Daily Photo - Hearst Castle in San Simeon
Did you know that Hearst Castle is only a few hours north of LA? If you ever end up in LA for a trip, be sure to set aside a few hours for a trip up to see this place. After you get out of the LA city-scape-area, the terrain totally changes - so does the "feeling".
Towards the end of the day, all the tourists had left. I had an escort with me for most of the day. This gentleman was a retired LAPD officer who spends a few days per week working up at Hearst Castle. There are several of these guys and gals that help keep the place secure. They take the job pretty seriously, as you would expect from any LAPD-type. After a few hours, I was able to wear them down with humor. I found they responded very well to anti-lawyer humor, btw. So keep that one in mind in case you ever get in a pinch.
Everyone there was extremely nice, and I loved the opportunity to capture Hearst as it is meant to be captured. I kept returning to this fountain time and time again -- until the skies and light was just right...
Any Problems with New Server?
We've recently moved over the entire website to the Rackspace Cloud. This was done because our traffic is growing like crazy, and we wanted things to be nice and speedy for everyone. Also, from time to time, Twitter can cause big surges in traffic that brought the whole thing to a grinding halt.
Let me know if you see anything is awry. It's hard for me to test anything, and there are always niggling little problems... Like, for example, I found out that Firefox didn't work because of some silly Facebook <iframe> code that still broke it even though it was commented out!
I'll put together a full review on Rackspace soon enough... along with a whole list of all the backend stuff that keeps the site humming along. I know we have lots of technical people that come to the site, and we all like geeking out about the specs and "how things work"!
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa west coast pacific California san simeon san luis Obispo hearst castle hearstcastle la cuesta encantada the enchanted hill the ranch estate mansion santa lucia range architecture design pool reflection reflective sun garden sky fountain January 2010 Nikon d3x
Daily Photo - Sunset at Hearst Castle
Maybe people in California get spoiled by good sunsets. Not living there, I don't know! But, when you are sitting up high on a mountain, in a castle-mansion, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, how could you not get spoiled?
And this isn't even the main castle. This is just one of the guest-houses. Hearst had several guest houses there, each one as stunning as the next.
If you are enjoying these Hearst photos, I've now published six so far. You can see all the Hearst Castle Photos. Note: These are also accessible via the "Categories" down on the right side of the page.
New Book on Book List!
As some of you know, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Matt Ridley and his wife, Anya Hurlbert. I knew of Matt previously because I've always been a fan of his unique science/genetics books; these have delightful and unexpected hooks into economics, anthropology, history, and critical thinking. And then I found out his wife was also of a different sort of scientist, with a concentration in Visual Neuroscience. If you saw my Google Talk, then you'll know that is also a big interest area for me! Follow her link above if you want to read more.
Matt has a new book that just came out called "The Rational Optimist". If you want a taste of it, read Matt's recent Wall Street Journal article.
Anyway, here on the site, I have "Trey's Book List", that has all sorts of suggestions. There is surely something for everyone in there!
Bonus Book Suggestion!
I just finished listening to the Audio Book of Daemon. You gotta get it! I haven't heard anything this good in a while... and, as opposed to most books, I really do recommend the audio version. Jeff Gurner does an amazing job with the voices, and hearing the computer voices talk is more than entertaining! The author, Daniel Suarez, really knows his stuff. And, I would not be surprised if he has read some of Matt Ridley's books -- particularly "The Red Queen".
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa west coast pacific California san clemente central coast hearst castle hearst castle mansion historic landmark William Randolph hearst state park la cuesta encantada the enchanted hill ranch property architecture design lush guest house guest house terrace sunset sky blue azure brilliant patio balcony garden Nikon d3x January 2010
Slipping into the Pool
This vast indoor pool at Hearst Castle is just about perfect. The only thing that would have been more perfect is if I was actually inside of it! If I wasn't such an honorable guy, I would have stripped down and jumped in for a bit. It would have taken at least 15 minutes for security to get me out of there. But it would have been a sweet sweet 15 minutes. I could just say that I lost my mind for a bit...
Read more here.
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa west coast pacific California san clemente central coast hearst castle hearst castle mansion historic landmark William Randolph hearst state park la cuesta encantada the enchanted hill ranch property architecture design lush pool water reflective tile blue azure crisp clear January 2010 Nikon d3x
Up high, in one of the tallest towers of all the land, in the highest castle by the sea, sits a perfect bedroom, and it shines like the inside of a floating jewel box.
This amazing place is in one of the two peak towers atop Hearst Castle. Getting up into these rooms via tiny, twisting stairways is not the easiest thing in the world. The paths in and out of these bedrooms are almost so serpentine that they seem secret. When I was inside, I felt like I was one of the few people in the world to ever experience it.
from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa west coast pacific California san clemente central coast hearst castle hearst castle mansion historic landmark William Randolph hearst state park la cuesta encantada the enchanted hill ranch property architecture design lush Isabella jewel box bedroom floating tower peak serpentine secret chandelier statue art aesthetic gilded hanuary 2010 Nikon d3x fairytale fairy tale
I've already posted a few photos of the fabulous Hearst Castle indoor pool. This is the one that it is nearby, just outdoors. The thing is enormous and perfect.
I wonder if it ever gets used. So sad. Maybe they put on little pool parties here and there for the elite. Or maybe rappers rent it out and bring in a bunch of rap-video-girls to gyrate around the edges. I don't know.
Read the rest of this entry, including a recap of the recent London photowalk, here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Tags: stuck customs stuckincustoms stuckincustoms.com trey ratcliff treyratcliff travel blog travelblog hdr tutorial hdrtutorial imaging photography digital high dynamic range processing world north America united states usa west coast pacific California san clemente central coast hearst castle hearst castle mansion historic landmark William Randolph hearst state park la cuesta encantada the enchanted hill ranch property architecture design lush pool water blue reflection refective perspective january 2010 nikon d3x