Ball Lightning vs. Trumpet Thunder

teahupoo

2012-01-14T12:15:00.002-07:00

watch this and cry at its beauty. in fullscreen ;)

Four Elements

2012-01-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

i will do my own version of this someday

Interview with David Talbott

2011-12-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

lots of cool things happening in the Electric Universe group as they gear up for their conference next month. here is a cool interview with david talbott.

Science, Dear Readers

2011-12-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

i have already mentioned the upcoming conference Electric Universe - The Human Story, happening in Vegas in a few weeks, but i want to talk about it again. this is really exciting. its so cool to finally see things start happening for these guys. this conference will be amazing and i really wish i could go (does anyone want to "sponsor" me? joking.) anyway here is a cool introduction to Wal Thornhill, who is my science hero, and a little bit more information on the conference. its 13 min long but i think its worth your time.

TimeScapes Teaser

2011-12-07T12:54:00.001-07:00

this is a teaser for something i have been looking forward too for a long time

created by my time lapse hero, tom lowe. cant wait to see this!

Superhydrophobic Foam

2011-11-15T21:18:00.001-07:00

This is so cool!

SCIENCE!

Ladies & Gentlemen, The Earth

2011-11-14T01:12:00.001-07:00

most incredible video ive ever seen.

(click HD and fullscreen)

i kept thinking of these words:

"This planet, with all its appalling immensity,

is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball."

~Nikola Tesla~

Electric Universe - The Human Story

2011-11-10T16:01:00.001-07:00

I REALLY wish I could go to this conference.

Moving Day

2011-11-08T13:44:00.003-07:00

This is so great.

Murmuration

2011-11-04T04:08:00.000-06:00

this would be so cool to see!

A chance encounter and shared moment with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena.

New GoPro 2 is amazing

2011-10-24T16:23:00.000-06:00

I guess this was all made on the new camera.
Its awesome and i simply want to title it:

Adventure!

you should really click here and watch it in full HD

it has a ton of upgrades! lots of exciting new accessories and possibilities. i love the sharper image, bigger sensor, 10fps higher rez photos, 120fps video! and lots of other stuff. and i think its cheaper than the old one. crazy! if you have been wanting a GoPro now is the time. im sure it will sell out super quick.

science!

2011-10-18T18:32:00.000-06:00

i really love ted talks
and i really love electrical science

Bassnectar Remix

2011-10-17T16:25:00.000-06:00

Brandon M. posted this song on google + today and I have been listening to it ever since pretty much. Kinda different than the normal stuff I post on here but since it sounds soooo good on my speaker setup right now.. im gonna share the song and a photo so you can imagine my sonic delight.

red kites

2011-10-15T00:20:00.000-06:00

as you already know i am obsessed with slow motion. here are a couple of dorks with access to phantom cameras. i hate them. i wish i could be doing exactly what they are doing. only better. and full time.
here they are capturing some local red kites. i am amazed with what these cameras can deliver!

you really need to click here and watch it full screen though i think.

radical face

2011-10-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

cant get enough of this song lately. so good.

the avengers

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-06:00

im confidently telling you its already the best movie ever ;)

a little something for Lorraine

2011-10-11T19:20:00.002-06:00

(I went back to my old template, the new dynamic views are super cool but I think ill wait till there are more options before I move permanently over to something like that)

ok as promised i wanted to post a little something from the other day that is just for you =)

sometimes i need to get out of the house, and when that happens i will often pick up my camera and just walk out the door and keep walking. a few days ago i was doing just that when i met a few horses along the way. they came right over to me and we stared at each other for a while. i think they were hoping for a treat.. like an apple or something. they soon lost interest in me but i did manage to get a few photos. here is just one. its not amazing but maybe you will like it. also there will be more coming when i finally get the gumption to make a full blog post with an actual topic.

hoss

2011-10-10T04:42:00.000-06:00

Trying out the new blogger dynamic views for a while. I think this is my favorite one. You can look at the other ones by mousing over the top left.

Here is a photo to look at:

(click to embiggen)

took this up af canyon the other day.

i am concerned

2011-10-04T02:23:00.000-06:00

ok so there are scorpion-flies now?
when did this happen?
why did nobody tell me?

i am not prepared for this.
i am concerned.

This is incredible work!

2011-10-03T16:06:00.000-06:00

I wish I could do this for a living.

You absolutely MUST watch this in full screen with HD enabled on a full 1080 resolution screen.

More Aurora

2011-10-03T15:02:00.001-06:00

this is beautiful

Overture

2011-09-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

Just a little something to get you excited.

sharing the love/madness

2011-09-17T16:57:00.001-06:00

this is in my head ALL THE FREAKING TIME. i have no explanation for how it could possibly be in my head so much. you have probably heard me sing it more than once. so i just thought id share the love.

trying something new

2011-09-01T02:24:00.000-06:00

(click to embiggen)

when i was younger, a lot younger, i would sometimes try to draw pictures. i was never good at it, but what is interesting to me is the fact that i seemed to always try to draw pictures of hands and guns. i have always been fascinated with hands. but im not quite sure what it is that is so interesting to me. perhaps the truly unique patterns of finger prints we all have, or maybe its the scars that carry stories and remind us of where we've been. when i look at my hands or someone else's hands i will never have a quiet mind, but instead a million questions. a weathered pair of hands is a life's story at a glance.

this is my hand.

i took this photo tonight. finally. its been on my mind to do this for a long while now. there will be more of these eventually. i would like to make this a regular thing someday. as i get better at it i might start asking people to let me photograph their hands. its something ive been excited about for a long time.

more stuff i wish i were doing =)

2011-08-29T22:41:00.000-06:00

Lone Rock

2011-08-25T18:43:00.001-06:00

Adam convinced me to go on a mini adventure the other night.

