Jade, Burning Man

Light Painting, More fun with LEDs

Highway 1 on the SV650

I'm sitting here, still tired and sore from this weekend, but I'm Ok with that. It's the kind of soreness you feel you really earned, and thus can even appreciate. It's a small price to pay for spectacular weather, 16 hours of riding, and around 700 miles of pure fun.

Coakley and I headed up the famous Highway 1 through Cambria and San Simeon, past Big Sur and Carmel and Monterey, up to the Bay Area. I've driven the road many times over the years, and each time was wonderful in its own way. But riding it on the bike was incomparable. The endless curves that jerk you side to side in a car cage instead urge you to push and lean into each one, refining lines and becoming more and more at one with the machine.

At the start of the fun bit of Highway 1 is Morro Bay. We stopped briefly and parked in the shade of Morro Rock for a few photos. Then it was off up the coast, until another stop in San Simeon to see the elephant seals that sun on the beach in great heaps, sausage-style.

We pulled off at Ragged Point to check out the coastal views. We ended up hiking down a pretty treacherous trail comprised mostly of wet dirt and rocks (with a few pathetic, crumbling attempts at wooden stairways) all the way to the beach below.

Along the way, we turned off on Nacimiento Road. This is one of the hidden treasures of California. From the 1, the road snakes up the steep hills and eventually connects with the 101. We didn't get that far, but the portion we rode was freshly paved, wide, curvy, nearly free of other vehicles, and stunningly beautiful... what more could you ask for? We carved turn after perfect turn, and when we thought it couldn't get any better, the roadside flora changed from dry grass and scrub to redwoods and maples and dappled shade... beams of light filtered down through the canopy and lit up bright yellow leaves. The photos don't even come close to doing this place justice.

Finally we reached Big Sur, where we stopped to eat. We saw a restaurant on the far side of the road, but there was a 'No Left Hand Turn' sign, so I led us up a bit to a point where the far side of the road had a good shoulder to pull over on. But just as I finished the U-turn and stopped on the shoulder, I heard wild engine revving and a THUD from behind me - Coakley had dropped his FJR1300 (a big, heavy sport touring bike) smack in the middle of the oncoming lane - and we were not far past a blind curve! Luckily the first car to come around stopped and blocked traffic for us till we could right the cycle and get off the road. Apparently, when Coakley tried to accelerate through the U-turn, he found a false neutral instead of second gear, and the bike toppled before he could re-engage the proper gear. The bike (amazingly) and Coakley were both unscathed. Still, the lunch break was a good chance to calm our nerves. Even though we still had to deal with vicious winds that threatened to knock the bikes out from under us past Big Sur and Bixby Bridge, but we managed the rest of the ride without another incident.

Highway 1 is a national treasure, and I appreciate it even more now that I've done it on a motorcycle. Even better, we lucked out with near perfect weather and (relatively) little traffic. A weekend well spent!

LED Lightsaber Photography

Got another new light toy... this one's my favorite so far! It's a smallish lightsaber but with something like 20 blue LED lights in it... it's brighter than just about anything I've played with so far...

The orange glow in the background is the soot in the air - not from the fires down south, rather it's the old ashes from the Zaca fire this summer.

More where these came from!

Motorcycle, Ultrawide

This is what happens when you attach a Tamron 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 lens onto a Nikon FE film camera!

More Cross Processed Agfa

I love this stuff!

Daytime Long Exposure

A B+W ND 110 filter lets me take long exposure photos during the daytime. This one was a ~30 second exposure, shot around noon.

The ND 110 is great at what it does, which is preventing a huge amount of light from hitting the sensor. But there are some annoying things about using one - for example, you have to remove it and put it back on to compose the shot. There's no seeing through the viewfinder with it mounted. It also seemed to impart a slight magenta/yellow cast to the photos I've taken with it. That can be remedied with a bit of Photoshop, though, so it's not a deal-breaker. All in all, I love mine, and am thinking of new ways to experiment with it...

The Observation Room

Another cross processed film shot. This one is Fuji Reala shot with my Canon Canonet QL-17 GIII (whew) rangefinder.

EL Wire Light Painting

Taken earlier in 2007 at Hendry's beach.

Agfa CT Precisa Cross Processed

Though I mainly shoot digital, there is something I love about film. There's a tactile connection, along with a sort of analog warmth. There are also things you can do with film that are difficult or impossible with digital. One of these is cross processing. I've always been drawn to cross-processed photos - one of my favorite online photographers, Quarlo, does it almost exclusively.

Different films produce different effects when cross processed. Some turn all green and yellow (like Kodak E100S) while others turn magenta or blue. I got hold of a roll of Agfa CT Precisa slide film recently, which is extremely hard to find (discontinued, I think). This stuff is tops for cross processing! I don't like the green/yellow hue of several other emulsions. CT Precisa doesn't really impart any color cast (or maybe a subtle shift towards blue); instead it heightens saturation and boosts contrast while retaining good detail.

These images are all cross-processed Agfa CT Precisa shot with an old half-busted Nikon FE and a Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D.

Featured on PhotographyBLOG

A portfolio showcase of my work has been posted on PhotographyBLOG!

Head on over and check it out!

Direct link

My Suzi

I love my rocketship.

Street Art and the War on Terror

You should all check out Street Art and the War on Terror, from Rebellion Books. It features anti-war graffiti and other protest art and includes artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey and yours truly! I'm humbled to be included in the book for my Stop Bush piece:

Here's a link to the Rebellion Books site, where you can preview the contents (including my submission) and here is the book on Amazon (pre-order).

Long Exposure Fire Photography

Site Re-design

So, I know it's been less than a year since the last time I re-designed Burnblue.com, but this one solves a lot of issues I had with it and offers a lot more functionality and features. Hopefully it will be easier to use, and showcase more of my work in the process.

Please bear with me over the next few days, as there may be a few hiccups while the new design is implemented.