Owner: Burner Photography URL:http://burnerphotography.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:13:38 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog of the beauty of nature and the wilderness, showcasing many of my photographs to (hopefully) illustrate my point. Site statistics:Click here
The Wilderness Coffee Table Book 2008-03-08 17:27:30 The newest project here at Burner Photography (my one bedroom apartment) is an attempt to put together a coffee table book. I'm going to take entries from my travel journals and pair them with full page photographs. Then, I'll have my very own coffee table book when friends come over. Below is an example of what I'm thinking: "Between El Capitan and Half Dome lies Yosemite Valley. At this hight, the trees that cover the Valley floor look like a thick green carpet, but it is hard to miss on this carpet many open sores that will never heal, roads and buildings hacked through ancient forests by humanity's foolish hands. And how does the Valley react to this ravishment? She allows us to speed between her 2000 foot high grey cliffs in our giant machines. She allows us access to her very heart Read more:Coffee
, Coffee Table
, Table
, Wilderness
Finger Rock Trail Snowfall [Flickr] 2008-03-06 01:44:07 Burner Photography posted a photo:
For more, check out my blog entry: burnerphotography.blogspot.com/2008/02/trail-recomendatio... Read more:Flickr
, Trail
The Snow Set -- Yosemite Falls Trail 2008-02-29 14:45:38 The IsolationWith a 2,700 ft. elevation gain, the YosemiteFalls
trail is challenging even when not covered in snow and ice. In February, when I hiked this trail, the snow was very deep and part of the trail hadn't been traveled on since the last big snow, making it extremely easy to get lost. The dark appearance of this photo is a combination of fog and an intermittent, light snow. The cold, the snow, and the lack of crowds gave a thrilling sense of isolation. Perhaps isolation's not really the right word. I don't feel alone in these situations, I feel alone with nature. The feeling was only heightened later when the tracks of others disappeared, and I trail blazed through virgin snow.The Snow Set of PhotographsI have always viewed the following photographs as a set. I even arranged them Read more:Trail
The Start of Burner Photography 2008-02-28 15:20:51 I've just made my first video for Burner
Photography, the insane attempt to raise money to buy a camera and eventually, maybe, support myself by doing what I love (a man can dream).My video is on my new Youtube channel. It's a simple slide show of one of my favorite spots on earth, Yosemite:I know I need to find a real job; yes I know I can't support myself by backpacking through the Sierra Nevada mountain range, but I have the time (you can't find a job at 3am), and we all have dreams. I'll at least try for mine.Ok, the shameless plug: buy my photos. Please. I haven't set up my own website or anything (no sense paying for anything until I actually succeed in selling something), but you can buy my photos through printroom.Here's a teaser. I took this shot of Yosemite Valley right after a s Read more:Start
Trail Recomendation: Finger Rock--Tucson Snow 2008-02-24 17:10:49 The WeatherAfter living in Tucson
for five months, I have to admit that Tucson is actually quite nice in the winter. If you're planning a trip to the Southwest, schedule it between October and March. This is really quite important. If you make the trip during the summer, you will find that Hell has clawed its way out of its lake of fire and settled firmly on Tucson and the surrounding areas. However, in the winter, the weather is lovely, and occasional storms leave an ephemeral layer of snow on the Catalina Foothills.Photo (Right): The storied cliffs that create the canyon walls are particularly photogenic late in the day when the sun shines directly on them.The Trail
Last weekend, I was finally able to hike out into the foothills after just such a storm. To my delight, It wasn't long befor
Travel Recomendation: Sequoia NP Lakes Trail 2008-02-22 14:06:27 The TreesOn my first trip to Sequoia National Park, I went with my family and saw what the park is famous for: really, really big trees:Now, don't get me wrong, the trees are truly amazing. There is no way to grasp their freakish size without actually seeing them. However, what I didn't realize on my first visit is that Sequoia National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and has some majestic lakes and mountains that rival those of Yosemite.The Trail
It wasn't till my third trip to Sequoia that I hiked the Lakes
trail. This trail starts at Wolverton on the north side of the parking lot. For some time the trail climbs steadily up through an unremarkable forest; however, take the north rout when the trail branches off, and you will gain an awesome vantage point on a deep cany Read more:Travel
