Sunday, December 31, 2023

Sunol Regional Wilderness (Cellphone Photos) - Sunol, CA

On 29 December 2023, my parents and I went walking along Ohlone Road in Sunol Regional Wilderness in Sunol, CA. I hope you enjoy viewing the photos.

Message from the Photographer: Just a little update health-wise. You probably noticed I haven't posted photos for months. Unfortunately I have been sick since September. During the month of September I got infected twice. Not sure what it was, but I'm pretty sure I had walking pneumonia for the second infection. I had a post-infectious cough that would not go away, and I was dealing with mild asthma. Fast forward, at the end of November, our entire family caught COVID-19. My mom and I are now dealing with post-COVID syndrome, and it has been a month since the initial infection. My brain barely works at the moment, and the brain fog hasn't cleared. My energy has been slowly returning. Asthma and the cough are still being treated with varying degrees of success, but it seems to come and go now. Life has just been pretty hard on me lately so I haven't been out and about taking photos. As for my vision, my night time vision remains semi-usable, but unstable, with my day time vision fully working. Hopefully I'll be able to go back to taking photos soon, but I'm unsure how long the recovery is going to take. I suspect there is probably long term damage in my respiratory system.

A scenery photo of clouds, mountains, and forest. The photo was shot on Ohlone Road in Sunol Regional Wilderness in Sunol, CA.

A scenery photo of clouds, mountains, and forest. The photo was shot near Ohlone Road in Sunol Regional Wilderness in Sunol, CA.

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Point Reyes NS/Whitehouse Pool CP - Marin County, CA

On 3 September 2023, my parents and I took a trip to Whitehouse Pool County Park in Inverness, CA and Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, CA. I didn't end up taking that many photos because it was extremely foggy and most of the Tule Elk was too far away for the Olympus mirrorless camera I brought. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

High Resolution Photos: If you want to see high 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 see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

A scenery photo of Lagunitas Creek, mountains, trees, and clouds. The photo was shot near the bridge in Whitehouse Pool County Park in Inverness, CA.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 03' 47" N 122° 49' 00" W

A scenery photo of Drakes Beach, seagulls, fog, and the Pacific Ocean (right). The photo was shot at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, CA.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 01' 41" N 122° 57' 31" W

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (Cellphone Photos)

On 4 August 2023, my parents and I went to Golden Gate National Recreation Area in both San Francisco, CA and Marin County, CA. I was in San Francisco, because I needed to see my doctor at UCSF. Long story short, I have a rash on my body that refuses to clear up (it has been going on for months and stumped 2 urgent care doctors closer to me). It has been many years since I been to San Francisco, so I figured I'd explore a bit like in the past. I took photos with my cellphone. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

A scenery photo of fog, Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point (left), Fort Baker (right), and the San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot near Torpedo Wharf in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo of fog, Alcatraz Island (left), Bay Bridge (right), San Francisco (right), Torpedo Wharf (right), and San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot near Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

An abstract photo of Fort Point and Golden Gate Bridge. The photo was shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A photo of Army Cannon Powder Barrels. The photo was shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo of Fort Point and Golden Gate Bridge. The photo was shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo of fog, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Fort Baker, Sausalito, and the San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo of Fort Point and Golden Gate Bridge. The photo was shot at Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, CA.

A scenery photo of the Pacific Ocean and mountains. The photo was shot at Battery Mendell at Marin Headlands.

A scenery photo of fog, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Pacific Ocean. The photo was shot near Battery Mendell at Marin Headlands.

A scenery photo of fog, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Pacific Ocean. The photo was shot near Point Bonita Lighthouse at Marin Headlands.

A scenery photo of Rodeo Lagoon shot on Rodeo Beach Bridge at Marin Headlands.

A scenery photo of Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point, San Francisco, and the San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot at Fort Baker.

A scenery photo of Alcatraz Island (left), Bay Bridge (left), Yerba Buena Island (left), San Francisco (center & right), and the San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot at Fort Baker. 

A scenery photo of Fort Baker, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.

A scenery photo of Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point, San Francisco, and the San Francisco Bay. The photo was shot at Fort Baker.

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Vision Update!

So time to update you guys again on my vision! You guys probably can see that my photography has been picking up quite a bit the previous year into this year! In the past, you probably know I've struggled with really severe visual snow syndrome since the end of 2018, to the point I was half reliant on a white cane during the day, and completely reliant on a white cane at night (by the end of 2019). The good news is towards the end of 2021, I found an experimental treatment for visual snow from the Visual Snow Initiative (non-profit).

Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) is a poorly understood, and rare condition, that seems to be caused by parts of the visual cortex being overactive. There is also correlation between VSS, PTSD, and migraines (which are all conditions that I have). There is usually no physical damage to the eyes itself (my eyes are physically healthy). The condition causes nyctalopia (night blindness), distorted and noisy vision, photophobia, and various other symptoms. I had nyctalopia, distorted vision, noisy vision, photophobia, and various other symptoms at one point or another during these years. 

I recovered most of my vision during the day, and my night vision works normally for approximately 2 months after the treatment. The main cause for this recovery is because of the Visual Imagery Project (experimental treatment) from the Visual Snow Initiative. The treatment consists of 20 different videos, around 30 minutes long, and feature different kinds of flashy patterns which is probably enough to induce seizures in some individuals. I suspect it works by inducing "micro-seizures" into the brain of the viewer, somehow resetting something inside the visual cortex (but this is just my speculation). I watch those videos daily in a dark room on my computer screen. I had to repeat the treatment sessions several times (and I'm still currently repeating them), and I slowly recovered little by little.

The secondary cause for my recovery is probably because I have been meditating which has been helping me sleep better at night, and has also been lessening my PTSD symptoms. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, and while I'm not professionally diagnosed with complex PTSD, I think my particular variant falls under the complex PTSD category. Complex PTSD is very hard to treat. I'm still doing quite a bit of unhealthy avoidance for my PTSD as well. I have been a bit less stressed over all, despite PTSD still being a huge problem in my life.

You'll probably see above, I said, "I recovered most of my vision", with emphasis on most. So what quirks are still left with my vision?

  1. My night vision only remains normal for approximately 2 months after treatment. A while back, I got 3 months out of the treatment sessions. I usually know when I'm due for another treatment session when I start noticing degradation in my night vision. The degradation happens slowly, and I generally start responding to treatment around 3 to 5 days into the sessions, so I do have some leeway.
  2. My close up vision kind of works, but also kind of doesn't. My eye muscles fatigue pretty easily, they seem kind of weak. My eyes also seem to hunt for focus somewhat at a distance of 2 feet to 3 feet in front of me, which is somewhat annoying, as it slows me down somewhat when I'm trying to perform a task at this distance in front of me. This problem becomes even more prominent when I'm seeing up close for a long time. This is a little bit annoying, but I can get around this by taking frequent breaks and if I'm reading, enlarging the text digitally. I can technically see normal sized text and small print now, but it causes my eyes to fatigue faster. I think this might recover slowly as I suspect my eye muscles atrophied somewhat from me not using them for a few years back when visual snow was really severe and caused partial blindness.
  3. I seem to have lost some of my overall colour perception. What I see looks a bit like an old washed out photograph. If I had to put a number on it, I seem to have lost around 25% of my colour perception and saturation.
  4. I still have a tiny bit of noise in my vision, but it seems to be noise I have had all my life. It doesn't really affect anything.
  5. Migraines will often cause my vision to temporarily degrade. Migraines will often cause a temporary flare-up of visual snow symptoms along with migraine auras. The amount of temporary vision degradation caused by migraines seem to vary every time. Luckily, since my weight loss, I don't get migraines very often these days (usually once every 1 to 2 months).
Due to the nature of the experimental treatment, nothing is known about the long term effects of it. At the time of writing, my mostly recovered day time vision has been stable for approximately a year. As mentioned before, my night time vision works for approximately 2 months after treatment, and once my night vision starts slowly degrading again, I know it is time for another treatment session. My vision could destabilize again, but as of right now that experimental treatment has been working like a miracle.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Wilder Ranch State Park - Santa Cruz, CA

On 14 July 2023, my parents and I took a trip to Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz, CA. I didn't really see too much at the farm on this trip. I feel like there was more to see when I visited over a decade ago. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

High Resolution Photos: If you want to see high 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 Wilder Ranch State Park photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

A photo of an old tractor.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 36° 57' 40" N 122° 05' 01" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A close up photo of Hardy Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 36° 57' 39" N 122° 05' 01" W

A close up photo of Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 36° 57' 39" N 122° 05' 00" W

A close up photo of Garden Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima).
Photo shot near the same spot as above.

