Redwood Regional Park - Oakland, CA (Cellphone Photos)

I took a walk on Stream Trail in Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, CA last Friday on April 14th, 2017. I shot quite a lot of cellphone photos while I was there. Normally I'd post my cellphone photos the same day I shoot them, but I was very tired that day, and I was busy the whole weekend, so this is why I only got to it today. The travel vlog for April will come out next month.

As a lot of you know, the San Francisco Bay Area was hit with several mega storms few months back. In the photos you will see the aftermath of the storm. Not all is bad though because wild flowers are blooming like crazy!

The beginning of Stream Trail.

Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare)

Storm damage from the recent San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. See that huge tree that fallen over?

 Wild Flowers

 Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis latifolia)

 A patch of Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis latifolia).

 Storm damage from the recent San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. A lot of Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) has fallen over. The park personnel has already done a lot of cleanup work on the trail. Just a week back, Stream Trail was closed due to huge fallen trees on the trail.

Stream Trail and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

Storm damage from the recent San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. Photo of a downed Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).

 Photo of Redwood Creek. The creek is a bit swollen from the San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. It has already went down quite a bit compared to a few months ago.

Ferns and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

 Moss Covered Tree

 Close up of moss on the tree.

Stream Trail and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

Ferns and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

Photo of Redwood Creek. The creek is a bit swollen from the San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. It has already went down quite a bit compared to a few months ago. In the back are Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

 Photo of Redwood Creek. The creek is a bit swollen from the San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. It has already went down quite a bit compared to a few months ago.

Ferns and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). 

Photo of Redwood Creek. The creek is a bit swollen from the San Francisco Bay Area mega storms. It has already went down quite a bit compared to a few months ago. On the side are ferns and Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

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.

Mist Trail/John Muir Trail - Yosemite National Park (Part 18)

Yosemite National Park is a national park located in California that stretches eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of California and covers around 761,268 acres or 3,080.74 km² of land. Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, deep valleys, grand meadows, giant sequoias, giant wilderness area, and much more. I, personally, love Yosemite National Park. I think it is very beautiful and is a great place for photographs. I also happen to live in the SF Bay Area which isn't very far from it! I try to make at least 1 trip almost every year to the park. I visited the park several month ago and I am here to show you some of the photos I took in the park as well as some photos I took on the way into the park from the SF Bay Area. These photos will be divided over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy viewing the photos! Also, I have route information recorded using a Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver. If you are planning a similar trip to Yosemite National Park and would like to see the route I took, feel free to email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a copy. I can provide you the route information in Google Earth KMZ, Canon NMEA, and GPX formats. If you would like to get notifications when I do post, you can Like/Follow me on the following fan pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

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. If you are interested, choose one of the links below:

• Yosemite 2013 (Best Photos)
• Yosemite 2013 (All Photos)

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Now let's introduce you to the photos for today. The photos for today was from the 3rd day of my trip. I begin my climb up Mist Trail towards Vernal Fall from the Vernal Fall Foot Bridge. First thing I have to tell you is that I didn't make it all the way up to Vernal Fall and turned back half way back because the trail was just too wet and slippery to continue. Other reason was I was that I didn't want to risk damaging my camera with such a hike. I have photos from both my hike up and hike down. I hope you enjoy viewing this blog post. :) Make sure you read about my encounter with two douchebags.

The first photo up is of the two douchebags! See those 2 sitting there on the rock? Here is what happened. I set up my camera and tripod and was about to take a photo of the Merced River and the rocks. These 2 douchebags walked right past my camera set up, climbed down and sat on the rocks, right in the middle of my shot. Please learn some proper etiquette in public douchebags. It is not like I'm taking forever. 5 seconds max for that shot and they couldn't wait. At that time, I was seriously hoping one of them slips on the rock and falls down into the fast current... Seriously. If you two are reading this, please do society a favor: break up, and don't reproduce. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 43 33 N 119 33 02 W 

HDR composition of the beginning of the Mist Trail.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 40 21 N 120 52 20 W 

A photo facing down the trail showing the Merced River. My GPS seemed to have lost the signal for the next few shots (the geotag on the photos are all the same), so I can't tell you the position. The mountain on the side and forest probably blocked the signal.