Destination: Lone Rock

I had never been.. never even heard of it. But it turned out to be a cool spot for shooting guns and cameras, as well as a great place to watch the sun go down on top of a 100+ ft tall rock.

it was definitely a jeep adventure

and of course one of my favorite things of all time

we had fun up there with our cameras

i think all tripods should have built in chairs =)

Instagram'd!

right away i noticed some weird stuff up there though...

fossils! tons of em!

it was a pretty tall rock

we also met some nice folk repelling off the edge

sorry Lacey,.. its too hard to resist!

the family we met got a fire going and made smores...

while we took pictures of the stars from above

and of course i eventually pointed the camera at myself!

(photos of me were taken by adam, edited by me.. except for that last one lol)

Lake Tahoe: the adventure of danger

2011-08-24T13:03:00.000-06:00

the first night of our adventure, as we were looking for a place to camp in the middle of nowhere (battle mountain i think) we were deep in the sand when i saw a mountain lion hunting jack rabbits at terminal velocity. so that was freaky. we soon reversed ourselves out of that situation and were on our merry way again.

the 2nd night of our adventure was spent camping at a small lake tahoe campground. it was perfect. smores over the fire. good company. the night sky was absolutely brilliant. when the nights activities were spent, we soon scurried off to bed. that was not the end of it however. after a few hours of sleep i awoke to branden standing over me with a very serious expression. after a second of collecting my wits, he brought my attention to the strange noises outside our tent. the next 45 min were spent in fear as we tried to figure out what to do about the situation, multiple large animals only a few feet from where we were sleeping. i soon had dozens of battle plans ready to be put into action at a moments notice. finally, after what seemed like an age, a few minutes passed by without a noise from outside, i announced my intention to go out there. its amazing the amount of courage a full bladder can lend you. equipped with a leatherman and flashlight, i left the tent. it was eerie and quiet but i encountered nothing. after doing natures business i found the remains of our smores and possibly food taken from other campsites. the bears had eaten a big bag of mallows, a box of graham crackers and all the chocolate. apparently the bears had their own little picnic in our campsite, i didnt remember there being any watermelon before. i dont think i have ever been that scared for that long. its not uncommon for me to be absolutely terrified by something but its usually something fleeting and temporary. this was different. this was the kind of terror that lingers for nearly an hour! after retelling this story to Dan he reminded me of the #1 rule of Cowboy Code - "ALWAYS sleep with your axe" never again will i forget ...

fast forward to the next day. after good food and skipping rocks and walking around the lake we found ourselves in a somewhat secluded area that turned out to be our favorite place to swim and hang out at the lake. we were there for a few minutes then left to get some food and supplies. an hour later we were back there, each doing our own thing, Lacey putting on sun block, Branden getting the raft going, me unpacking my camera and Celeste was making us all some peanut butter sandwiches. thus we were all employed when another tragedy nearly befell us. a yell and a harsh noise alerted us. above and to the left a large tree had broken off at the base and was coming down right on top of us. profanity and quick reflexes saved us from any misfortunes. how many times have you seen a freaking tree randomly fall down and right in your direction?

anyway so what im trying to say is this.. the trip was amazing. im sure we all wish we were still there. good food, fun in the sun, clear blue water, skipping rocks!, and of course good friends. im really glad and super grateful i was able to do something of this magnitude this year, i had given up on the idea of any epic summer adventures and suddenly i found myself having a truly great one.

here is Celeste's accounting of our travels, definitely check her blog out.

now for some of my favorite photos from the trip. if you want to quickly look through all of the photos i took they are already posted on facebook here.

Perseid's Adventure: Preview

2011-08-16T02:08:00.000-06:00

mark is undeniably a pro outdoors-man

my dad fixing up some dutch oven while the rest of us are busy camping

"a wizard appears unto you..."

i think we are all very glad my dad decided to come adventure with us

i was able to capture an event horizon

unfortunately mark's tent was cursed with a biblical plague...

fantastic food, lots of nerdy kids with cameras, hilarious stories, davy's musical impersonations, fascinating meteors, 2 epic flat tires, metal detection...

good adventure.

timelapse video hopefully coming soon!

the plagues of man

2011-08-15T02:06:00.001-06:00

somehow the front door came open sometime last night and was wide open by this morning. in the past 24 hours there have been at least 50 confirmed mosquito kills in this house. while writing this post another one just flew right in from of my face. id rather do battle with an infestation of hungry wolves.

this is neither hyperbole nor adynaton, but a declaration.