Big Bend or How to Start a Campfire Using Only Your Car 2008-02-09 17:52:17 At the end of May of 2005, after graduating from Berkeley, I decided to load my camping gear and a few discarded pallets into the back of my 1990 Forest Service green Jeep Cherokee and take the coast highway down from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where I would be working as a teacher.Image: The Pacific Ocean near Big Bend, CA is a turquoise rivaled only in the tropics The plan was to stop over for a day or two at Big Bend, CA. It would be a much needed chance to camp, hike, and unwind after a particularly gruelling two weeks of finals, culminating in my senior thesis—a complex essay on Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. I found a place to camp about 20 miles south of Big Bend in a Forest Service campground. In order to camp in Big Bend, you must have a reservation, but, in con Read more:Start
The Therapy of the Wilderness 2008-02-04 00:14:46 The last time I was running from something, I packed my camping gear in the middle of the night and left for Yosemite, arriving at around 7:30 AM. Now, I want to run from myself, and the mountains offer the only promise of relief, but I am bound here by obligations and a lack of money.I hope that someone will read this post and realize the healing beauty of the wilderness. Perhaps it cannot save me, but I hope it will save others. Our souls were meant to be immersed in nature. I find when I am alone in the wilderness, twenty miles from another human, my problems, whatever they maybe, begin to work themselves out. This is one of the main reasons I am a conservationist. Humanity needs Nature. I defy anyone to be out in the wilderness without feeling a little closer to God. How much hate, Read more:Therapy
, Wilderness
On Nature and the Nature of Humanity 2008-02-03 21:24:11 I started eating yesterday, breaking a two day stretch where all I managed was a half cup of milk. It’s human nature to destroy, damage, and deface. I am no exception. I have carelessly damaged something precious in my own life.Yosemite stands as a testament to the splendor and glory of God’s creation, but it also stands as a monument to humanity’s destructive tendencies. Several of its streams and rivers—no longer free to rush down their native gorges—are trapped by massive dams, and it is hard to find a view of the Valley that doesn’t include one or two long, gray, asphalt scars. Hetch Hetchy DamLake Eleanor Dam
Yosemite in Winter 2008-01-29 15:53:01 Yosemite is the Temple of God. There’s an essence in the land that breaths life into the body. Most people choose to visit the valley in the spring, summer, or fall, but my favorite time to visit is unquestionably winter. When the valley’s covered in snow, the crowds thin out, and I feel alone. One small man isolated by snow and watched over by the grey giants who have stood sentinel over the valley for millennia. One snowy February, I parked my car in an empty lot, slung my new snowshoes over my back, and headed out on the John Muir Trail as it follows the Merced up to Little Yosemite Valley. I passed ten or twelve people on the first mile of the trail, and then, as the trail climbed sharply to hurtle Vernal Falls and the ground became covered in deep snow, I was suddenly and comp Read more:Yosemite
"Yosemite" by Benjamin Burner 2008-03-13 15:48:28 My coffee table book is in full swing. I've made it to page twelve. I'm still working through the layout though.The text to the right of this two page spread reads: Yosemite
is neither rocks nor trees nor waterfalls. It is a living, breathing entity described but not encompassed by its features. Yosemite has a soul, a spirit, moods, and a personality. And we must build a relationship with Yosemite to truly understand her. Using her resources and objectifying her landmarks will leave us only with a flat, photograph of the essence of her beauty.
Read more:Benjamin
, Burner
Trail Recomendation: Young and Dog Lakes 2008-03-19 14:39:14 I've included another two page spread in my coffee-table book. This panorama is one of my favorites. I hiked this trail in the hight of summer and was almost completely alone the entire time. I saw one or two people in the first mile, then nothing the rest of the day.The Young Lake trail starts at Tuolumne Meadows and works its way straight back into the wilderness, crossing creeks and cutting through meadows.There is an eastern and western route up to the Young Lakes
. Be sure to take the eastern route either coming or going, and stop at Dog Lake. The area around dog lake is full of meadows and marshes perfect for the grazing of dear. The whole area is perfectly peaceful and restorative.Image at Left: one of the glacier scraped meadows along the trail, surrounded by a crown of distant, jag Read more:Trail
Hawaii Vacation Recomendation: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 2008-03-29 15:26:21 Hilo (Sad Little City)I flew into Hilo in the afternoon. The airport was really small and dead (as is Hilo), and getting a rental car was a bit of a challenge. As soon as I could, I pointed my car in the direction of Hawaii
Volcanoes National
