the creation of the exhibition and the image selection process. Enjoy!

New Zealand Workshop

There are just two slots left on my New Zealand Photo Workshop on April 20-24 so we've extended the discount for newsletter subscribers for a few more days.

Anyone who books a workshop slot before February 7th gets a 20% discount on the workshop. Passport subscribers save an additional 5%!

What happens on my photo adventures?

Become a Passport Member!

Want that extra 5% workshop discount as well as loads of video content, presets, ebooks and more then subscribe to Passport for just $9.99 per month (cancel any time). Click here to learn more about SIC Passport Member benefits...

Check out a little Passport preview!

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some of my favorite images from around the L.A. area...

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Luminar AI Is Here!

I have to be honest, when I first started seeing info on Luminar AI I was a bit concerned that it would completely take control of images and not offer enough flexibility. I need not have worried though, having played with it for a few weeks it is clear Skylum have found a great balance of allowing the user to get properly hands on with images backed up by AI tools to make common (and sometimes complex) tasks quick and easy. Check out the videos below for a few quick looks at the software...

I've been using Luminar for a while now, along with Aurora HDR, as my main software for processing images. It's just so powerful and feature packed which makes editing images even more fun than with other software. With Luminar AI there is a bunch of AI based stuff on the front end which helps you select templates (think presets) which is great for beginners or to inspire some ideas for processing. For those of us who want to get hands on that is still an option and there are a bunch of new sliders to play around with. To give you a taster for Luminar AI, check out the video above where I process a landscape image and if you're interested in grabbing the software you can do so via this link. (It's released in the next 24 hours or so) :)

Luminar AI is great for landscapes and portraits... in this quick look vid I process an image that is somewhere in between using templates, sky replacement, adding mist/fog and more.

Luminar AI has just been released and features a load of cool tools to help you get the best from your portrait images. In this vid I play with a bunch of them before getting a little philosophical... what more could you want from a photography based video??? :)

Only a Few Hours Left on the Peak Design Kickstarter!

When Peak Design launched their Mobile range on Kickstarter a couple of months ago they set a target of $100,000 and blew past that in just a few hours. Now with a couple of days to go until the end of the campaign they've hit over $1.7 million! I've had the kit for a few weeks now to test and it's right up there with their previous products in terms of quality. I'm heading off on a road trip in New Zealand shortly so I'll be talking about it more in upcoming content but if you are looking for a phone case, bike mount, mini tripod or wireless charger (to name just a few of the items in the range) then check out the Kickstarter page before it closes in a matter of hours.

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!

Thanks for choosing to subscribe and 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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some of my recent favorites from New Zealand...

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Dealing with anxiety during Covid-19 and beyond

People seemed to enjoy my previous video about Despair so I''ve decided to make a few more about these sorts of topics while trying to keep it a bit light! :) Here''s a new one about a different sort of perspective on anxiety!

Here are some resources I mentioned:

- My (newly free!) Beginning Photography Tutorial
- Sam Harris' Waking Up App - Apple and Google Play
- The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
- Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- Samsara on YT Movies (it''s not ALL as dark as that one scene!)
- Baraka info

Grab the Peak Design Travel Tripod, save the planet... and help humanity...

I''d considered not adding any sort of sales based content to newsletters for a while but something the team over at Peak Design are doing made me rethink that a bit. Many of you will remember they ran a kickstarter towards the end of 2019 for their new travel tripod. It was a huge success on Kickstarter and was planned for a retail launch this month. Instead of cancelling that they are pushing ahead but with a new purpose. So, from today (launch day) they are donating all profit from tripod sales for the next 4 days to coronavirus relief and fighting climate change. That''s 50% to the CDC Foundation and 50% to Climate Neutral. A bold move indeed! So check out the tripod here.

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some Recent Images From the Blog

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COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories + Bad Idea Memes and Why You Should Not Believe Them

Here's a new video from my cabin about why you should doubt and question all conspiracy theories! This is the THIRD video I''ve made to try to help people out a bit. You may have missed the one about DESPAIR or the one about ANXIETY, which people seem to enjoy as well!