photography and powerful story telling

2011-08-10T10:35:00.001-06:00

found a really neat video today about how photography can tell powerful stories. i hope i am able to do this someday.

move, eat, learn

2011-08-09T05:27:00.000-06:00

Found some pretty cool videos today. What a fun idea this is. It would be so amazing to be able to do things like this! More items for my ever growing wish list... But anyway ill just give your their own little introduction:

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

= a trip of a lifetime.

move, eat, learn

Dont forget to hit the full screen button!

to breathe underwater

2011-08-07T10:07:00.000-06:00

it would be nice to be able to breathe underwater. i would never sleep in a bed again. i would get a giant glass tank and just float face down in the water.

what could be more comfortable?

one of my fav underwater photographers - vivantvie

Preview

2011-08-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

taken yesterday, posting more soon...

a morning treat

2011-08-03T06:31:00.002-06:00

a terribly uncomfortable night meets its end

at the sight of subtle hues of early morning,

desperate mosquitoes dancing just outside my window,

and the sweet taste of granola in my bowl.

El Cielo de Canarias

2011-08-02T00:03:00.000-06:00

this captures a few of the things i hope to do some day. beautiful video, definitely worth your time.

Camping and the Delta Aquarid's

2011-08-01T04:11:00.000-06:00

We did some camping over the weekend to watch the Delta Aquarid meteor shower up at silver lake. We had fun and are excited to do another campout for the annual Perseid meteor shower 2 weeks from now on August 12th. (Everyone is welcome to come just shoot me a txt or something)

Adam ended up getting a pretty sweet photo of Polaris (the North Star) and subsequent star trails.

(photo by Adam, quick edits by me)

Here are some photos of last year's hurrah. It was so fun and we saw such amazing stuff that night that we decided to start doing it every year!

See you at the Perseid's!

i want to live here

2011-07-30T23:03:00.000-06:00

at least for a summer. how incredible would it be to listen to that at night.

via 1x.com

Aurora Timelapse

2011-07-27T02:46:00.001-06:00

Norway has some pretty incredible night skies.

The Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, and our understanding of what it is, has a pretty interesting history. A hundred years ago Kristian Olaf Birkeland theorized the aurora was an electrical phenomena. He did incredible work in the field and had amazing experiments. However, because his theory went against the accepted ideas of the times, he was also a laughingstock among his colleagues. He was the first person to theorize that electrons ejected by the sun would get caught by the earth's magnetic field and be directed toward the poles which would light up the sky, exactly like electrified gas (plasma) in a glass tube does (neon lights). Makes perfect sense right? He died in 1917, age 50 "broken in spirit and in intellect, disheartened by the harsh reaction to his theory." This sounds familiar, Nikola Tesla, the man who changed the world in many ways, the man who built and gave away the entire electrical system the world now uses (for free i might add). Tesla died in a similar yet worse state. Why do we keep letting this happen!? Anyway, 40 years later he was finally vindicated by the soviet spacecraft Lunik 2 but NASA arrogantly dismissed it altogether, saying their data was "unreliable." 5 years later in 1966 it was re-proven by a US navy satellite, and over and over again ever since. What we now know as the solar wind, was first theorized by Birkeland. Can you imagine how much further along we might be if we had given him credence 50 years earlier? Can you imagine what the world would be like now if we had given Tesla the time of day and maybe the resources to secure his vision? Pride and greed have choked and stifled the advancement of the human condition as we know it.

a few recommendations

2011-07-26T04:42:00.001-06:00

i guess ive done a few things recently, and that means i have things to blog about? cue the bullets!

Captain America - The movie is really good. My favorite thing is the freaking cool costume Hugo Weaving wore! I would die if I had that costume! Can you picture me wearing this and cruising around on my motorcycle? Ultimate.
I ate a smothered rojo burrito at Mexiquinse in AF. It was so good. It somehow tasted different than other mexican food I've had, which is delightful.
Recorded another episode of the Desert Bears Podcast with Mark and Davy. If you have an hour of free time and would like to be amused as we argue about water in space and other things, you will want to click this link.
I went to the Bluebird Cafe concert up at Sundance with Branden & Celeste. I have been several times over the last few years and it is always a treat. If you like music and have a soul you will love these concerts. I took a few photos:

If you love the Avatar cartoons you will want to click here. (Legend of Korra)
If you like flying you will want to click here. Words can not describe the awesome.
If you want to see some crazy food (yes you really do) click here.
The next few things I already posted on Facebook but here they are again if you missed them. This is a cool time lapse from space.
Cool trick with an iPhone and guitar.
Watch this. Full screen. Don't read anything just watch it.
And finally, if you want to see a guy save a young humpback whale, check this out. (I love this, what a cool experience.)
Oh, and this too I guess although it's not really a recommendation.. I took these the other day:

I miss this

2011-07-21T02:18:00.002-06:00

Its been so long since I did any hardcore mountain biking. This video has made me really miss my days spent on the Moab trails (disclaimer - everything in moab is way better then this trail). Especially the downhill, oh how I loved the downhill!

it would be a good idea to watch this one in HD here.

