Sunday, March 27, 2016

Dillon Beach & SR-1 Sunsets (Part 3) - SF North Bay Trip

Due to the news last month of the historical Point Reyes Shipwreck being burned down, suspected to have been done by an irresponsible photographer, I decided to take a trip up the San Francisco North Bay to see the historical shipwreck, and get a few last photos before NPS hauls off the boat and have it destroyed. The trip was taken on 2/27/2016. The photos will be split into 3 blog posts. If you are looking for my vlog, you can find it here.

If you have not heard the news, here is practically what happened. The incident seems to have happened sometime during the night between Feb. 21st to 22nd. Very early in the morning of Feb. 22nd, someone reported a fire at the iconic shipwreck, and it took the fire department 2 hours to put out the fire, and most of the stern of the boat (back of the boat) was destroyed. The next day, locals searching the internet found a long exposure light painted photo posted by Instagram user @imonlyjames that showed someone (possibly @imonlyjames himself, an assistant, or friend) spinning steal wool on fire to generate sparks to create light trails in the final shot. The photo seems to have been taken before the fire. While there isn't any proof (as Instagram does not keep EXIF data of photos), the locals and the photography community (after the news spread) suspect that it was the Instagram photographer who irresponsibly set the shipwreck on fire. The Instagram photo has since been deleted due to media attention (which in my opinion, is a sign of admitting to guilt). While this ship is considered by many locals to be a historic landmark, by tourists as a tourist attraction, and by photographers as a both an important landmark and photo subject, the fire department has said they will not further investigate this incident and won't be holding anyone responsible. Their reason? Apparently "something already damaged and abandoned can't really be damaged even further". It is rumored that NPS is currently considering hauling this shipwreck out to be destroyed as it is now structurally unsafe and people tend to go climbing on it.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best San Francisco North Bay photos, use this link. To see all of my San Francisco North Bay photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 

After Hog Island Oyster Farm, I headed to Dillon Beach and then started to head home. For today, there are photos from Dillon Beach, sunset photos from SR-1, and Nicasio Reservoir. 

I was going to visit the beach at Dillon Beach, but it has gotten to the point in the day where the sun's angle didn't allow for any good shots from the beach as I would be shooting against the sun (you can hear me mention this in the vlog). Anyways, on my drive out from Dillon Beach back to SR-1, I found a really nice scenery spot on the side of the road. I pulled out at a turn out, walked a bit down the road (while watching for cars), and took this photo. It is of cows grazing on the hill. The spot is still considered to be in Dillon Beach. In my opinion, this is one of the best photos I've taken. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 15 08 N 122 56 58 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

 A photo of Keys Creek shot on the side of SR-1 in Tomales, CA. Keys Creek is connected to Tomales Bay. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 13 24 N 122 55 05 W

This is the beginning of sunset. This is a sunset photo of Tomales Bay shot at Miller Boat Launch near SR-1 in Marshall, CA. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 1 59 N 122 55 19 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

I pulled out on the side of SR-1 and went down to this tiny beach in Marshall, CA. This is a sunset photo of Tomales Bay. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 08 37 N 122 52 51 W 

Here is another sunset photo of Tomales Bay from the same tiny beach near SR-1. In my opinion, this is one of the best photos I've taken. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 08 38 N 122 52 53 W 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

A sunset photo of Tomales Bay shot on the side of SR-1 in Point Reyes Station, CA. On the other side of Tomales Bay is Inverness, CA where the Point Reyes Shipwreck is (I will show you a touched up 100% zoom later in the blog post). 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 06 23 N 122 50 23 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Here is a touched up 100% zoom of the photo above so you can see the Point Reyes Shipwreck in Inverness, CA. I shoot my photos in RAW so it is possible for me to bring back the details in the shadows of the image. I only noticed that I should be able to see the Point Reyes Shipwreck from this location after I got home and checked my GPS data. 

I walked down a tiny bit on SR-1 to a spot with a bit less foliage to get a wider shot of the sunset scenery at Tomales Bay. This is still at Point Reyes Station, CA.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 06 24 N 122 50 23 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

A long exposure sunset photo I shot on the drive home. This is of Nicasio Reservoir shot on the side of Nicasio Valley Road in Nicasio, CA.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 31 N 122 43 53 W 

Black and white process of the photo above. 