Before I piss off MOST people that will watch this, let me say one thing. When people feel like they are "out of control" of their own lives (which many people do now), they may seek to believe in outlandish ideas that confirm their navel-gazing victimhood. If you don't believe in yourself, you'll believe in anything. This video, while fun, will give you another perspective. Many people will be insulted by this video (especially those of you that believe in scientific properties of Essential Oils). If you can, try not to let your ego be affronted; instead, use it as an opportunity to do more critical thinking on your own rather than adopting the ideas of other people because they sound good.

The world and the universe are not out to get you. It's not happening against you; it's happening for you. A positive frame of reference is important. Don't adopt other people's ideas because they confirm your own nascent notions of self-doubt and that you are a victim of some globalized or localized plot against you. All of these self-fictional instantiations are creations that spring from an over-active ego and self-identity which will make you think you are the center of the universe. You're not. You're here to help, love, and take care of other people, yeah! :) I hope this video helps you to put yourself in a more positive place, rather than many other videos out there that will take you down a spiraling rabbit hole of your own demise.

Below are some great resources for you to keep you in the right frame of mind! :)

- Humans can be tricked into the belief of fictional realities via Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
- Reliable information on misinformation here and here.
- Best Covid-19 News fact site without opinions.
- The Dream Podcast
- World Dashboard Tracking the Spread of Covid-19.
- An interesting opinion piece on conspiracy theorists.

Some further recommendations...

I''m gathering together a huge set of recommendations for ways to spend your time reading/watching/listening/doing during isolation. More on that soon... for now here are a quick selection to whet your appetite:

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TV SHOWS - FUN or FUNNY
=================
FleaBag - If you don't watch this, our nascent friendship is over - there is also a new performance where she does a one woman show in the National Theatre in London that you can watch online.

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DUMB Funny Shows that keep me entertained
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine [on Netflix] - Funny Andy Samberg show

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DOCUMENTARIES
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Exit Through the Gift Shop - Surprise doco about Banksy

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TV SHOWS - DRAMAS
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Chernobyl - Amazing gripping drama

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TV SHOWS - SCI-FI / FANTASY
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Black Mirror [on Netflix]- Watch every one! The first one may be too intense but stick with it. each episode stands alone

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MOVIES
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All Wes Anderson Movies: Any order is fine. I recommend: "Moonrise Kingdom" then "The Darjeeling Limited" then "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" then "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

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BOOKS
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"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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PODCASTS
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Sam Harris "Making Sense" - Everything from science to consciousness. He's the dude.

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MEDITATION AND YOGA
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Yoga With Adriene - She's a fun woman in Austin with a lot of beginner-focused yoga.

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MASTERCLASS.COM - My Favorite class
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Hans Zimmer teaches film music

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Gaming
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Civilization VI - You can lose A LOT of time in this or dip in and out quickly too. (Oh, and Stu on my team recommends Half-Life: Alyx which is a new VR game. He says it''s epic... I vaguely trust him so you should too.)

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some Recent Images From Queenstown in the Fall

I''m grateful to live in a rural area of New Zealand right by Queenstown so I can get out and take walks/hikes every day for excercise during isolation. Autumn is just kicking into gear in the southern hemisphere, so I''m sharing a few photos of the sights around here I saw while on my walks.

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Special Message for Those of You Living Alone in Isolation - Suicide - Etc

This video is probably only for people like me that are in true self-isolation during the pandemic. It may help you understand what is going on inside, which is a great step in coming to terms with things. The video ends with a variety of tools you can add to your toolbox to not just get through the days and weeks, but to thrive! If you missed them you can use these links to see my other recent videos on DESPAIR, ANXIETY or CONSPIRACIES. And here is my full blog post on living alone in isolation which has further thoughts on the subject and a massive list of things to spend your time reading/watching/listening/doing.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews...

Back when Peak Design announced their new tripod, they sent me one of the first prototypes. I used that thing exclusively for about a year and put a real beating on it. I dropped it... knocked it over... it even fell into a rocky river. That''s just how I roll with tripods and... it never failed even once. Even though it''s still working great, I decided to get one of the updated models which just launched and it''s just like I''m getting it again for new! Since this whole lockdown sitch may end soon, I''m using it as a good excuse to get out there and take more photos and then life will feel more normal again! Check out the tripod here and watch out for it on my upcoming adventures.

