BURNBLUEDOTCOM

Married and back from Costa Rica

2008-08-09T16:28:00.001-07:00

Well, the month-long marathon wedding/honeymoon is finally over. Jade and I got married in Santa Barbara at Alice Keck Park gardens on July 11, followed by a beautiful reception at my Dad's house. We then dragged everyone down to Orange County and had a traditional Thai ceremony at Jade's parents' house, and a huge wonderful dinner reception there. The next night at 2:00 am we headed to Costa Rica for two and a half weeks!

It was a wild and crazy month, but contained some of the best days of my life. It'll be a while before we have wedding photos back from the photographers, but for now here's a few from the honeymoon:

Featured

2008-07-09T11:50:00.001-07:00

Well, this here blog's been a bit neglected lately, but with good reason - on Friday I'll be tying the knot with Jade here in Santa Barbara. We've been busy with preparations for the wedding, which will stretch on through Sunday and a second celebration in Orange County. We've also been planning for our 3 week honeymoon in Costa Rica, which starts next week!

Before I go I wanted to post a couple links to places my work has been featured lately. First off, one of my photos from Burning Man appears in the latest issue of Sierra Magazine - they did an interesting write-up about environmental issues at Burning Man. My "Bone Tree" image appears on the second page of the on line article, as well as in the printed magazine:

Also today Web Urbanist did a write-up about light graffiti artists, and kindly included my light painting work in the article. You can read the article here - check it out, there is some very good work featured there.

Well, this will probably be the last post for a few weeks. Should have some great photos to post when I return!

My Sister Julia

2008-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of my two sisters, taken at a party for my Dad.

Lake Isabella and Sequoia NP

2008-06-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

So, obviously I've been MIA since I got my new bike - wedding planning and riding have taken up most of my free time. Not to mention building websites. Anyway, here's a couple from my ride up to Lake Isabella and the Sequoias over Memorial Day:

My new baby!

2008-05-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, a few weeks ago someone backed into my SV650 and left it on it's side overnight. It got banged up enough to push the repair costs well over 80% of the bike's value - thus today insurance declared it totalled.

Grr!

But, on the positive side, insurance paid me what I paid for the bike, with which I was able to go and buy my brand new 2008 Suzuki V-Strom 650!

This one will be way better for rides with Jade, as there's room for both her and our luggage (unlike the SV). It's super comfortable and has the same engine my SV had.

I just can't stay pissed at the asshole who backed into my SV, with this in front of the house :)

Dinosauria

2008-05-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Just for fun.

Nikon FE2 and a trip to Santa Cruz

2008-05-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

It was off to Santa Cruz the other weekend, en route to my good friend's wedding reception in Hollister. A good time was had by all, and despite a 4 foot drop onto the pavement, my FE2 was reliably clicking along the whole time.

Another from "The Good Land"

2008-04-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Goleta, CA

Night Clouds, Santa Barbara

2008-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

New Series - "The Good Land"

2008-03-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new project, entitled (at least provisionally) "The Good Land". The works are a bit of a departure from my normal landscapes, but I've been developing the ideas behind this series for some time. They are inspired by the likes of Jeff Brouws, Ed Ruscha and Peter Baker, along with any number of contemporary German landscape photographers. These works attempt to juxtapose and perhaps reconcile the mythical, idealized California with the everyday reality of the street.

The title comes from the nickname for the town of Goleta here on the central coast.

A work in progress.

See the series on my Behance portfolio

See the set on Flickr

Street Art & the War on Terror released

2008-03-09T20:40:00.001-07:00

I was browsing Urban Outfitters the other day and found the book I was featured in, right next to Banksy's book! I recently received my copy - it's a fantastic collection of anti-war art, proof positive of the strength of anti-war and anti-empire sentiment around the world. I am proud to do my part to uphold the American tradition of dissent and rebellion, especially nowadays, when most have forgotten to care.