This is all the photos for today and for this series! I hope you have enjoyed the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Scouting Out Treasure Island, CA

As you know, I recently got a DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter. Anyways, I have been planning a scenery short film of Treasure Island, CA. Yesterday, I dropped by Treasure Island to scout out potential take off and landing sites and I took some cellphone shots during my scouting trip. Here are the photos. I was planning on writing this blog post yesterday, but I didn't end up having time.

The Bay Bridge as seen from Treasure Island.  

 A photo shot towards San Francisco from Clipper Cove. 

 Here is a photo of Cosson Hall which is the abandoned Navy dormitories when the Navy still occupied Treasure Island. These buildings will be one of my subjects for my flight. If you take a look at the buildings on Google Maps, you will see that the buildings have really cool architecture. If you are looking to shoot photos of this spot, you should do so soon as they are starting the tear down process to use the land for something else. 


A photo of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) shot at the Green Lawn near Cosson Hall. 

A landscape shot from Perimeter Road of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.  

 A photo of the Bay Bridge as seen from Perimeter Road. 


This is where things get interesting. You see these abandoned apartments? These apartments are areas with unsafe levels of radiation. If you read into the history of Treasure Island, you will know this place was where the US government buried some of their nuclear test waste. Recently the Navy has found some apartment complexes that had unsafe levels of radiation. This lead to a further investigation that found a ton of other apartment complexes in the area had the same problem. The affected apartment complexes were cleared and currently the area is fenced off so the Navy can do clean up work.  

The road you see in this photo is fenced off. I shot this photo above one of the fences. The photo is of another fence that has a bunch of radiation warning signs on it.  

Another radiation warning sign on another section of the fence fencing off the affected areas.  

A panorama I shot with my phone of the view from the end of Treasure Island. Behind me (on both sides of this photo) is one of the fences fencing off the radioactive areas. There was a narrow walking trail outside of the fence. From the panorama you can see San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz Island. My phone did not do a very good job stitching the panorama and you can probably spot the errors at higher resolution. You can find the higher resolution photo here

This is a rotting pier at Treasure Island. As you can see the pier is fenced off with hazard warnings. In the background you can see San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

This is all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Sunset Aerial Photography - Hansen Park - Pleasanton, CA

I had a few friends visit me this past Tuesday and they wanted me to demo my DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter for them. I took the UAV to Hansen Park in Pleasanton, CA for the flight. I ended up showing them the drone in flight, took a few photos of us, and then I took the drone up a bit more and did two sunset photos. I am here today to share the sunset photos with you guys.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best aerial photos for 2016, use this link. To see all of my Pleasanton, CA 2016 aerial photos, use this link.




This is all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Hog Island Oyster Farm in Marshall, CA (Part 2) - SF North Bay Trip

Due to the news last month of the historical Point Reyes Shipwreck being burned down, suspected to have been done by an irresponsible photographer, I decided to take a trip up the San Francisco North Bay to see the historical shipwreck, and get a few last photos before NPS hauls off the boat and have it destroyed. The trip was taken on 2/27/2016. The photos will be split into 3 blog posts. If you are looking for my vlog, you can find it here.

If you have not heard the news, here is practically what happened. The incident seems to have happened sometime during the night between Feb. 21st to 22nd. Very early in the morning of Feb. 22nd, someone reported a fire at the iconic shipwreck, and it took the fire department 2 hours to put out the fire, and most of the stern of the boat (back of the boat) was destroyed. The next day, locals searching the internet found a long exposure light painted photo posted by Instagram user @imonlyjames that showed someone (possibly @imonlyjames himself, an assistant, or friend) spinning steal wool on fire to generate sparks to create light trails in the final shot. The photo seems to have been taken before the fire. While there isn't any proof (as Instagram does not keep EXIF data of photos), the locals and the photography community (after the news spread) suspect that it was the Instagram photographer who irresponsibly set the shipwreck on fire. The Instagram photo has since been deleted due to media attention (which in my opinion, is a sign of admitting to guilt). While this ship is considered by many locals to be a historic landmark, by tourists as a tourist attraction, and by photographers as a both an important landmark and photo subject, the fire department has said they will not further investigate this incident and won't be holding anyone responsible. Their reason? Apparently "something already damaged and abandoned can't really be damaged even further". It is rumored that NPS is currently considering hauling this shipwreck out to be destroyed as it is now structurally unsafe and people tend to go climbing on it.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best San Francisco North Bay photos, use this link. To see all of my San Francisco North Bay photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3

