Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Sparrows, Scrub Jays, and Robins

Today I have photos of the Gold-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla), the Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica), and the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). All of the photos were taken on Pleasanton Trail (Arroyo Del Valle Trail) except the first 2 robin photos. The first 2 robin photos were taken in my front yard. Pleasanton Trial is located in Pleasanton, California.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best bird photos of 2012, use this link. To see my best photos of Pleasanton in 2012, use this link. To see all of my photos from Pleasanton in 2012, use this link. To view my best 2012 backyard photos, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2012, use this link.

The first three photos are of the Gold-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla).


These 3 photos are of the Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica).


Remember the baby robin photos I posted a while back? I have a feeling this might be one of the babies all grown up! ^_^ If you are new here and don't know what I'm talking about, check out this blog post.

 I think this one might be the momma robin. Sure looks similar to the photos I've taken back then, but who knows? There are lot's of robins around my area. LOL

This robin photo was taken on Pleasanton Trail. Too far away to be related to the other 2 robins. 

That is all the photos I got for today! I hope you have enjoyed it! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends! Also, if you would like notifications on your Facebook feed when I post new blog posts, you can "Like" us on Facebook here, or in the Facebook box on the top of the right side bar! Thanks for looking! See you next time!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Today I have photos of the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). Most of these photos were taken in my front yard (the one with the bird on the grass), and the rest of the photos were taken on Pleasanton Trail (Arroyo Del Valle Trail). Pleasanton Trail is located in Pleasanton, CA. I hope you enjoy!

Just as a reminder, if you love my blog, you can also "Like" us on Facebook. You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar. This will give you updates on your Facebook feed as I post more photos.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best bird photos of 2012, use this link. To view my best 2012 backyard photos, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2012, use this link.

What is that he's pointing at me. o_O

Nom nom nom...

Yummy... Food...

Over exposed. :/

Staring up into heaven. :P



That is all the photos I got for today! I hope you have enjoyed it! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends! Also, if you would like notifications on your Facebook feed when I post new blog posts, you can "Like" us on Facebook here, or in the Facebook box on the top of the right side bar! Thanks for looking! See you next time!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Youtube Korean Music Wave

There was a Kpop concert at Shoreline Park in Mountain View to celebrate the long term partnership between MBC, Youtube, and Google. I was lucky enough (with 5 of my friends) to go because I know an employee. :) Here are some photos I took at the concert (even though it was prohibited). Everyone was doing it. LOL The staff didn't allow the use of DSLRs so I took these with my Galaxy Nexus. I hope you enjoy the photos. Super Junior, FX, TVXQ, MBLAQ, Wonder Girls, Girls' Generation, KARA, BEAST, and SISTAR all performed at the concert. Before going, the only 2 groups I knew was Super Junior and Girl's Generation. LOL

Long lines outside of Shoreline Park. We were slightly late because my friends got out of school at 3 and we had to drive there. I know a few of my other friends ditched school and went there in the morning. LOL A lot of people did that yesterday. I heard people starting lining up the night before. 

A lot of people inside.  

Just as a reminder, if you love my blog, you can also "Like" us on Facebook. You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar. This will give you updates on your Facebook feed as I post more photos.

There is the stage. 

See the grass area in the back? I saw in that area. LOL I was late waiting for my friends. XD 


I think this was the short intro by the Wonder Girls. I have horrible memory. LOL Correct me if I'm wrong.  

The narrators/translators for the concert.  

MBLAQ 



I used my friends ghetto trick of lining binoculars up to the phone's camera. LOL :P It works! 

I forgot what group this was. 



I think this was BEAST. 

 Girls' Generation. :DD


 Super Junior - Sorry Sorry. This was my most favorite performance yesterday night. :D I love Super Junior. They are so cute! ^_^

I think this was TVXQ.

Thanks for viewing! I hope you have enjoyed it! Please share this blog post with your friends! Please "Like" us on Facebook! If you couldn't go to the concert, here is the whole thing on Youtube!


Monday, May 21, 2012

2012 Solar Eclipse Photos

These are not photos of the moon people (well it actually is), but photos of the sun! A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth blocking out part of the Sun seen from Earth. These photos were taken from Shadow Cliffs Regional Park located in Pleasanton, CA. Sadly, to see the full eclipse, you had to drive further north in California to Eureka. In the SF Bay Area, we only saw a partial solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse is similar to a full eclipse but the moon doesn't line up directly so you can see the "ring of fire". You only end up seeing a crescent of the sun. Either way, being able to see this eclipse from the Bay Area is rare and I see it as a blessing.

Websites did warn you not to take photos with your camera with out special filters, but I did with a simple polarizer filter. Nothing bad happened. XD I also looked at the eclipse with only my sunglasses. Nothing bad happened too. I'm not saying you should do the same, but if you do, you do it at your own risk. You should know looking at solar eclipses with out the right equipment and protective gear can be dangerous and can even cause blindness. How did I cope? Short 2 second looks at the sun. It works well as I do that by accident several times everyday.

The following photos were taken with a Canon EOS 7D at 300mm with ISO set at 100, shutter speed set at 1/8000 of a second with an aperture of f/45. This is probably why nothing happened to my camera. Using an aperture of f/45 lets in very little light. Some of the photos were taken through a polarizer filter, some of them are not. The solar eclipse occurred on 5/20/2012 beginning around 5:30 PM.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing here.

 5:58 PM
At first, I didn't want to risk damaging my camera, so I waited for some of the sun to be covered before I take my first photo. This was about the time I got to Shadow Cliff and parked.

Just as a reminder, if you love my blog, you can also "Like" us on Facebook. You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar. This will give you updates on your Facebook feed as I post more photos.

 6:14 PM

 6:24 PM

 6:30 PM

Things that has to do with solar eclipses.

 6:32 PM

 6:35 PM

 6:37 PM

 6:39 PM

 6:43 PM


 6:48 PM

 6:58 PM

 7:04 PM

 7:15 PM
The little dots in the photo are pollen. This is when I took off my polarizer filter. The filter filtered out the reflected light from the pollen, but since I removed it to take photos of other stuff, they started showing up.

7:27 PM

I hope you have enjoyed the solar eclipse photos! What a beautiful natural phenomenon isn't it? Anyways, again, if another solar eclipse occurs, don't stare at the sun with out special glasses (welding goggles may also work)! If you wasn't able to enjoy it, I hope you have enjoyed these photos! Please don't forget to share this blog post with your friends, family, and coworkers! Thanks for viewing!