Park. I messed around at some steam vents and inactive craters, then found a campsite in one of the few areas not covered in craters and steam vents.Night Hikes over Lava (Misery)After setting up camp and eating dinner, I headed down the Chain of Craters road to the coast in hopes of catching my first glimpse of molten lava. After hours of hiking over extremely rugged lava, breathing in toxic fumes the whole way, what I got was this:Admittedly amazing, this was still a little disappointing. I had to use a zoom to get the above shot, and the distant g Read more:National Park
, Vacation
Pinnacles National Monument: Dreams, Spring, and Condors 2008-04-16 04:56:37 DreamsIt is spring. At Pinnacles NationalMonument
, the flowers are, no doubt, in full bloom, and I can't help reviewing old photos of an expired spring and dreaming of someday living free with nature. Someday, I hope to be able to take my pen and paper and my camera and use them to splash drab museum walls and urban apartments--a few drops of purple, a rivulet of green . . .GuidePinnacles National Monument is a great place to spend a day. It's fairly small, and if you're in half decent shape, you can easily get around the monument in a day. I recommend starting at the end of Bear Gulch and hiking through Bear Gulch Cave to Bear Gulch Reservoir. The cave is long, steep and often has a creek cascading through it, so be forewarned. Also, YOU WILL NEED A FLASHLIGHT. The cave was formed from b Read more:Dreams
, Spring
Trail Recommendation: Indian Rock, Yosemite 2008-05-08 05:38:18 Tranquil Start (Mirror Lake)Typically, I travel alone. Although I find the solitude of nature restorative, I'm often out alone simply because the irresistible longing to be submersed in the wild comes upon me so suddenly (that, and most of my friends aren't stupid enough to join me).My last trip to Yosemite
, however, I went with one of my buddies and his whole family: a wife and three girls. It's great to get a chance to share Yosemite, to pass it on to others and encourage others to love the wilderness and creation as I do (after all, that's what Burner Photography's about). That being said, I'm a creature of solitude and reflection, so the day after a "long" hike with the whole family, (up to Vernal Falls and back) they stayed at camp and recovered and I charged headlong into the wildern Read more:Recommendation
, Trail
Horseshoe Bend 2008-05-20 20:49:15 I didn't realize when I set out on my camping trip that I would stumble upon this famous section of the Colorado. Horseshoe Bend is located just a few miles south of Page, AZ on Highway 89. Announced by an unassuming hiking sign, I nearly passed it by. From the small, dirt parking lot, the well-traveled trail leads up a small hill then over a short section of unremarkable desert. It is challenging
Horseshoe Bend [Flickr] 2008-05-22 10:37:54 Burner Photography posted a photo:
A panorama of nine images. For more info on Horseshoe bend see my blog entry: burnerphotography.blogspot.com/2008/05/horseshoe-bend.html Read more:Flickr
Finger Rock Trail Snowfall [Flickr] 2008-03-06 01:44:07 Burner Photography posted a photo:
For more, check out my blog entry: burnerphotography.blogspot.com/2008/02/trail-recomendatio... Read more:Flickr
, Trail
Trail Recommendation: Indian Rock, Yosemite 2008-05-20 20:50:07 Tranquil Start (Mirror Lake)Typically, I travel alone. Although I find the solitude of nature restorative, I'm often out alone simply because the irresistible longing to be submersed in the wild comes upon me so suddenly (that, and most of my friends aren't stupid enough to join me).My last trip to Yosemite
, however, I went with one of my buddies and his whole family: a wife and three girls. It's Read more:Recommendation
, Trail
Horseshoe Bend 2008-05-20 20:49:15 I didn't realize when I set out on my camping trip that I would stumble upon this famous section of the Colorado. Horseshoe Bend is located just a few miles south of Page, AZ on Highway 89. Announced by an unassuming hiking sign, I nearly passed it by. From the small, dirt parking lot, the well-traveled trail leads up a small hill then over a short section of unremarkable desert. It is challenging
The Snow Set -- Yosemite Falls Trail 2008-04-24 02:09:19 The IsolationWith a 2,700 ft. elevation gain, the YosemiteFalls
trail is challenging even when not covered in snow and ice. In February, when I hiked this trail, the snow was very deep and part of the trail hadn't been traveled on since the last big snow, making it extremely easy to get lost. The dark appearance of this photo is a combination of fog and an intermittent, light snow. The cold, the Read more:Trail
Trail Recomendation: Finger Rock--Tucson Snow 2008-04-24 02:08:56 The WeatherAfter living in Tucson
for five months, I have to admit that Tucson is actually quite nice in the winter. If you're planning a trip to the Southwest, schedule it between October and March. This is really quite important. If you make the trip during the summer, you will find that Hell has clawed its way out of its lake of fire and settled firmly on Tucson and the surrounding areas. Howev Read more:Trail
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