After I finished off at the Point Reyes Shipwreck, I drove to Hog Island Oyster Farm in Marshall, CA. The photos for today are from Hog Island Oyster Farm. Ever since I ate at their San Francisco Ferry Building restaurant (blog post here), I always wanted to go to their farm at Marshall, CA to eat. I figured the food would be cheaper and fresher directly at the farm. If you read my restaurant review in the San Francisco blog post, you will know this farm had a place in my head ever since I saw that Munchies documentary on the farm on YouTube. Since I was up in the San Francisco North Bay, I finally saw an opportunity for me to eat at the farm. I will tell you more about the farm and review the food in the following blog post so make sure you read!

Message From The Photographer: The message in the past post was actually drafted a few days back, and it took a while for me to get around to getting the blog post finally posted. You can probably guess why that happened (because I'm very sick). Anyways, just an update. There is a good chance I didn't have the flu, but instead it turned out one of my wisdom teeth is growing out and it impacted the teeth next to it. This caused an infection and my entire lower jaw is swollen and I'm in a ton of pain. The doctor thinks the rest of the flu-like symptoms seems to be linked as she didn't find anything else wrong with me. Either way, I am in a ton of pain, I'm tired, and I could barely eat anything. The doctor ended up giving me antibiotics to deal with the infection and opioid painkillers to help me deal with the pain. While I wasn't too happy about the opioid high I got on the pills, it was still better than waking up in the middle of the nigh screaming in pain and not being able to eat because of the pain. The next day my dentist checked and told me the wisdom tooth can't be removed until the infection goes away, and I ended up getting more pain pills (non-narcotic ones so it is weaker). So pretty much I was on opioids a few days and I ended up being high as heck and totally out of everything, so I didn't really get too much stuff done during that time. The good news is the infection as reached a level where I don't need those super strong narcotic painkillers, so yay for me! I am now just resorting to the weaker painkillers I'm prescribed because those opioid ones are highly addictive. I am sort of back in working on stuff, although those weaker pain pills makes me a bit sleepy too. While I deal with all this, I haven't had time to set up my new computer (not that I could, was missing some stuff so had to order on Amazon), and my old computer, as I mentioned, is breaking on me, so everything is sort of delayed (blog post writing, photo processing). I really hope I can return on a normal schedule soon with all this stuff. Thank you for putting up with all the delays. I will be doing my best to get those Tahoe photos done.

Here is a photo of Hog Island Oyster Farm from the parking lot. It tends to get really crowded on the weekend. I think on the weekend (at least the Saturday I went), they had free valet parking service. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 09 43 N 122 53 37 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Here is the picnic area and the boat oyster bar (that building in the background). The oyster bar is only open on the weekends and it tends to be very crowded on the weekends (as you can see here). My parents actually waited in line for a while and I took that time to do some filming and some photography with my camera and phone. On week days the oyster bar is closed, but you can buy "to-go oysters" from their kiosk and eat it at the picnic area for a small picnic fee (you get an oyster knife, a bottle of hot sauce, a lemon, a lesson on how to shuck an oyster, and a place to sit). The "to-go oysters" are a lot cheaper as they are raw and you have to open them yourself. You can picnic during the weekend too, but as you can see, you may have to wait a while for a spot instead of just buying and sitting down. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 09 44 N 122 53 38 W 

Here is one of the cooks at the farm barbecuing oysters at the oyster bar. The place is pretty laid back. 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

Here is a photo of one of the oyster shuckers shucking oysters at the oyster bar.  