Kite Aerial Photography

2011-07-21T00:01:00.000-06:00

what a fantastic hobby. i want to do this someday.

lets rewind to 1989

2011-07-20T01:14:00.000-06:00

i guess i'm going to do another "song and story" post so i hope you liked the last one.

listen to this song. what effect does it have on you? does it remind you of anything? does it conjure any images? it may surprise you to know that this song is infused to the very fibers of my personality. i admit its a pretty weird confession. let me try and explain why im so connected. as far as my life is concerned the year 1989 is only significant for one reason, and that is:

"the wizard"

oh this movie! its amazing how often my brain goes back to this movie. for me the most memorable quote is "You got 50,000 on Double Dragon!?" which is also probably weird but im telling you.. its like a stone being eternally skipped across the shores of my mind, it just keeps going. this is also the grand introduction most of us had to the fabled Nintendo Power Glove (worn by Fred Savage above) the ultimate Nintendo accessory every kid wanted back then. i really think the point of this movie was entirely to promote the Power Glove and of course Super Mario Bros. 3. and in the case of the later i think it was hugely successful. i still remember how badly i wanted that game and the pure epicness of finally getting it. i still remember the store i got it from. how crazy is that!? it was the shopko down by movies 8 in provo, i could walk in there today and show you exactly where the display stood. here is another weird thing my brain cant drop. in the movie the kid gets to play the game for the first time in a tournament and when hes playing he instantly finds the warp by pressing down for a few seconds while standing on the white floating box. after playing the game i remember thinking "how did he know!?!?" of course i realize now how the whole movie is just silly but my brain still thinks about that from time to time. now, more than all that, and many other memorable things from this movie, to me, is the spellbinding theme song "send me an angel" by Real Life. It is burned into me like a permanent scar. its like a theme song of my life that is just playing in the background all the time. and maybe that is the reason i am the way i am? anyway i have a theory about why things like this really stick with you but that will have to wait for another day. i'll leave you with another quote from the movie:

"i love the power glove, its so bad"

a song and a story

2011-07-19T00:01:00.111-06:00

i was just going to post this song (its been a new favorite the last few days) but here is a photo and story to go with it as a special bonus.

saturday was the wedding of a good friend of mine. all the fun took place up provo canyon pretty much right in front of stewart falls. it was amazing. after cutting 3 cakes and all the artichoke dip you could eat, the party ended in the usual fashion of throwing some kind of "bird friendly" confetti at the bride and groom. but they had one last hurrah planned before they left the scene entirely. they had tickets to ride the night tram up the mountain, fully dressed in their wedding garb. being appointed their "unofficial friend photographer" i followed them up the mountain, camera in hand. it was really fun to see everyone's reaction to an unexpected bride and groom passing them by on the ski lift. after a while though it became too dark to take their pictures and i was left alone with my thoughts. i admit that it wasnt long before i started feeling wistful and wishing i had someone to share the night air with. being alone on a romantic ride up the ski lift at night, wearing my best clothes, staring at the freshly married couple in front of me... can you really blame me for feeling so? but it was then that i spotted these two girls. taking photos of random passengers as they would get close enough for the camera flash, they seemed to be having great fun. as they neared me i openly challenged them to a camera battle! this photo is the result. it cheered me right up. after that i lay down in my tram and watched the night sky for the rest of the ride. even saw a shooting star. it turned out to be a peaceful night.

Taken @ 9:20PM Saturday the 16th of July

posters & internet

2011-07-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

i read a lot of blogs. i try to stay up to date on some of the nerdier frequencies out there. ive noticed a lot of repeating themes out there. some of them really bother me. like zombies for example. i still dont get why such a boring concept has completely entranced the internet and the entire world. but what ever.. i really want to talk about something else. and that is fan posters. now i am all for the arts. i envy artsy people. i wish i could create cool things all the blasted time. but all the posters just annoy me. there are so many and they seem to get posted on blogs every time someone makes a new one. however... i think i found the exception. for some reason i just LOVE this one. its called "SAMURAI WARS"

via geektyrant

5 min review of Spotify

2011-07-17T20:52:00.001-06:00

I've been using Spotify for about 5 minutes now so I thought it was a good time to post a review on it, in my favorite blog format,.. bullets!

simple interface
fast
super easy
adrian recently gave me a list of music to check out that ive never heard of and spotify instantly found about 85% of what i was looking for. pretty good id say.
no nonsense playlists
easy hookup with facebook to see what your friends are listening to.
easy way to share songs with people.
pretty much better than Rhapsody in every way? yes.
oh and its free.
...
GUH! What the crap!? audio ads!? screw this program!

she fits with me

2011-07-14T00:01:00.001-06:00

the song of the night is

"what have i found"

by The Lonely Hunter

I got a new mouse

2011-07-13T15:33:00.001-06:00

this is my old mouse, the logitech G5. i bought it years ago. it recently died.

it lasted a good long while but i think i dropped it way too many times.

this is my new mouse, the logitech G500

this mouse is so much more than just an extra thumb button and a different paint job. observe.

it has an exciting texture that is pleasing to touch
the buttons are a dream to operate
the wheel is butter smooth
i am in mouse euphoria

2011-07-07T21:44:00.000-06:00

wow i love the new blogger in draft! if you guys aren't using blogger in draft to write your posts to blogger you should switch to it now!

