HDRs Redone - Multiple Places

I recently went back and redid some of my old HDR compositions into 32-bit ones for a more natural look. 32-bit HDR compositions usually look more natural and gives better color than a 16-bit HDR (which was what I was doing before) so I went ahead and redone all of them. Today, I am here to show you some of the new HDR compositions several places.

Links to the original posts:

• Placerville, CA
• Mill Valley, CA
• Castle Rock
• Wilder Ranch
• Mount Diablo State Park
• Sutro Baths - San Francisco
• Quarry Lakes Regional Park

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, please select a link from below:

• Placerville, CA (Best Photos)
• Mill Valley/Muir Woods (Best Photos)
• Santa Cruz (Best Photos)
• Mount Diablo State Park (Best Photos)
• San Francisco 2012 (Best Photos)
• Quarry Lakes Regional Park (Best Photos)

HDR from the pumpkin patch at Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz, CA. 

HDR Sunset from Quarry Lakes Regional Park in Fremont, CA. 

HDR from Sutro Baths in San Francisco, CA. 

HDR of Mill Valley, CA from a drive to Muir Woods National Monument. 

HDR from American Whitewater Expeditions in Placerville, CA. 

HDR from Castle Rock Regional Recreation Area. 

HDR from Mount Diablo State Park. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them.  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 Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Quarry Lakes Regional Park

Today I am here to share with you some photos I took at Quarry Lakes Regional Park located in Fremont, CA. If you followed me before, you'd know I have a lot of photos from there. Now I don't go to the park as much because I've moved away from the area. Sometimes I still go back there to take photos as there are a lot of animals and  plants in the park. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos. :)

American Coot (Fulica americana)

Dried up weed growing in the park.

Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) flying. Orange glow cast by the setting sun.

Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) flying. Orange glow cast by the setting sun.

Now I begin the HDR compositions of the sunset. Here is a photo facing away from the sun.  

Sun almost gone!

Sun below the horizon. Casts an orange glow near the horizon. 

I hope you have enjoyed viewing these Quarry Lakes Regional Park photos! If you live around the area, it is a great place to take walks and take photos. :) There are lot's of animals and plants there. 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 Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Airplanes/Birds - Quarry Lakes (Part 2)

I recently went to Quarry Lakes Regional Park and took some photos. I am here to share them with you. As you know that park used to be close to where I live, but since I moved, it's been kind of far, but I still go sometimes. :) It is a really nice park. I have 26 photos from the park and will be splitting them into 2 blog posts.

For those who are new to my blog. Quarry Lakes Regional Park is a East Bay Park located in Fremont/Union City, CA. It is in the SF Bay Area.

我今天有一些在 Quarry Lakes 拍的照片。我一共有二十六章照片，会把这些照片分成两个文章。

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. To see my best bird photos from 2011, use this link. To view my best Quarry Lakes photos, use this link. To view all of my 2011 Quarry Lakes photos, use this link.

Part: 1 | 2|

Today is mainly bird photos also.

FedEx plane photo shot with my Canon EF 70-300 USM lens. 

Another photo of the plane.

Seagull!

Photography Tip: If you are a Canon EOS owner, set your camera on AI SERVO when taking photos of birds in flight. Your camera will constantly shift its focus to make sure you get a sharp photo. 

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

Help me with the name here... Leave me a comment below.

Center: American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Off to the side: American Coot (Fulica americana)

Center: American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Off to the side: American Coot (Fulica americana)

Center: American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Off to the side: American Coot (Fulica americana)

Center: American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Off to the side: American Coot (Fulica americana)

Center: American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Off to the side: American Coot (Fulica americana)

I hope you have enjoyed today's post! Please remember to share them with your friends and family members! Also make sure you check back often as I post more photos. If you would like a notification when I post, "Like" us on Facebook.

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Birds/Scenery - Quarry Lakes (Part 1)

Happy Presidents' Day everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your day! Anyways, I recently went to Quarry Lakes Regional Park and took some photos. I am here to share them with you. As you know that park used to be close to where I live, but since I moved, it's been kind of far, but I still go sometimes. :) It is a really nice park. I have 26 photos from the park and will be splitting them into 2 blog posts.

For those who are new to my blog. Quarry Lakes Regional Park is a East Bay Park located in Fremont/Union City, CA. It is in the SF Bay Area.

我今天有一些在 Quarry Lakes 拍的照片。我一共有二十六章照片，会把这些照片分成两个文章。

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. To see my best bird photos from 2011, use this link. To view my best Quarry Lakes photos, use this link. To view all of my 2011 Quarry Lakes photos, use this link.

Part: 1 | 2 |

Landscape shot

I only did 2 landscape shots. The rest of the photos are of the wildlife at the park. 

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

 American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 

Photography Tip: For photos of birds in flight, set your camera on shutter priority mode and set the ISO a bit higher. Set the shutter speed according to how fast the bird is flying. It is usually trial and error, but you will get the hang of it with some practice. I usually use a speed of 1/1000 or 1/2000, and sometimes I even use 1/6000 if the lighting accommodates. Also, if you have a Canon EOS camera, set your camera on AI SERVO so it will continually track the bird in flight. I'm not sure if other brands of cameras have this feature, but they may have it under a different name.