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Here is a photo of one of the waiters waving at me and one of the oyster shuckers shucking oysters at the oyster bar. 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

Another photo of the oyster shucker shucking oysters at the oyster bar.

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Another photo of the oyster shucker shucking oysters at the oyster bar.

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

I ordered a few barbecued oysters for my parents and I. They were delicious. We drank some ginger beer with our food. The food at the farm is top notch. You can really taste the quality and freshness of the oysters. As for the pricing at the oyster bar, it is fairly expensive and comparable to a higher end restaurant. If you want to eat at the oyster bar, be ready to shell out money. As I mentioned earlier, the "to-go oysters" are a lot cheaper and you can eat at the picnic tables for a small picnic fee. I guess they open up the oyster bar on the weekends to make a bit extra money from tourists passing by as this place is pretty famous. 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

A plate of two dozen raw oysters. We got it already shucked so it was more expensive (and this already shucked plate is only available when the oyster bar is open). The raw oysters were very fresh and delicious. I have ate oysters from my local Chinese supermarket before and I have to be honest, those tasted horrible. These fresh from the farm oysters are the best I've ever ate. These taste as fresh as the ones I got served at the San Francisco Ferry Building restaurant. The farm maintains the quality of these oysters well. 

 Another photo of the plate of raw oysters. 

A photo of the oyster holding tanks at the farm with the people lining up for the oyster bar in the background. The oysters are not farmed in these bins, but is farmed out in Tomales Bay. These are holding tanks for the oysters after they have been harvested. If I remember the documentary correctly, this is the area where they sort oysters by size and get rid of any non-oyster debris that may have gotten trapped in their harvest. For "to-go oysters", you can buy different size oysters along with different species of oysters. If I remember correctly, they are sold by the dozen. They have a kiosk near the entrance where you can buy that. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 09 44 N 122 53 37 W 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Here is a photo of Tomales Bay from the parking lot of Hog Island Oyster Farm at Marshall, CA. My trip to the farm was great. The food was very fresh and tasty. The only thing I did not like was the price of food. I can somewhat understand the price point for the Ferry Building restaurant in San Francisco as the real estate there is very expensive, but considering how the farm is out in the middle of no where in Marshall, CA, I have to say the price of the meal is not friendly. I still enjoyed my visit though. Next time, I might just stick with "to-go oysters" and shuck them myself instead of eating at the oyster bar. My final suggestion, if you have time, try to head there on a week day when it is less crowded if you hate waiting. Shucking your own oysters isn't hard, and they teach you how to do it with the picnic fee. Also there are several other oyster farm places on Highway 1 that could be cheaper than this place (although I did not visit any of those before). I saw quite a lot of people lined up outside a few of them on my drive that day, so I guess they are good places to eat at too. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 09 43 N 122 53 37 W 

Black and white process of the photo above. 

This is all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed the photos! In the next blog post, I will have photos from Dillon Beach and Highway 1. There will be lots of sunset photos. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Point Reyes Shipwreck & Bolinas Ridge Trail (Part 1) - SF North Bay Trip

Due to the news last month of the historical Point Reyes Shipwreck being burned down, suspected to have been done by an irresponsible photographer, I decided to take a trip up the San Francisco North Bay to see the historical shipwreck, and get a few last photos before NPS hauls off the boat and have it destroyed. The trip was taken on 2/27/2016. The photos will be split into 3 blog posts. If you are looking for my vlog, you can find it here.

If you have not heard the news, here is practically what happened. The incident seems to have happened sometime during the night between Feb. 21st to 22nd. Very early in the morning of Feb. 22nd, someone reported a fire at the iconic shipwreck, and it took the fire department 2 hours to put out the fire, and most of the stern of the boat (back of the boat) was destroyed. The next day, locals searching the internet found a long exposure light painted photo posted by Instagram user @imonlyjames that showed someone (possibly @imonlyjames himself, an assistant, or friend) spinning steal wool on fire to generate sparks to create light trails in the final shot. The photo seems to have been taken before the fire. While there isn't any proof (as Instagram does not keep EXIF data of photos), the locals and the photography community (after the news spread) suspect that it was the Instagram photographer who irresponsibly set the shipwreck on fire. The Instagram photo has since been deleted due to media attention (which in my opinion, is a sign of admitting to guilt). While this ship is considered by many locals to be a historic landmark, by tourists as a tourist attraction, and by photographers as a both an important landmark and photo subject, the fire department has said they will not further investigate this incident and won't be holding anyone responsible. Their reason? Apparently "something already damaged and abandoned can't really be damaged even further". It is rumored that NPS is currently considering hauling this shipwreck out to be destroyed as it is now structurally unsafe and people tend to go climbing on it.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best San Francisco North Bay photos, use this link. To view by best Point Reyes National Seashore photos, use this link. To see all of my San Francisco North Bay photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3