A photo of Vernal Fall. See how wet the area was? The trail was also this wet. The further up and closer I went, the heavier the water. The "rain" here was way worse than Bridalveil Fall. This is how good the weatherproofing on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is. I use it with my Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM Lens which is a fully weather sealed lens (once a filter is installed) with a rubber gasket at the lens mount area (no moving parts except the zoom and focus ring). My camera setup was completely soaked, but no water got into the camera or the lens. Once I got away from the "rain", all the water evaporated off in a few minutes. 

Another photo of Vernal Fall. Also detailing how wet and risky the trail was.  

Product Recommendation: I use the B+W 82mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating filter for my lens. The cool thing about this line of lenses is that it has a new nano coating that makes water extremely hard to stick to the surface of the filter. For the photos I took near Vernal Fall, the only clean up I did was that I took out my Giotto Rocket Air Blaster and gave the filter a few puffs of air right before I wanted to take a photo. I blew all the beads of water off to the side onto the metal ring where it fell off. There was no residue. I am not exaggerating. That is how waterproof or "hydrophobic" (in more scientific terms) this filter is! 

Hiking closer up to Vernal Fall. The trail was getting really wet. 

HDR composition of a rainbow caused by the "rain" in the air. This was the last photo I took before turning back. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 43 34 N 120 49 32 W 

Turning back and going down the Mist Trail. I took this photo hand held facing down. As you can see the trail is very wet. I also have a really bad fear of heights. The trip down Mist Trail was not fun at all. LOL Also my GPS seemed to have lost the signal again for the next few shots (the geotag on the photos are all the same), so I can't tell you the position. The mountain on the side and forest probably blocked the signal.

Another photo facing down the trail with the Merced River in view. Apparently I wasn't the only one afraid of heights. There was one guy who was even more scared than me. See the couple on the bottom of the image? The guy was literally on his hands and knees. He sure have a nice girlfriend helping him. She was very patient helping him along. If you two see this, good luck to you both. :) Too cute!

A photo facing up at Vernal Fall. This was how steep Mist Trail was. It was a nightmare coming down. I think I know why they have a bathroom at the Vernal Fall Foot Bridge now. LOL I had to go once I got there. XD 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 43 36 N 119 32 47 W 

Now hiking back down on the John Muir Trail now past the Vernal Fall Foot Bridge, I stopped for an HDR composition of the trees and rocks on the side of the trail. There are sure a lot of moss on those rocks. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 38 40 23 N 120 10 27 W 

Now approaching the end of my hike on the John Muir Trail. I went down to the riverbank of the Merced River and shot a photo of the Merced River. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 43 46 N 119 33 30 W

Now approaching where the John Muir Trail meets up with Happy Isle Loop Road, I went down to the riverbank of the Merced River to get a photo of the Merced River. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 43 52 N 119 33 31 W 

Now on Happy Isle Loop Road walking back to the parking lot, I saw this tree covered in mushrooms. Decided to take an HDR composition. If you know what species of mushroom this is, please comment below. These kind of mushroom looks all the same to me. LOL

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 39 18 27 N 120 35 55 W 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will have more photos from the Sentinel Bridge and Cook's Meadow area. Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Yosemite Cedar Lodge - Yosemite National Park (Part 3)

Yosemite National Park is a national park located in California that stretches eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of California and covers around 761,268 acres or 3,080.74 km² of land. Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, deep valleys, grand meadows, giant sequoias, giant wilderness area, and much more. I, personally, love Yosemite National Park. I think it is very beautiful and is a great place for photographs. I also happen to live in the SF Bay Area which isn't very far from it! I try to make at least 1 trip almost every year to the park. I visited the park several month ago and I am here to show you some of the photos I took in the park as well as some photos I took on the way into the park from the SF Bay Area. These photos will be divided over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy the photos! Also, I have route information recorded using a Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver. If you are planning a similar trip to Yosemite National Park and would like to see the route I took, feel free to email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a copy. I can provide you the route information in Google Earth KMZ, Canon NMEA, and GPX formats. If you would like to get notifications when I do post, you can Like/Follow me on the following fan pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