The Arctic Light

2011-07-04T00:01:00.001-06:00

from the same guy that did the "the mountain" and other incredible works.
Terje Sorgjerd is a legend and i want to be him.

this is pretty special. read all the details here.
then watch it again to really appreciate it.

water fascinates me

2011-07-03T16:27:00.001-06:00

water is very fascinating. i am hypnotized by rivers big and small, i am absolutely magnetized by the sea and of course, skipping rocks into a lake is unarguably one of life's greatest pleasures. im not sure when it all started for me but it might have something to do with watching the movie "the abyss" when i was young. ill never forget how cool this part of the movie was:

i also remember asking my 7th grade science teacher if you could theoretically really breath liquid oxygen. i was disappointed to find out that unlike in the movie, liquid oxygen is cryogenic and would therefore be very unpleasant (fatal) if you were to try and "breathe" it. a while back i posted some really amazing water science if you are feeling in the mood check it out here. but that is not what this post is about. its about more slow motion video =)

i found this video today, incredible footage shot at 7000 frames per second.

water is fascinating, and i may be crazy, but i think about it quite a lot.

the phantom flex

2011-06-30T05:39:00.000-06:00

this is my favorite camera in the world. to me it doesnt look like much, in fact i think it looks like something you might find at a garage sale.

this is a 2011 chevy corvette. 638 horsepower, goes over 200 miles per hour, 0-60 in 3.3 seconds.

why did i just compare these to each other?

well, which one do you think costs more?

if you guessed the 638hp fire breathing dragon, you'd be wrong. a performance priced corvette is under $120,000 which is less than the cost of the camera above. crazy.

that means it costs a ton of money to capture true slow motion video. however there are some pretty good options for doing "fake slow motion" check out the video below.

the video above was made with a comparatively cheap DLSR camera (canon 7D) and some tricky software (twixtor) but pretty much any camera with 60fps video can produce something similar. now look at some bike footage from the phantom flex camera.

can you see the difference? looking at the tires and spokes is a clue.

anyway, i plan on doing lots of "fake slow motion" with my camera if i ever have the energy for an awesome project again.

more awesome @ 1000fps

2011-06-26T22:03:00.002-06:00

am i the only one who thinks the world is this fascinating when slowed down?

Space is scary,.. and yet...

2011-06-20T03:47:00.000-06:00

I have always had this weird fear of space. As in the outer space, the large area between the atmosphere of the earth and the vast reaches of the cosmos. Its a weird thing to be afraid of, only a handful of humans and chimps have ever found themselves in space. So i've been trying to analyze my fear a bit lately. Its interesting because I don't have any of the related fears like being afraid of heights or afraid of dying or suffocating. For me its just really uncomfortable to think about being so far away from the planet. And maybe also the perilous nature of being in space means you have to be so exact, deliberate and careful, absolutely every mistake will end in a horrible death. I guess its just to much pressure? I dont know. Anyway I just saw this amazing video of some of the things you get to see from orbit and it surprisingly made me jealous. Now I sorta want to go check out some space =)

I was pretty amazed about the detail of the hurricane he was talking about. So cool! Click the YouTube button to watch it in HD.

XPro Camera Mount

2011-06-18T13:38:00.001-06:00

this would be the ultimate accessory for my GoPro camera!

korean viral video

2011-06-15T19:39:00.000-06:00

i cried watching this

Wordle

2011-06-13T14:08:00.000-06:00

Celeste did a wordle and it made me want to do one.. so here it is!

looks like my blog is full of love, motion and phantom's. i think im ok with that =)

this song

2011-06-11T20:57:00.000-06:00

because its just one of those days...

i have always wanted to...

2011-06-10T23:12:00.000-06:00

... hang onto the wing of a plane.

haven't you?

great music & where to get it

2011-06-07T13:50:00.002-06:00

first off, here is my favorite song lately.. it seems to be endlessly in my mind.

Paul Dempsey - Ramona Was a Waitress

also i just wanted to share one of my favorite ways to find new great music

NoiseTrade.com

the song above is from a band i discovered on noise trade and i have had some other good finds as well. check it out if you are looking for something new (and free [well its based on donations so if you really love an artist you can donate as much as you want]) Enjoy!

a delectable slow motion video

2011-06-04T19:51:00.000-06:00

i am obsessively in love with super slow motion, this was filmed using the awesome Phantom HD Gold camera ($50,000 - $150,000) if i had a stupid amount of money i would buy a Phantom Flex camera, i can honestly think of a million things i would love to see with its amzingly fast frame rates! ( 2,570 fps at 1920x1080, 5,350 fps at 1280x720, and 10,750 fps at 640x480) over the years i have thought about it quite a lot. anyway here is a fantastic breakfast ad shot at 1000fps.

and here is a behind the scenes video for some extra slow motion goodness

hope everyone is having a perfect weekend
=)

the big picture

2011-06-03T09:48:00.000-06:00

many of you already know that astrophotography/timelapse has become a big interest and a hobby i want to pursue someday. this morning i came across a video from dakotalapse.com and something remarkable happened. i have watched many timelapse videos in the past, and i usually like to dissect and figure out how it was made, what gear was used to achieve the exposures, etc, however this time, all i could think about was "the big picture"

its easy to get caught up in the small lives we live - work, school, family, friends, entertainment, distraction. sometimes we forget how big everything is. the earth is full of mystery and magic if you can take the time to look for it. we are part of a large and diverse world but it doesn't begin or end here.

how often do you actually look at the night sky? how often do you take a quiet moment to marvel and wonder at the vastness of it? how often do you ask yourself the big questions? do you ever feel like you are connected to something bigger than this small life?

for me, the clear night sky is a loud reminder...