The photos for today will be from the Bolinas Ridge Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore in Lagunitas, CA and Point Reyes Shipwreck in Inverness, CA.

I first passed by this beautiful grass patch and mountain, which later checking my photo locations, I found the location to be the Bolinas Ridge Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore in Lagunitas, CA. I thought this location was very beautiful, and there were a lot of cars parked on the side of the road I decided to check it out. I spent around half an hour at this location half running and half walking up and down the mountain. I wanted to run the whole thing, but you know how unfit I am. I'm quite surprised I managed this in half an hour.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 02 45 N 122 46 11 W

Another photo from the trail further up the mountain. There were beautiful clouds in the sky that day too.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 02 43 N 122 46 06 W

I thought the hill off in the distance looked pretty nice so I decided to get a photo in that direction.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 02 40 N 122 45 52 W

Black and white process of the photo above. 

This was the highest I hiked up on the mountain. I thought that slight valley looked okay, but I ended up having to shoot somewhat against the sun. It took me a lot of energy to get to this point so I would have felt bad not taking a shot, even though the angle of light was less than ideal.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 02 39 N 122 45 49 W

After running back downhill, I continued my trip to the Point Reyes Shipwreck in Inverness, CA. Here is my first photo of it. I then went over that small creek right in front of the shipwreck. Getting across was a pain. It was very muddy, and the creek was wider than I thought. My shoes did get muddy and wet.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 52 N 122 51 03 W

Black and white process of the photo above. 

Here is a photo of the stern of the boat (back of the boat). This is the part that got burned really bad.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 53 N 122 51 03 W

Black and white process of the photo above. 

Another photo of the Point Reyes Shipwreck. The waters behind the boat is Tomales Bay.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 52 N 122 51 03 W

Black and white process of the photo above. 

A photo of Tomales Bay as seen from near the Point Reyes Shipwreck.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 53 N 122 51 03 W

Another photo of the shipwreck. As you can see, there is a lot of marshland near the shipwreck. Navigating it was a pain.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 52 N 122 51 02 W

Black and white process of the photo above. 

I crossed back across the creek and took another photo of the Point Reyes Shipwreck.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 52 N 122 51 03 W 

Black and white process of the photo above. 

A photo of the tourists at the Point Reyes Shipwreck. As you can see there are tourists who are climbing on the shipwreck. I did warn the ones I saw on the shipwreck while I was there, as it was noted on several news sites that the structural integrity of the shipwreck was severely compromised during the fire and could easily break under your body weight causing you injury or death. Sadly a few irresponsible college students decided to dismiss my warnings and continued playing on it. Honestly part of me was hoping to see one of them fall through and get hurt to teach them a lesson... I mean if people stopped climbing on it, maybe the NPS would decide to keep this iconic shipwreck there with a warning sign telling you not to climb on it. I feel it was pretty irresponsible for these tourists to be climbing and breaking down the shipwreck even more.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 05 52 N 122 51 03 W 

Black and white process of the photo above. 

Another more zoomed out shot of the tourists around the Point Reyes Shipwreck. This shot was take at the exact same spot as the photo above. 

Black and white process of the photo above. 

This is all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed the photos! In the next blog post, you will get to read another restaurant and food review from Sunny as the next blog post will be on Hog Island Oyster Farm in Marshall, CA. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3

Copyright Warning: These photos are some of my best and most popular works of art. Unauthorized usage and reproductions are strictly prohibited. Please contact me here to purchase prints and negotiate photo licenses.