Saturday, February 29, 2020

Los Vaqueros Watershed - Contra Costa County, CA

On January 26th, 2020, I went to Morgan Territory Regional Preserve for a hike through the preserve along with Los Vaqueros Watershed. I parked at Morgan Territory Road Staging Area. I'm telling you that so you can get a general idea of where I was in the preserve as it is huge.

High 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 Morgan Territory Regional Preserve and Los Vaqueros Watershed photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

In this blog post, I have photos from Los Vaqueros Watershed in Contra Costa County, CA. Photos from Morgan Territory Regional Preserve can be viewed here.

Photo from Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of Los Vaqueros Reservoir, Discovery Bay (left), Clifton Court Forebay (slightly left from center), and Tracy (right).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 49' 06" N 121° 46' 42" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of Discovery Bay and Los Vaqueros Reservoir (bottom right). Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of windmills, Tracy, and Los Vaqueros Reservoir (bottom left). Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of Los Vaqueros Reservoir, Discovery Bay (left), Clifton Court Forebay (right), Stockton (in the distance). Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from near Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of Discovery Bay, Brentwood (left), and Los Vaqueros Reservoir and Clifton Court Forebay (right).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 49' 07" N 121° 46' 36" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from near Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of Discovery Bay and Los Vaqueros Reservoir (bottom right). Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from near Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of windmills, Tracy, and Los Vaqueros Reservoir (left). Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

Photo from Whipsnake Loop Trail. Photo of windmills, Los Vaqueros Reservoir, Clifton Court Forebay, Discovery Bay (left), and Tracy (right).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 49' 05" N 121° 46' 42" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed the photos! The photos from Morgan Territory Regional Preserve can be viewed here. 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.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Venus In The Sky - Hansen Park - Pleasanton, CA (Cellphone Shot)

Yesterday night, my mom and I took a walk in Hansen Park in Pleasanton, CA. The planet Venus was glowing very brightly in the sky, and I decided to take a photo of it with my phone. My mom and I confirmed it was Venus via the Google Sky Map app for Android. You know it was glowing very bright because I'm night blind and I can only sort of see moderately bright light sources. In fact my camera was able to see more than I could. I only realized this after copying the photo onto my computer. I cheated a little taking this photo, my mom helped me position my hand. I'm night blind, I get to cheat a little. 😂

I know there will be questions about my vision loss. Let's start off by telling you what I can see at night. At night, I can generally see moderately to extremely bright light sources with limited to no depth perception (unless my photophobia acts up and I've got my dark sunglasses on). I can usually make educated guesses as to what the object might be by groups of lights (such as with cars, but I won't know how far it is from me), the brightness of the light (such as with street lights), and by the direction I'm looking in (such as with aeroplanes because I'm looking at the sky). My mom can also help me in this respect, I sometimes just ask her. Generally I can't see the stars in the sky. As for using Google Sky Map on Android, I used my remaining reading vision as best as I can, and my mom also helped me. My reading vision is impaired, but I can read small amounts of regular sized text at a crawl. I usually use the built-in screen reader because it makes things so much easier on a small device like a phone. I originally thought Venus was probably an aeroplane (because that is usually the only things in the sky I can sort of see at night along with the moon), but my mom said it wasn't moving. Generally if someone is with me on my walk (usually my mom), I'll point to something I'm interested in and ask.

Venus is the bright dot in the sky in the center of the photo.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing 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.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve - Contra Costa County, CA

On January 26th, 2020, I went to Morgan Territory Regional Preserve for a hike through the preserve along with Los Vaqueros Watershed. I parked at Morgan Territory Road Staging Area. I'm telling you that so you can get a general idea of where I was in the preserve as it is huge. I hope you enjoy viewing the photos.

High 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 Morgan Territory Regional Preserve and Los Vaqueros Watershed photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

In this blog post, I have photos from Morgan Territory Regional Preserve in Contra Costa County, CA. Photos from Los Vaqueros Watershed can be viewed here.

Scenery of the KSTN-FM Stockton Transmission Tower shot on Whipsnake Trail.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 49' 20" N 121° 47' 05" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

Scenery of the KSTN-FM Stockton Transmission Tower shot on Whipsnake Trail.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 49' 19" N 121° 47' 04" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

Scenery of the KSTN-FM Stockton Transmission Tower shot on Whipsnake Trail. Photo shot at the same spot as above.

A black and white process of the photo above.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! The photos from Los Vaqueros Watershed can be viewed here. 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.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park - Sunol, CA (Cellphone Photos)

I took a hike in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park in Sunol, CA on January 6th, 2020. I took some sunset and dusk photos with my phone. I hope you enjoy viewing them.

I know there will be questions from some of you regarding my vision loss, and how I am hiking and taking photos during sunset and night. I am still night blind. My mom is with me the entire time being my sighted guide, and I also get help from my extremely bright flashlights (which helps rescue a bit of my night vision, but it's mostly for my mom). The flashlights I own are not your average, store bought kind. The flashlights I have are extremely bright and are used by photographers, police, search & rescue, and the military. They are rugged, waterproof, survives drops, and floods the immediate area in front of you with a ton of light to make it look like it is day time. These portable flashlights are brighter than the lights in my house. I used to do a lot of wilderness photography, so I have some of these flashlights on hand. I also use a white cane on the trail to feel what is in front of me. I hike on this trail very often, even when I was fully sighted in the past. I know the general directions to point my camera for a good shot, even in low light conditions. As long I have some situational awareness on this trail, I know my scenery spots. My mom is also helping me and pointing out interesting things I might want to get photos of.

Sunset and moon rise scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680.

Sunset scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo are Mt. Diablo (in the distance) and Interstate 680.

Sunset scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo are Mt. Diablo (in the distance) and Interstate 680.

Sunset scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680.

Sunset scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo are Mt. Diablo (in the distance) and Interstate 680.

Sunset and moon rise scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680.

Sunset scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680.

Sunset and moon rise scenery from Oak Tree Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680.

Dusk scenery from Ridgeline Trail. Also in the photo is Interstate 680 and Sunol, CA.

Dusk scenery of Olive Grove from the intersection of Olive Grove Trail and Ridgeline Trail.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing 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.