Summer Blockbusters

2011-05-30T04:33:00.000-06:00

~ this year's summer blockbusters ~

Flight

2011-05-26T05:52:00.000-06:00

someday i will fly...

is the internet the greatest invention of all time?

2011-05-24T06:33:00.000-06:00

sometimes i really think it is.

Antoine Dufour - These Moments

2011-05-23T22:57:00.000-06:00

today is just one of those days where i wish i could play guitar.

an unexpected gift

2011-05-16T02:39:00.000-06:00

an interesting thing happened today. this afternoon i decided i needed to get out and enjoy some fresh air for a little while, so i picked up my camera and headed out the door. i didnt get very far before some flowers in the front yard caught my eye...

and then i noticed something special about this flower...

can you see it?

someone must have lost a dollar somewhere nearby, the wind then picked it up and tenderly set it perfectly into this tulip. or maybe money never did grow on trees, but pretty flowers are entirely a different matter ;)

(note: sorry about the bad color edits on the photos.. im temporarily using a different monitor that is not working out for this sort of thing. sadface.)

February Sunrise

2011-05-15T03:30:00.000-06:00

it would seem i have lost my motivation to start my other blog and related projects,.. for now at least.. so here is a video i finally made from the photos i took back on valentines day. this was going to be used to kick start a few projects but i just didnt do it. let me know what ya think. im proud to have finally figured out how to do a pan/ken burns effect on the timelapse photos. (i had to figure out crazy software made by this awesome german guy - http://gwegner.de/)

click here to watch it in HD 720p

Tarija - Bolivia

2011-05-13T15:56:00.000-06:00

a friend of mine just posted a video that brought back some memories. this was basically my last area before i came home. i spent a lot more time out in the dirt than in the city itself but this will give you a good impression of things down there. some of my best experiences and memories from bolivia happened here.

a few bullets

2011-05-08T03:42:00.002-06:00

thor and mjolnir are my favorite team
noodles, tomato juice, alfredo and season salt is my second favorite team
the 1981 movie "dragonslayer" was actually pretty good
in a few final attempts to like my iphone i jailbroke it again.. then installed android.. still hate it.. selling it
nightwolf in the new mortal kombat game has the best fatality ever (lightning knives moon death) awesome
i am still in love with riding motorcycles
seriously.. what was i waiting for all those years of not having one, i regret not getting one back when i was 16
i was absolutely blown away by Lacey's play
im getting sick of technology lately..
i want to go camping somewhere far away from everything for at least a week, soon as possible, it would be the medicine i need
inexplicably, i still have a mustache
i am super glad my family is coming home tomorrow, i have missed them greatly these last few months
i have found myself in several situations lately where knowing german would have been incredibly useful
white grape juice can be a lovely treat at 3am
i completely hate this mustache. how on earth can people stand it? my dad had an epic mustache for years!!
happy mothers day, love you mom!
this song is beautiful
life is hard lately, music is the only thing that makes it bearable

hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, goodnight

Super cool music video

2011-04-25T01:10:00.000-06:00

coolest ive ever seen. in fact heres a top 3 with this at #1

#2 is definitely this one:

and #3 would have to be this:

a few things

2011-04-20T20:56:00.000-06:00

first this.. watch it now.

i went there last year and it was amazing. this video is beautiful.

engage the bullets!

i am way behind on editing the photos ive taken recently
however i did finally finish a timelapse i did back february, if you find me on youtube its there
i havent posted it here because i have been baking a new blog idea for a while
not sure how i will do that but look for it in the near future
im selling my computer again, if you know anyone who wants an awesome gaming/everything computer... send em my way
ive been building a lot of ultimate gaming computers for people lately, if you would like to have one commissioned let me know
can someone turn up the global warming? cause this dude is more than ready for it!

and here is a recap from late last night :

me and adam went looking for adventure/trouble around SLC

it was a lot of fun but also very cold. we were both taking pictures like crazies in the middle of the night. i dont seem to have much to show for it but i think adam did pretty well.

taken by adam edited by me

we saw a bunch of cool stuff, we got up close to a runway at the airport, we saw a fox 5ft in front of us (which i decided to name "the wise old fox" for some reason) then we saw a pretty cool lunar halo.

we also went to betos but i unfortunately didnt get a picture of the glory. however, when i finally got to bed that night (5am) i ended up having some pretty crazy dreams. i had the most epic flying dream ive ever had (and there have been many). i was flying over the oceans and islands somewhere during a turbulent storm. the waves were enormous and fun! it was like playing dodge ball with an angry mother nature (she lost by the way). then i had an extended adventure while camping with friends somewhere in the mountains. then i was riding my motorcycle around in buildings... where i casually met owen wilson, who thought i had a terribly fashionable hat, and wanted to borrow it.

sometimes you get a "bonus" from a late night trip to betos

AF Bike-Lapse

2011-04-16T14:10:00.000-06:00

Needed a little adventure yesterday so I packed up a bit of gear and bungee'd my tripod onto the sissy bar and mounted the GoPro up there and headed to the canyon. When I got up there I found the road was still closed (apparently its still winter up there) one of these days when it's open again I will do a much better video. Before I left I took a few photos and spliced them into the middle of the video.