Calling Hillary on her Bullshit

2008-02-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy Washington Post

One of Hillary's campaign planks in her bid for the Democratic nomination is that she would be better equipped to handle national emergencies such as terrorist attacks, international threats, and domestic emergencies. Her campaign would have us believe that she would bring more experience to the position than Obama, and thus could be trusted to handle such situations more than he. To support her claim, she has released a new fear-mongering campaign commercial about a 3am phone call in the White House about some sort of disaster, asking who the viewer would rather have answer that call. It's the sort of thing you'd expect from hawkish neocons, and illustrates how far Hillary is having to stoop these days.

The part she apparently wants you to forget is that she has been in a position of authority during a national emergency, and we can judge her against Obama by comparing their reactions. In 2002 Obama gave a speech concerning the apparent intention of G.W. Bush's government to attack Iraq. Also in 2002, Hillary gave a speech on the Senate floor regarding the Resolution to Authorize Use of the United States Armed Forces Against Iraq. A comparison of the two speeches may help shed some light on the kind of "experience" Hillary has making this sort of decision, and why Obama's "lack of experience" might be strongly preferable.

From Obama's speech:

[I] know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda.

[Emphasis mine]

From Hillary's speech:

[Saddam Hussein has] given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.

Now this much is undisputed.

I suppose it was undisputed by ill-informed politicians like Hillary, but it didn't take a whole lot of prodding, even back then, to see the cracks in Bushco's wall of bullshit. Is this Hillary's "experience"? The tendency to accept blindly the false assertions of neocon fearmongers? At best, she didn't do her homework, and at worst, she was stupid enough to buy the Bush administrations lies hook, line and sinker. Either way, it does not impress on me the sort of confidence she seems to think we owe her.

Also unlike Hillary, Obama went on in his speech to propose some concrete actions we could have taken to increase the security of the US without starting a unilateral war of agression:

Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.... Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.... Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

Now that's the kind of leadership I want. That's the kind of leadership that would have saved the lives of thousands of American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and kept al-Qaeda out of Iraq. Obama called it like it was, pointing out that the Iraq adventure was a "cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz... to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats." Why couldn't Hillary see that? Perhaps her "experience" was clouding her judgment?

Obama's response to Hillary's laughable "3am phone call" commercial puts it eloquently: "The question is not picking up the phone. The question is what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone. In fact we have had a red-phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. President Bush gave the wrong answer. Sen. Clinton gave the wrong answer… Sen. McCain gave the wrong answer."

I'll end with another quote from Hillary's speech. Summing up her position, she stated "A vote for [the Resolution] is not a vote to rush to war; it is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our President".

Gross, tragic levels of naivete, Mrs. Clinton, do not constitute experience.

More Santa Barbara Night Photography

2008-02-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

Taken at Hendry's Beach with the D300

Keep up Momentum!

2008-02-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

If Hillary actually had America's best interests in mind instead of her own, she would drop out of the race and throw her (and her husband's) weight behind Barack Obama. Obama has the unique ability to be both more progressive on issues than Hillary and also more appealing to moderates and independents. Hillary, regardless of whether it's fair or not, has the unique ability to unite huge numbers in solid opposition to her. In other words, she can very effectively mobilize the opposition against her. Just what the democrats need least.

This is backed up by numerous recent polls. According to the New Republic:

In the past two weeks, seven different organizations have polled the races and on average Obama beats McCain by 3.2%, while Clinton loses to the Arizona senator by 2%. Not a single [poll] has Clinton doing as well as Obama.

Drop the power trip and do what's right for your country, Mrs. Clinton!

9 Platforms, Santa Barbara Channel

2008-02-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

D300, 12-24mm

Barack Obama Must Be President

2008-02-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

"I don't want to just end the war, I want to end the mind-set that got us into war in the first place."

-Barack Obama

Why is it so rare to hear ANYONE in politics say this? Why is this considered a "fringe," "liberal" idea? Are we so far removed from war, now that we don't pay for it in drafted sons or increased taxes, that we forget the true expense?

