Thursday, June 12, 2025

Emeryville & Berkeley, CA Coastline (Cellphone Photos)

On the 5th June 2025, my parents and I went for a walk at Emeryville Marina Park, Emeryville Marina, and Point Emery in Emeryville, CA and the Berkeley Pier and Berkeley Marina area in Berkeley, CA. I took photos with my cellphone. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

My father and I's original plan on the 5th of June was to pick up our cameras from Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley, CA, which I dropped off a few days prior for sensor cleaning, and take photos of the bay area from Berkeley. Unfortunately that did not happen as they failed to clean the sensor properly (especially with my father's Canon mirrorless camera), you can see the results of the abysmal sensor cleaning here. While on the topic of camera sensor cleaning, I would highly recommend against going to Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley, CA, as you will not be getting the same service as before (I have been going to them since 2016).

After realizing the sensor cleaning was a complete failure, we brought it back in and showed them on our test shots just how poorly of a job they did and asked them to redo it. We went to IKEA afterwards for lunch and to shop around a bit. You will see later on in this blog post just how bad my Long COVID brain fog is... Also while we're on the subject of Long COVID, I normally post my cellphone photos on the same day or the next day, but unfortunately all these trips to Berkeley has completely drained me, and I have been crashing pretty hard recently from the ME/CFS and my brain is barely working (it's frequently mimicking dementia to be honest). Anyways after IKEA, we headed for Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA. 

A scenery photo of San Francisco, Bay Bridge (left), Golden Gate Bridge (right), San Francisco Bay, and clouds. 
The photo was shot at Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of Richmond Bridge (left), Richmond (center), Berkeley Pier (right), San Francisco Bay, and clouds. 
The photo was shot at Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of Bay Bridge (left), San Francisco (left), Golden Gate Bridge (right), San Francisco Bay, and clouds. 
The photo was shot at Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of the Port of Oakland, San Francisco Bay, and clouds. 
The photo was shot at Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of Oakland, CA, San Francisco Bay, and clouds.
The photo was shot at Emeryville Marina Park in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of Emeryville Marina, Oakland, CA, and clouds. 
The photo was shot in Emeryville, CA.

Next we headed to Point Emery in Emeryville, CA.

A scenery photo of buildings and clouds shot at Point Emery in Emeryville, CA.

Afterwards we headed to the Berkeley Pier and Berkeley Marina Area in Berkeley, CA.

A scenery photo of Richmond Bridge (center), Richmond (right), breakwater (right), San Francisco Bay, and clouds. 
The photo was shot at the Berkeley Pier and Berkeley Marina area in Berkeley, CA.

That was pretty much it for the day and we went home after. I promised I'd show you just how bad my brain fog is. The next photo is notes I wrote down at the IKEA in Emeryville, CA.

A photo of a piece of paper with some notes and a half pencil from IKEA.

I got a free half pencil from IKEA! Yay! However it came with a funny story. All the stands in the IKEA were stocked up with paper tape measures and pencils, but no paper to write on. My parents and I were in the show room and we found something we wanted. In my mind, I needed paper to make note of the item and where to find it downstairs in their warehouse. I looked around, I could not find any note paper. I kept looking, which was when I came upon an unmanned employee stand, and saw there was a printer. I opened up the printer and took a sheet of paper out and went back to my mom. My mom was like "Where did you go?" I was like "I went to go find paper to write on, I don't know why they stopped stocking it at the stands." That was when I realized how bad my problem solving skills have gone due to Long COVID. My mom was like "You know you can just take a picture with your phone."

My mom doesn't really speak English, so I decided to write the same story using Chinese.

我在 IKEA 拿到了半个免费的铅笔!可是这个后面有个好玩的故事。所有的 IKEA 站上只有纸尺子和铅笔,可是没有写笔记的纸。我和爸妈在展览厅里找到了一个我们要的东西,可是要写下来是什么楼下仓库里才能找得到。我找了找没找到草稿纸。我在找了找看见了一个员工站有打印机。我把打印机里抽出来了一张纸,回到了妈边上。妈问了,“你到哪里去了啊?” 我说,“我去找纸去了,不知道为什么他们铅笔边上不放草稿纸了。” 我这时候才意识到长新冠脑雾有多严重。我妈说,“拿手机拍张照片不就行了吗?”

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.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Abysmal Sensor Cleaning at Looking Glass Photo (Berkeley, CA)

This blog post will stray somewhat from my past posts as I chat about another topic, camera sensor cleaning, especially the camera sensor cleaning service being offered at Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley, CA. I have been going to Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley, CA since 2016 for DSLR sensor cleaning (specifically on my Canon DSLR). They have always gotten my sensor mostly clean every time I went. Something changed this time. I wonder if they are under new management, or maybe it has something to do with their store break in sometime in February 2025 and them moving to a new temporary location. However their sensor cleaning service is now abysmal.

Due to the very good service I have had in the past, I decided this time to bring in my father's Canon mirrorless as well for cleaning, because he accidentally smudged a thumbprint on his sensor (it was relatively clean otherwise). For me, I had 4 dust spots on my Olympus mirrorless, however I introduced more as I made attempts to clean with an air blower, and on a few occasions left some smudges on the sensor too. $120 later, Looking Glass Photo made the sensors more dirty, granted they did remove the thumbprint, along with the smudges. They "recleaned" the sensors for after the first time, however all they did was make the sensors more dirty. I will never be back at this place again. I still have to buy equipment to clean the sensors myself, except I'm now out an extra $120 for the so called "cleaning".

When you look at these photos, please know that Google compresses them so you might not be able to see all the dust I see.

Canon EOS R6 Mark II (1st Clean)

Olympus Pen E-PL9 (1st Clean)

Olympus Pen E-PL9 (1st Clean)

Canon EOS R6 Mark II (2nd Redo Clean)

Olympus Pen E-PL9 (2nd Redo Clean)

Olympus Pen E-PL9 (2nd Redo Clean)

The quality of service at Looking Glass Photo clearly went down hill. 

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Lindsay Wildlife Experience (Part 1) - Walnut Creek, CA

On the 3rd May 2025, my parents and I took a trip to Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek, CA, Dinosaur Hill Park in Pleasant Hill, CA, and John Muir National Historic Site, Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline, and Martinez Marina in Martinez, CA. I took photos on my phone and on my Olympus mirrorless camera, and the photos are split into 3 posts. 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 zoo photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from Lindsay Wildlife Experience, use this link.

Parts: 1 | 2 (Coming Soon) | Cellphone Photos

This blog post is part 1 of my Olympus photos. The photos are from Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek, CA.

Message From The Photographer: Unfortunately this past month was just horrible for me with Long COVID, and I was bedridden for most of it. The photos were delayed due to that.

Our first stop of the day was Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek (1931 1st Ave, Walnut Creek, CA 94597). It was free admissions day that day celebrating the museum's 70th year anniversary. It was super crowded that day, and finding parking was a pain. Lindsay Wildlife Experience is a wildlife veterinary hospital, zoology museum, and small zoo all-in-one. I had a lot of fun seeing all the animals, both alive and taxidermy, and I even got to see a veterinarian weighing baby raccoons.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of Penelope the North American Porcupine (Erethiszon dorsatum) eating walnuts.

A photo of a Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

A photo of a Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

A photo of Atsá the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

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: 1 | 2 (Coming Soon) | Cellphone Photos