I am not sure how I managed to get the black bars on the top and bottom.. obviously I dont know what im doing in Adobe Premiere still.. sigh. Probably better to watch this one at full 1080 resolution.

The Mountain

2011-04-15T13:01:00.000-06:00

This is an incredible timelapse from one of the best places on earth to do astrophotography, Pico del Teide or Mount Teide in Spain. This is definitely on my list. The Milky Way is amazing but so are the clouds! They remind me of the sea.

Natural Phillosophy Alliance conference

2011-04-15T00:27:00.000-06:00

Does anyone want to donate $350(+ travel to Maryland) so I can go to the NPA (Natural Phillosophy Alliance) conference July 6-9?

Look at this lineup!

Wal Thornhill (two talks):
"The Natural Philosophy of the Electric Universe" (The John Chappell Memorial Lecture)
"Galaxies and Stars in an Electric Universe"

David Talbott (two talks):
"Electric Universe: An Interdisciplinary Perspective"
"Electric Universe: The Planets Bear Witness"

Jim Johnson, "Essential Guide to the Electric Universe"

Michael Gmirkin, "The Sun-Earth Connection"

Dwardu Cardona, "Earth’s Primeval Polar Heat"

Ev Cochrane, "Evidence for a Radically Different Solar System in Recent History"

Bob Johnson, "Exploring Galactic and Heliospheric Electric Currents"

Tom Findlay, "Introductory Guide to the Electric Universe"

Rens van der Sluijs, "Towards a History of Plasma-Universe Theory"

Tim Erney, "The Drift-Alfvén Model for a Magnetized Plasma Applied to Saturn's Polar Vortices"

Michael Steinbacher, Mel Acheson, "A New Approach to Mountain Formation"

Also, professor Gerald Pollack (recent blog) will be there, as well as others.

I would absolutely freak out if I could go to this.

couple more pics

2011-04-12T02:10:00.000-06:00

these are a couple more from the other day when me and kela took the motorcycles for a ride up American Fork Canyon and walked around Tibble Fork for a bit. I was surprised at how much snow was still up there (probably a lot more now that its been snowing a bunch) ps i was wearing flip flops...

cranes for japan

2011-04-11T19:44:00.000-06:00

i hate every browser!

2011-04-10T23:28:00.001-06:00

i always use chrome but lately its been quite aggravating, so i went on a quest to find a better browser.. but i quickly came to the conclusion that i hate .. HATE.. all of them.

internet explorer 9 - fast but also lacking about every feature i care about - Unusable
guh.. i dont even want to finish this list.. all i have to say is i used IE9, firefox, opera, and even safari. now im going back to chrome.. i hate them all. will we ever get a rock solid browser that is fast with the features we care about? computers! why do you suck so much?

/end rant

Today's photo-venture

2011-04-04T18:23:00.002-06:00

I was given a challenge to go take some pictures today so I went to the American Fork amphitheater just below the temple for a little while this afternoon. here are a few favorites i took and a song thats been in my head.

a few more can be found on my facebook page

Philip Bloom

2011-04-04T13:01:00.000-06:00

this guy does pretty good timelapses

when ever he travels he sets up a bunch of cameras from his hotel room window and produces stuff like this. pretty cool idea. you can see how he does it here.

Thought of you

2011-04-03T02:53:00.004-06:00

watch this in fullscreen mode with no distractions

if you dont think this is incredibly beautiful, you're not human.

here is the "making of" video

i found this animated short to be deeply moving. it is my sincere hope that you enjoy it as much as i do. made by an artist who found himself in a troubling moment of emotional duress, one of those moments in life where reality is thick and difficult. but then he listened to this song "world spins madly on" by The Weepies and was completely penetrated and inspired by it. music is a current that carries a powerful charge, when it passes through the soul it can have a dramatic effect on a person. i really relate to this, perhaps we all do at some point. these are special moments where music becomes a medicine, something so much more than ordinary. as a talented artist he had the fortunate ability to capture and express the magic that is sometimes felt but so rarely shared.

it is my profound desire to be able to express myself similarly someday

tonight im in love

2011-04-02T03:20:00.000-06:00

i cant even help it
her music haunts me

also, more pictures coming soon

My 800th post!

2011-03-28T02:09:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to say that our podcast is still humming along nicely, we have about 18 episodes recorded now and i think we all still really enjoy it making it. Here is a link to episode 13, why episode 13? well this is the first podcast where we used my shiny new camera. And honestly I was a little late in getting there that night so I pretty much just threw it on a tripod and hit record so im sure the recordings will get better with time. Enjoy.

