Meet Trey Ratcliff

I'm a warm-hearted, old-school gentleman explorer with really cool toys.

Brief Bio

Hello! I’m quite a humble person, really, but I know that people that come to this page want to know more about me. I'm actually egoless, which I think is the greatest creative gift any artist can give to one’s self. A few quick highlights before you read the rest of the story.

• I was born blind in one eye and still only see out of my left. I call it “The Gift.”
• My degree was Computer Science and Math and I did that for 25 years before finally diving full-time into my creative side.
• I started the blog StuckInCustoms.com immediately after getting a camera. I started sharing one photo per day, plus stories and free tutorials to help everyone enjoy this strange world of HDR Photography that I was discovering for myself.
• I’m really into meditation and yoga. I also go to the Burning Man festival every single year and love it.
• What’s the core reason I do all of this? I want to help spread consciousness and presence to the world. It’s hard to teach billions to meditate, but you can help teach them photography and creativity. I believe when people are being creative they are being fully present and conscious, and that’s the best thing we all can do for the world

Portfolio

Here's my art portfolio, maybe you'll see something that vibrates nicely with you.

JJ Abrams

Director & Writer, Lost, Alias, Fringe, Star Trek, Super 8, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Trey’s images are other-worldly, mind-blowing creations that, at first glance, appear to be some digital trompe l’oeil; a Photoshop trickery post production creation. But no, Ratcliff’s photographs — through techniques he freely shares — are inspiring and real. Something which makes them all the more incredible.

Hans Zimmer

Composer The Lion King, Gladiator, Batman, Inception

Trey’s pictures are a daily source of inspiration for me. I can’t count the times that I’ve gotten stuck in my writing and, as I sit there staring at my computer screen desperately trying to think of the next idea, the screensaver kicks in with one of Trey’s images, and the shapes and colors triggered something in me that got me to the next note…

Patrick Rothfuss

Writer, The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear, The Doors of Stone

Someone once told me that a photographer is an artist that paints with light. I never understood what that meant until I saw Trey’s work.

Social Reach

Trey is in a unique and influential position with over 16 million online followers. He is also the #1 most followed male on Pinterest*.

*Note: he may also be the only male that uses Pinterest. But he is in the top 20 most followed with 4.5 million followers, most of which are women. Trey is not used to being so popular with women.

Social Media

Photo Views

Google tracks Total Views of Trey's photos. In 2017, total views surpassed 145 billion and continues to grow rapidly.

Some of Trey's photos go viral, amassing millions, and sometimes billions, of views.

Trey also gets over 10 million impressions on his Pinterest per month.

Trey's verified Facebook fan page is growing every week.

Audience

Trey's audience largely consists of people with disposable income seeking inspiration and adventure. They span all ages and countries, and are passionate about travel, high-tech gadgets, the environment, camera equipment, and learning photography. They follow Trey for his art, stories, product reviews and tutorials.

Newsletter

Sent monthly to over 120,000 subscribers with a 75% higher open rate than the industry average.

Design Partnerships

Peak Design

The Everyday Messenger

Trey, in a partnership with Peak Design, designed the ultimate camera bag called The Everyday Messenger. It became the #2 most-funded project in Kickstarter history behind the Pebble Watch, raising more than $4.8 million in 60 days.

"I was sick of all my camera bags. There was always something lacking! So one day I called up my friends at Peak Design and we started a year-long project to design the ultimate bag. I can't believe how well it was received around the world!"

The Everyday Backpack, Tote and Sling

After another year of planning and designing , partnering with Peak Design once again Trey launched The Everyday Backpack, Tote and Sling on Kickstarter. We prepared ourselves for something big, but were totally blown away when it raised over $6.5 Million in 60 days.

• #1 most funded bag products in Kickstarter history
• #1 most funded camera product in Kickstarter history
• Helped Peak Design to reach the 2nd most crowd-funded company (behind Pebble)

Macphun

Aurora HDR | Aurora HDR Pro | Aurora HDR 2017

Trey partnered with Macphun to develop the world's most advanced HDR software. With Trey's promotional help Aurora HDR has been downloaded over 750,000 times!

The idea that after 10 years I finally got to create my own HDR photography software and jam-pack it with all my favorite tricks was absolutely intoxicating!

Brand Partnerships

Trey's Photo Walk Across the USA

During August and September of 2015 we traveled from New York to Los Angeles on a coach bus stopping in 13 cities across the USA. We held huge photo walks with legions of fans in each location. Sponsors included Google, The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, DJI, DxO, Macphun and many more. The campaign was a tremendous success. Click below for a deep dive into the marketing results.

Facebook + DJI LIVE Streaming

In early 2016 Facebook and DJI, the leading drone manufacturer, approached Trey to help test, launch and promote the first live video streams from an airborne drone onto the Facebook Live platform. The pivotal moment was broadcast in real-time during Facebook's F8 conference.

Plotagraph Pro

Plotagraph Pro is one of the most exciting new photography tools in years. It can animate any still image, bringing new life to existing content. Their team reached out to Trey to help them refine the product and promote the launch. The software's reach and acceptance has exceeded all expectations.

Speaking Engagements

Trey is an engaging and inspirational public speaker. He has given speeches at Google, Facebook, Pinterest, TEDx and various universities and conferences around the world.

TEDx

Google Zeitgesit

Collectable Fine Art

This year, through a special collaboration with master printer Grieger in Germany, Trey Ratcliff released 21 monumental photographs selected from his body of work over the past decade. Each work is available in an edition of three.

All prints have been produced by Grieger in Dusseldorf, Germany. Grieger is the foremost printer and fabricator of photography in the world and has a long history with some of the world’s great photographers – Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, and Thomas Struth amongst them. The photographs will be mounted using Griegers proprietary Diasec® mounting process. This process mounts the photo to aluminum with a piece of museum quality acrylic mounted to the face thus protecting the image from weathering, chemical pollutants, and UV radiation. There is more information about the printing process included at the bottom of the page.