Technology writing :: 5 questions with photographer & app developer Trey Ratcliff

I heard Trey Ratcliff give a keynote at a new media conference I attended in in Toronto and was already familiar with his stunning high definition landscape photography. His story is inspiring to those of us wanting to follow our passion and figure out a way to make a living doing what we love.

Months later I started writing reviews of apps for The Recapp, a website sponsored by Verizon and coordinate by Pace Communications, and I knew I wanted to share with others one of my favorite apps: Stuck on Earth created by Trey. After I submitted the review, the editor asked if I would write a “Five Questions With” feature for the website. Of course I was excited to get the chance to discuss the app with Trey!

Headline: 5 Questions
Trey Ratcliff Shares His Travel Photography Expertise

Subject: A Q&A with high-definition photography expert Trey Ratcliff about creating an app

Work: research and writing

Outlet: Recapp — a Verizon sponsored website and supported by Pace Communications

5 Questions
Trey Ratcliff Shares His Travel Photography Expertise

Trey Ratcliff is a pioneer in high dynamic range photography who has built a loyal following through his blog at StuckInCustoms.com, where he shares at least one photo a day. As his hobby turned into a profession, he became an expert on travel photography. He wanted to create an app that he could use to plan his own trips, and in doing so he has given his community a whole new way to connect to him and each other.

You can read our review of Stuck on Earth, a free app that shows you photos taken in destinations all over the world, allowing you to plan a trip or just see what people are photographing and add your own photographs.

Trey studied computer science and mathematics at Southern Methodist University and is now based in New Zealand. We had the chance for an email conversation with him, and here’s what he had to say about his app and others he likes.

You created the Stuck on Earth app for yourself – does the end product look like what you first envisioned?

Yes! It is even better than we envisioned. The way we’ve added the ability for people to share their trips has been a real boon to the community. And when we look at the million+ updates, we know the community is actively engaged!

What is your favorite feature of Stuck on Earth?

I personally like a button that was suggested by Robert Scoble (a tech evangelist) that basically vacuums up all the photo spots on the map into a new trip. So you can kind of zoom into Venice, for example, and you see a ton of great photo spots appear. A single button will build a customized trip for you, and all that is available offline, so you can find these photo spots while you are wandering around with your iPad and cappuccino!

What other apps do you offer? Tell us about the progression of your app development.

Our first app was 100 Cameras in 1. That had over a million downloads and we were blown away! So we have done our best to rinse and repeat. Some projects have been dismal failures, like The Light Camera, which we had high hopes for but it never really took off.

What’s next for Stuck on Earth or other app development?

We’re adding more community features!

Besides your own apps, what are some of your favorites right now?

I quite like the new app from Jeremy Cowart called OKDOTHIS – it is a very interesting idea and everyone should get it! I use the Audible app a lot. For games, I super-love this game called QatQi. And, of course, I spend most of my time in the Google+ app – it’s just so sweet! I really like the way Google+ takes all my mobile phone shots, Google Glass shots and videos, and makes me a little movie automatically every day. A daily highlight reel delivered to me at night is so awesome!