American Coot (Fulica americana)

American Coot (Fulica americana) 

Left: American Coot (Fulica americana) 

Right: Mallard Duck (绿头鸭) (Anas platyrhynchos)

Left: American Coot (Fulica americana) 

Left: American Coot (Fulica americana) 

Sea gulls in the sky! :D Really compliments the cloud and the blue sky don't you think?

Amazing photo right? I had to wait 20 minutes to catch it in flight, it was flying in and out of the tree, but was way too fast! Photography is all about patience! 

Same bird you saw above.

 This is probably a Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis).

Another in flight photo! :D

Photography Tip: To get photos of birds taking off or about to take off (like the one above), put your camera on a tripod and aim your camera at the bird. Then it is a waiting game. Once you see signs of the bird about to take off, take several photos rapidly. Make sure you are on shutter priority and have a high shutter speed. Also, if you'd like, set your camera to take several shots when the shutter button is pressed down (the multiple image mode). You don't really need AI SERVO for this as the bird will most likely not be moving that fast.

 This is probably a Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis).

I will be posting the rest of the photos of this trip soon! Make sure you check back! I hope you have enjoyed today's photos! Please don't forget to share this blog post with your friends and family members! See you guys next time.

Next Post >>

Quarry Lake Flowers

So guys it has been a while since I posted. To be honest, I moved, and well was too lazy to set up the computer I use to do my photos. HAHA Well the computer I use is filled with viruses and stuff and is very slow. The hardware is also a bit out of date. So I've been using my other computer and I've also been busy with other stuff around my  new house. Well I'm back. Well keep looking down, I don't want to put such a huge amount of text on the top. HAHA I think it looks bad...

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. To see my best Quarry Lakes photos, use this link. To see my best flower photos use this link. To see all of my 2011 Quarry Lakes photos, use this link.

Well as I said before I  probably won't know all the names of the flowers I posted here. If you know the name, comment below. Help is always appreciated. :)

 Alright, no clue what this is. LOL There are some Califronia Poppies in the background. :)

Well part of the reason... So recently an old classmate of mine, she some how found my blog and then found me on Facebook. She emailed me saying I take great photos, but she couldn't really find how to comment on my blog... Well let me show you. HAHA She wanted to remain anonymous so no names.

"I didn't know where to comment about your pictures since I'm a little confused about the entire layout... LOL. But anyways if you're serious about photography try thinking up of new composition styles. Try new things and use the lighting to your advantage. You should try leaving some of the photos untouched because you never know the true beauty behind the nature of it. I leave all my photos natural, and it helps you improve your skills. Try getting the main focus of the picture out of the center. Most of your pictures with the animals in it are too centered (in my opinion, no offense!) look up the rule of thirds. I hope I don't come off as too rude or anything, I've been trying to think of ways to not sound mean when I write this D:. I don't mean your pictures suck please get that LOLOL. Keep taking pictures, practice makes perfect... haha what type of camera do you own? birds in flight can get annoying sometimes, but it's fun to take pictures of! i don't really remember you that much, but i... couldn't be too sure. but yeah, you're photography is really good though, i like your panoramics of landscapes. they're really nice." There is more to this story... :)

As I said above, I have no clue what these flowers are called.

Anyways thanks, you know how you are. :) Thanks for the tips too. At the time of writing I use an Olympus E-510 and my Nokia N97, it's got a fairly good lens on it. Well I know it has been months to all you who view my blog. My classmate's comment was part of the reason why I'm posting again. Anyways about the commenting system on my blog, you have into the blog post itself (click on the title) and you will find a Disqus commenting system on the bottom. I've enabled Guest commenting so you don't need to register. I love positive comments and tips! I really hate this stupid slow computer and I'm also short USB ports LOL, but um... let's move on to the Quarry Lakes pictures. :) I got a lot of flower pictures from back in March (WOW! I just noticed how long I've been gone. Sorry!). Quarry Lakes is an East Bay Regional Park located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

These are California Poppies.

I think these are Yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus)

Flowers!!

I think these are Yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus)

Same as above

California Poppies!

More California Poppies.

No idea what that is...

I think this one is called the Wind Poppy. Not sure.

Landscape shot of Quarry Lakes.

Some sort of spiky nut thing. I've always wondered what it was. Anyone got a clue?

I got no clue what flower this is.

Really tiny plants on the ground. :D They look cool all blown up doesn't it? Macro photography is fun. :D

These flowers are really tiny. Don't let the picture fool ya. :P

These are Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

Landscape shot of Quarry Lakes.

Sure feels nice to blog again. :) Anyways that's all for this time. Next time I got photos of squirrels, birds, and ducks from Fremont Central Park. So check back soon! Also, I actually went to Taiwan recently. You won't believe how hot it was there. :/ I felt so sick when I was there, but I still took a lot of pretty pictures. I still need to get the photos out of my camera/phone and pick out the pictures I'm going to post. So... Yeah! See you guys next time! Don't forget to help me out with the flower names and leave some positive comments for me!