In other gear news I''ve been updating a bunch reviews to cover the latest kit I''ve been using. You can see my thoughts on the Sony a7R IV here or the a6400 in Africa here. The Pixel 4 review can be seen here, the Mavic 2 Zoom over here and I dove into Luminar 4 here. As always there are loads of full res image samples for you to view. :)

Some Further Recommendations...

You can see my ever growing list of recommendations for things to entertain yourself with during lockdown on the blog. Here are a few highlights:

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TV SHOWS - FUN or FUNNY
=================
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Probably my favorite show of all time.

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DUMB Funny Shows that keep me entertained
=================
Toast of London [on Netflix] - Funny show about a voice actor.

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DOCUMENTARIES
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Struggle [on Netflix] - A doco about an amazing artist you've never heard of.

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TV SHOWS - DRAMAS
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Ozark [on Netflix] - Intense show with Jason Bateman.

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TV SHOWS - SCI-FI / FANTASY
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Westworld - Great Sci-Fi show. A bit tough to follow but that makes it interesting in a way. Season 3 is turning out awesome.

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MOVIES
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Taika Waititi movies: "Jojo Rabbit" and "Thor: Ragnorak" and "What We Do in Shadows".

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BOOKS
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"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho.

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PODCASTS
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/Reply-All - Entertaining and funny show around tech investigations.start with "The Snapchat Thief" to get an idea of what it's about.

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MEDITATION AND YOGA
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Sam Harris Waking Up App - It costs $$ but if you can't afford it, contact them and they'll make it FREE for you because Sam's a great dude!

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MASTERCLASS.COM
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David Lynch teaches directing.

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GAMING
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Final Fantasy VII (Remake) - Part 1 of an epic reimagining of the 1997 original.

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some Recent Images From the Blog

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Machine Elf 16 - Creator of Worlds | Trey Ratcliff & Sam Wave

"Creator of Worlds" explores chaos and order and creation from nothing. The actual work is a high resolution physical installation about 75 inches across and is embedded in a wall, running in a continuous loop forever. Here''s a photo of what the art installation looks like on the wall:

The visual art consists of mathematical fractals that are changing, growing, and being destroyed over time and then recreated from the void. A collaboration with composer Sam Wave we started with the concept of a heartbeat - the heartbeat of a mother that an infant hears in the womb. The piece demonstrates how life at all stages and throughout the course of its journey has the influence of both masculine and feminine energy guiding the entities evolution.

For us, this work at times reminded us of coral and represented life before personified life. It allows the participant to let go of thoughts and enter a more calm reality. This is the first work in the series made by Trey and Sam. To learn more about Sam head here and if you''d like to grab one contact fineart@treyratcliff.com

Made in the Mountains of Queenstown, New Zealand.

Lockdown Recommendations...

You can see my ever growing list of recommendations for things to entertain yourself with during lockdown on the blog. Here are a few highlights:

=================
TV SHOWS - FUN or FUNNY
=================
Life's Too Short - Ricky Gervais comedy.

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DUMB Funny Shows that keep me entertained
=================
What We do in Shadows - TV show based on the vampire mockumentary.

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DOCUMENTARIES
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Abstract [on Netflix] - Each episode shows a different creative process.

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TV SHOWS - DRAMAS
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Season 1 of Fargo [on Netflix] - Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman in a murder drama.

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TV SHOWS - SCI-FI / FANTASY
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The Mandalorian - Even if you don't like Star Wars, you'll like this series.

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MOVIES
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"Yesterday" - Fun movie about a world that has never heard of The Beatles.

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BOOKS
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"A New Earth" by Eckhardt Tolle.

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PODCASTS
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Joe Rogan has some good episodes. skip the MMA ones if you're not into that.

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MEDITATION AND YOGA
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Sam Harris Waking Up App - It costs $$ but if you can't afford it, contact them and they'll make it FREE for you because Sam's a great dude!

=================
MASTERCLASS.COM
=================
Warner Herzog teaches documentary making.

=================
GAMING
=================
DOOM Eternal.