John McCain has promised not only an indefinite continuation of this misguided war, but more wars as well! Not even "another war", but "more wars"! What the fucking fuck is this country coming to when a frontrunning presidential candidate can promise "more wars" and not be faced with legions of reporters asking what the in the name of sanity he means by that?

Hillary isn't much better, having declared herself that "any country that isn't with us is against us" just like Dubya (shortly after 9/11), and who still hasn't attempted to rectify her misguided support for the war in the first place.

I try to keep my politics out of this blog and let the work stand alone, but I can't be mute on this point - Obama must be our next president or the party is over and we can all go home. The true spirit of America will have been lost.

Night Photography Show at Harvard

2008-01-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

I've just finished creating the website for Darkness, Darkness, an exhibit of contemporary American night photography at Harvard University's Three Columns Gallery.

24 highly talented night photographers will have pieces on display, including Joe Reifer, Lance Keimig, Brian Chapman, Troy Paiva, Andy Frazer, and Steve Harper, just to name a few! I'm humbled and honored to be included beside these night photography greats.

Go check it out!

Night Clouds, Santa Barbara Channel

2008-01-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

Another one from the full moon. This was taken right after I managed to slip and fall down the side of a hill - I had to dig my brand new Manfrotto tripod into the mud like a pickaxe to slow myself down!

Snow on the Santa Ynez Mountains

2008-01-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

After the rain yesterday, there was plenty of snow up on the peaks of the Santa Ynez Mountains that look over Santa Barbara.

Taken around midnight. ~5 minute exposure, D300, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D at f/6.7

A Gap in the Storm

2008-01-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

It was dumping rain for the last 24 hours straight - we even got hail at one point - but around 9pm the sky cleared up enough to go shoot. The clouds that were left made for awesome props in the landscape....

Featured on Dark Roasted Blend

2008-01-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

The online magazine Dark Roasted Blend has featured several of my photographs in a great article on light painting.

Here's a small excerpt:

It's impossible not to fall in love with the sea and the coast when seeing photography of Toby Keller, aka BurnBlue. His light painting technique is often subtle, and it's hard to tell where the natural light ends and the "super"-natural light begins.

Click here to read the rest of the article along with some great photography!

Santa Barbara Sunset

2008-01-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Taken with the D300 and a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D lens.

Santa Barbara at Night

2007-12-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

D300, Tokina 12-24mm lens, handheld.

Long Exposure Landscapes, D300 + 12-24

2007-12-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

Shooting more long exposures with the D300 confirmed my initial findings: there is no need for in-camera noise reduction for exposures up to 10 minutes (the longest I tried) at ISO 200. I took twice as many pictures last night, which was a huge benefit with the changing light and quickly moving cloud cover. Something that occasionally led to ruined images on the D70 - when the battery was too low to complete dark-frame NR - is no longer an issue, either.

I was very impressed with the battery power of the D300 vs. the D70. I had expected less battery life from the huge-screened monster. But in fact for long exposure work, I'm getting even better battery life than the D70! On a fully charged D70 battery, I would average about 12-15 5 to 8 minute long exposures before the battery got too low to complete dark-frame NR. Last night with the D300, I managed 12 5 to 8 minute shots and the battery still shows 3 (out of 5) bars!

I recently sold my Tamron 11-18mm superwide lens and bought a Tokina 12-24mm f/4. There were a few things about the Tamron that annoyed me, and I finally had enough and made the switch. Last night I took the Tokina out along with the D300 to test it out.

The Tamron was a great lens, all things considered. It produced most of the landscapes and night work here on Burnblue. But I was constantly bothered by things like the variable aperture, slight softness in the corners, barrel distortion at 11mm, and the focus ring rotating while autofocusing. The Tokina takes care of all those problems. It still has some barrel distortion at the wide end, but not as much. The only thing I really miss about the Tamron is that extra mm on the wide end. It actually does make a noticeable difference!

Overall, I'm quite happy with both new toys. They are both extremely well built, beautifully functional tools.

Sunset, Blue Ridge Mountains

2007-12-18T23:51:00.000-08:00