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Stanislaus/Humboldt-Toiyabe NF - California

On 2 July 2023, my parents and I drove along State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in California. I took photos with my cellphones and mirrorless camera. The photos are split into 2 blog posts. I also took 2 videos on my phones as well of the creek (which is extremely fast this year due to the extra heavy snowfall), which can be viewed here. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

High Resolution Photos: If you want to see high 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 Stanislaus National Forest & Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest photos from 2021 to 2023, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

Parts: Cellphone Photos | Olympus Photos

These photos were shot on my Olympus mirrorless camera.

A scenery photo of Molo Mountain, Black Hawk Mountain, forest, snow, and clouds. The photo was shot near State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 18' 54" N 119° 44' 35" W

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, State Route 108, snow, and clouds. The photo was shot on Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 41" N 119° 38' 11" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, State Route 108, snow, and clouds. The photo was shot on Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 42" N 119° 38' 10" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, State Route 108, snow, and clouds. The photo was shot on Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 44" N 119° 38' 04" W

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, State Route 108, snow, and clouds. The photo was shot on Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 44" N 119° 38' 03" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A scenery photo of Mt. Patterson, State Route 108, forest, snow, mountains, and clouds. The photo was shot near State Route 108 in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 18' 25" N 119° 35' 34" W

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, and snow. The photo was shot on Forest Service Route 077 in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 18' 04" N 119° 35' 52" W

A scenery photo of a meadow, mountains, forest, and snow. The photo was shot on Forest Service Route 077 in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 18' 09" N 119° 35' 45" W

A scenery photo of a mountain, a walking trail, and trees. The photo was shot on #22046 West Walker River Trail in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 49" N 119° 32' 58" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A scenery photo of mountains, forest, and snow. The photo was shot on #22046 West Walker River Trail in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 45" N 119° 32' 59" W

A scenery photo of West Walker River, mountains, forest, and snow. The photo was shot near #22046 West Walker River Trail in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 43" N 119° 33' 04" W

A black and white process of the photo above.

A scenery photo of West Walker River, Lost Cannon Peak (in the center in the distance), forest, and snow. The photo was shot near #22046 West Walker River Trail in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 38° 19' 45" N 119° 33' 04" W

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Cellphone Photos | Olympus Photos

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Canada Geese (Cellphone Photos) - Lake Chabot Regional Park

On 19 July 2023, my mom and I went to Lake Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley, CA. I was in Castro Valley, because I needed to see a doctor at Sutter Urgent Care. Long story short, I have a rash on my body that refuses to clear up. I figured while I was in the area, I'd go for a walk. I saw quite a lot of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis). I took photos with my cellphone. Both photos were shot at Raccoon Point. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

A photo of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Lake Chabot.

A photo of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Lake Chabot.

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Monday, July 3, 2023

Stanislaus/Humboldt-Toiyabe NF (Cellphone Photos) - California

On 2 July 2023, my parents and I drove along State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in California. I took photos with my cellphones and mirrorless camera. The photos are split into 2 blog posts. I also took 2 videos on my phones as well of the creek (which is extremely fast this year due to the extra heavy snowfall), which can be viewed here. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

Parts: Cellphone Photos | Olympus Photos

These photos were shot on my cellphone.

A scenery photo of snow covered mountains, forest, and clouds. The photo was shot at a vista point on the side of State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest.

A photo of a small waterfall (part of Deadman Creek), and forest. The photo is shot on the side of State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest.

A photo of Deadman Creek, snow covered mountains, forest, and clouds. The photo is shot on the side of State Route 108 in Stanislaus National Forest.

A scenery photo of snow, snow covered mountains, forest, clouds, and State Route 108 (left). The photo was shot in Stanislaus National Forest.

A scenery photo of snow, mountains, forest, clouds, and State Route 108 (right). The photo was shot in Stanislaus National Forest.

A scenery photo of Sonora Pass, signs, State Route 108, snow covered mountains, forest, clouds, and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The photo was shot in Stanislaus National Forest.

A scenery photo of snow covered mountains, forest, clouds, and State Route 108. The photo was shot on Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

I took a selfie at Sonora Pass. Here is the sign for Sonora Pass. The photo was shot in Stanislaus National Forest.

A scenery photo of Mt. Emma, West Walker River, Leavitt Creek (left), clouds, and forest. The photo was shot at Leavitt Falls Vista Point in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

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 Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Cellphone Photos | Olympus Photos