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. If you are interested, choose one of the links below:

• Yosemite 2013 (Best Photos)
• Yosemite 2013 (All Photos)

Next Part >>
<< Previous Post

Now let's introduce you to the photos for today. The destination for the 1st day of my trip was to get to Yosemite Cedar Lodge (the hotel I was staying at). When I got there it was kind of late, however, I still managed to get some shots near the hotel. The photos for today is from near Yosemite Cedar Lodge, a hotel near Yosemite National Park. While there, I took photos of the many bear statues set up around the hotel. The photos for today will include photos of the bear statues, some of the picnic areas set up around the hotel, and also a few night long exposures near the hotel.

I also would like to put up a review for the Yosemite Cedar Lodge here. First off, my parents did all the planning and the hotel reservations so I have no clue how much they paid for it. I however can tell you about my experience and I can say, you do save quite a bunch staying here than staying inside Yosemite (obviously), unless of course you are camping. The rooms were clean, and basic bathroom supplies (shampoo, soap, hair dryer, toilet paper) are supplied. I actually stayed at the hotel 2 nights and had a great time there. They also have a small restaurant at the hotel where you can eat at. Just one complaint is that the electrical outlets in the room are a bit old and loose. I have this outlet splitter (because hotels never have enough free electrical outlets for you to use) I use to charge up the batteries in all my electrical devices (not just camera). The splitter (which have no issues when used at home) was kind of falling out of the electrical outlets. I had to change outlets at least once, and had to do a "balancing act" trying not to get my outlet splitter to fall out. Would be nice if the owners replaced them with something newer and tighter! Considering how this hotel is out in the middle of the forest (or no where) I'd give this hotel a 5/5 my stay.

Bear statues set up around the hotel. 

Another bear statue. 

HDR composition of a tiny walkway near the Merced River right across the street from the hotel. Near the hotel there is only a tiny strip of walkway probably for hotel guests to hangout at. 

A short unpaved walkway right across the street from the hotel leads you down to the riverbank of the Merced River. As I mentioned, I arrived at the hotel pretty late in the day so the lighting was very harsh. this was the best I can do as I cannot do HDR as the river is constantly moving. 

Plants growing by the riverbank. A tree with some interesting root patterns and a rock on the right with lichens and moss growing over it. 

An HDR composition of another tree's roots. I thought the roots had a really nice pattern. I did HDR to try to get some of the shadow areas under the roots exposed. 

Rock with moss and lichens grown all over it. 

A flower tree growing across from the hotel. I did some research but didn't find anything. If you know what flower this is, please comment below. 

Another few bear statues. 

A photo of Yosemite Cedar Lodge. This was pretty late in the day with the sun setting. Since the exposure was quite long, the cars going by left streaks of light. Since it was not completely dark, the sky is blown out as usual. 

A few gazebos setup across the street from the hotel. What a great way to sit down and relax. 

Another bear statue. The hotel is right behind across the street. 

Another gazebo setup across the street from the hotel. 

It got dark out, decided to do a few long exposures of people driving by on SR-140. The hotel is right across the street. 

Another long exposure shot. 

Walked across SR-140 and did another long exposure facing the other direction. The reason I did this was because I noticed the stars were coming out. This photo was shot at f/9.

Another long exposure from the same spot with a wider aperture. As you can see the wider aperture allowed the more light into the camera, therefore more stars showed up. The trade off is, you now don't have the "crisp lines" of the stars at f/2.8. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed them. Next time I will be posting photos from my drive into Yosemite National Park from Yosemite Cedar Lodge. Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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