So click here for the Desert Bears - Podcast - Episode 013

yesterday and today - in photos

2011-03-27T00:02:00.000-06:00

kela made ultimate bread lastnight

then i had some fun with cameras and xbox with the nott boys

today i had lunch with barbara

then it got weird...

Undercity

2011-03-26T04:25:00.000-06:00

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this is a cool documentary i just watched. pretty fascinating. thought id share it.
(warning there is some language)

HDR Cemetery

2011-03-24T07:28:00.002-06:00

Last night i took my camera for a walk and ended up in the AF cemetery. Here are a few quick HDR edits. I took 17 exposures to make these 3 photos.

not that great .. still figuring out how to do bracketing on my camera so these were all done manually.

distractions

2011-03-23T07:46:00.000-06:00

ive had some distractions lately. some good some bad. but today (yesterday technically.. ive been up all night.. thats just what i do lately i guess) i reloaded my computer. after i got my photo software reinstalled i decided to pick a random photo and test everything out. the other day i was sitting in the jeep with a few minutes to burn so i got the camera out to play with ;)

here are a few edits from lightroom

here is the original

hopefully ill get organized soon and start posting more of my pictures.

my first dolphin related post

2011-03-22T18:22:00.000-06:00

this amazed me

Aurora Timelapse

2011-03-22T18:04:00.000-06:00

here is a neat little aurora timelapse from the norway/russia border.

the "big picture" (follow up)

2011-03-20T22:35:00.001-06:00

back in january i posted a blog about this photo

you can find it here "sometimes i want to be a plasma geologist"

however, today i read a fantastic article that paints a much better "big picture" than i could before. some of the things in here were real "eye openers" for me. i think it is profound and worth your time. read it here.

as a side note, recently i was chatting with dan and lorraine over dinner. i admitted to them that i did not understand how an earthquake could have such an exact epicenter. if earthquakes were caused by the shifting of massive tectonic plates across fault lines that are enormous.. how does a single point epicenter make any sense?

detonating electrical double layers? now that makes a lot more sense to me.

i love science.

the world is full of surprises...

2011-03-18T01:23:00.000-06:00

ill let you guess whats happening here...

who is this guy??

2011-03-15T18:06:00.000-06:00

is he a columbian drug lord enforcer? is he an inventor? just a normal guy? or the ultimate badass?

who can say for sure.. all i know is that he has the most impressive suspenders ive ever seen.

a true love of mine

2011-03-13T22:40:00.000-06:00

i need to say a few words about a true love of mine. every year a very special day comes around in the spring. it is the day when i finally take the old beasty out of the shed and take it for a ride after its been sitting in there all winter. i am always surprised when it fires right up with no need to change or charge the battery. the noise it makes in that tiny shed is absolutely monstrous. it puts a grin on my face like nothing else can. every year i forget how loud it is. i dont know if bears have some kind of alarm clock that wakes them up after a long winter of hibernation but hearing that sound ... that terrible roar... it has the same effect on me. it feels like waking up after a long sleep.

it is a thrilling excitement every time i get on a motorcycle but the first ride of the year is a special ride and perhaps my favorite. so here's to an exciting new year. perhaps the best year yet.

the vulcan and i are alive and eager...

God of Thunder

2011-03-07T02:51:00.000-07:00

*Squee!*

Bubbles in Paris

2011-03-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

This video is simply stunning and magical.

I want to do this myself someday.

It was also filmed with my

same camera and lens.

Perfection.

Today so far...

2011-03-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

had some breakfast

then calibrated my monitor with my new spyder3

then i got the GH2 out and went for a walk out in the yard

[no comment]

this is an old fence i really like

my license plate -- of course!

and a tree in the back yard

Horsetail Falls

2011-03-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Just posted something new on my bucket list blog

http://lightninglist.blogspot.com/

GH2 - Its Camera Time

2011-03-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to announce the arrival of my new camera. It is every bit as glorious as I imagined. I've not been able to do much with it yet on account of im still waiting for my SD card to get here. Let the good times roll.

Water Science

2011-02-27T01:23:00.001-07:00

Do you ever think about how crazy it is that we have done and built so much; perhaps even simply described as "progressed", over the last couple hundred years? And then have you ever thought about how amazing it is that we have accomplished all that whilst still not having the vaguest idea of the fundamentals of the universe?

We have built impressive systems of transportation, power and communication, yet we have no idea how a magnet can effect an object at a distance. Magnetism may as well be magic, it can not be physically described. And this is fascinatingly enough, only a single drop in the very large bucket of what we don't fundamentally understand about nature and the structure of everything around us.

And speaking of drops in a bucket, I just discovered this wildly fascinating lecture from Dr. Gerald Pollack from the university of washington on his evolutionary theory of water. Water as it turns out, may be one of the things of which we know embarrassingly little about.

Its about an hour long.. I thought it was pretty amazing and worth every minute.. but.. I doubt any of you are actually going to watch it.. which is a shame =)

Science!

Update: here is a related interview I also thought was interesting.

Ive always wondered what it would be like

2011-02-25T15:44:00.003-07:00

looks like its just as horrifying as i imagined.

Interesting video on Education

2011-02-25T14:36:00.000-07:00