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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some Recent Images From the Blog

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My Most Viewed Images of 2020

If you've been following me for a while you'll know that I highly recommend ignoring likes, etc on social media... putting too much stock in them is an easy way to drive yourself a bit mad. Comments (and interacting with your audience) are far more important and rewarding. Having said that, I do keep half an eye on which images are most viewed but not for the reason you might think. I check that stat to see how the content I like compares to what you might like. Often, such as in the case of my most popular fractal art video, something can become super popular despite being my least favorite of its type. So, here for your viewing pleasure are my top images of 2020 from the more image based platforms...

Instagram

Image one and this may be where this whole idea of most viewed in 2020 falls apart... this image is the no.1 on Insta but of course it has been available for longer than some of my others in 2020. Looking at the way things are going, there is one newer image which I think will beat it if I look at the rolling 12 months stats in the future and you can see that as the first image in the gallery at the bottom of the email. :) Oh, and one random observation... my top 7 on Insta in 2020 were all images of New Zealand before the chain was broken by one from The Vessel in NYC. I guess given the current world situation and my lack of international travel that makes a bit of sense, but I didn't stop sharing images from all over the place so an interesting quirk nonetheless!

Flickr

Sometimes there is an image which seems to grab people and just run and run. This is one such image... other images I post on Flickr might beat it for a day or two and sometimes for a week but consistently it is right up there views wise. Just recently it crossed 4 million views which blows my mind. In this particular case I can relate to the audience though as it's an image I chose a version of for my Fine Art collection and one which I then went to hang the Artist Proof in my home/gallery. I'll add the most viewed new image in the gallery below as well.

Pinterest

Did you know i'm one of the most followed people on Pinterest? It's a fun fact but I can't say I've had any calls from the big fashion houses offering me million-dollar collabs! Anyway, this image I posted back in August on Pinterest and since then it has gone on to have over 750,000 views. It's being challenged by a bunch of new images from my North Island road trip though with a fun reflection shot from Te Henga and a few others all zipping past 500,000 views since being posted in late October. Again, you can see that further down this email. :)

YouTube

What about my most viewed video of the year? Well, that would be my latest collaboration with the Alan Watts Foundation and my good friend, Hans Zimmer. Our first video, Life from Above and Beyond was a hugely meaningful project for me so it was great to see it connecting with over half a million people across my channels. Following that up was a fun creative project and the end result is something I'm proud of with the video getting twice as many views on YouTube as Life from Above, so far.

Treat Yourself or Another Photographer in Your Life...

If you're looking for a last-minute Christmas gift I'd like to, somewhat biasedly, recommend my Passport subscription. For $9.99 a month you get access to stream all of my photography tutorials, grab all of my Lightroom, Luminar and Aurora HDR presets and much more. Not enough? Then you'll be pleased to know that every Sunday I release a new video, just for subscribers. Sometimes it's photography processing tips, sometimes behind the scenes when out in the field and other occasions it's early access to videos. A real mix with over 200 available now and something I look forward to creating each week. Still not enough? Then maybe you'll like the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that 10% of all profit goes to charity! Head over here to find out more!

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!

Thanks for choosing to subscribe and 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!

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Some of the other most viewed images...

Here's that new-ish image from Instagram which I think will end up in first place for the rolling 12-month stats. Taken from a chopper while we were filming some content which you can see on the aforementioned Passport subscription service :).

The most viewed non New Zealand image on my Insta for this year... Hot Tip: The best way to Insta success is (in my opinion) to 1) use about 5 hashtags, mix up popular and obscure. 2) add the location and most importantly 3) interact. I'm always on my Instagram after sharing a post, commenting on people's comments. :)

This was popular on Flickr and my other channels which makes it one of my most viewed mobile pics of the year. That's right, this lovely autumn scene was captured while I was out on a government approved lockdown walk with my Pixel 4.

Sometimes it's the less serious shots which catch people's imagination (and eyeballs). This image really took off on Pinterest when it was posted.

I grabbed this image while on my North Island road trip a few months back and like the pic below it went on to be super popular on Pinterest.

And finally, this is probably my favorite image from 2020. :)