Molly Burke Talk - Stoneridge Mall - Pleasanton, CA

(Blind accessibility photo descriptions are beneath each photo.) Went to the Molly Burke talk, and meet and greet at the Aerie Store in Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, CA today. Of course there were a few other speakers there too. It was fun and inspiring. Here are the photos I took at the event. This blog post is a mix of cellphone photos and photos from my mirrorless camera. Due to the nature of these photos, blind accessibility captions are provided in the photo descriptions.

I went because Molly Burke's YouTube videos have helped me a lot in coping with my personal depression, PTSD, and anxiety issues. I've been watching her videos for years now and it has taught me how to find the positives when everything around you is so negative or when everything in your life seems to be falling apart. It has also helped me greatly with the vision difficulties I've been experiencing since last year (it mostly hits me hard after sunset daily or in a poorly lit room). Some of the tips I've picked up helped me adapt a lot faster to the vision difficulties than if I didn't have any help at all. I may be a photographer, but it doesn't mean I haven't been dealing with vision difficulties. It has definitely taken its toll on my photography since last year. It has caused new challenges, caused me to slow down, but I will push through and achieve the impossible.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution Photos of any of the photos you see here, you can use this link. It takes you to my portfolio.

A selfie with Molly Burke. Thank you so much Molly for taking the time so I can get a selfie.
Accessibility: A selfie of Sunny wearing a black Columbia jacket and a black and white t-shirt with Molly Burke wearing a white t-shirt and a straw hat. In the background is the Aerie store and on the left is the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

The people speaking at the event. 

Accessibility: A photo of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Molly Burke and her mom.

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke (left) and her mom (right) at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Molly Burke and her mom. 

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke (left) and her mom (right) at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

The people speaking at the event.

Accessibility: A photo of 5 of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop. In the foreground is Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, napping on the ground.

The people speaking at the event. 

Accessibility: A photo of 4 of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Molly Burke and her mom. 

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke (left) and her mom (right) at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Another speaker at the event. 

Accessibility: A photo of 2 of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is part of the Aerie store with the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Another speaker at the event.

Accessibility: A photo of 2 of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is part of the Aerie store with the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop.

Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop.

Accessibility: Shot through the gap between a woman's leg and her baby stroller. In the center is the head of Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, napping on the ground.

The people speaking at the event.

Accessibility: A photo of 5 of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop. In the foreground is Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, napping on the ground.

The people speaking at the event.

Accessibility: A photo of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop. In the foreground is Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, napping on the ground.

Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop.

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, perked up, not looking directly at the camera, straight ahead.

Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop.

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, perked up, looking at the floor towards the left. 

The people speaking at the event.

Accessibility: A photo of the 6 speakers at the event. In the background is the Aerie store with part of the #AerieREAL hashtag with green leaves backdrop. In the foreground is Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, looking at the floor towards the left.

Molly Burke's guide dog.

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, perked up, licking its nose, and looking towards the right.

Molly Burke and her guide dog. I don't think you were suppose to pet the dog when they have their harness on...

Accessibility: A photo inside the Aerie store of Molly Burke, her mother, Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, and 4 other people. Molly Burke and her mother is busy talking to 2 of the people in the photo. The 2 other people are petting Gallop who has its harness on. Molly Burke is holding Gallop's leash. In the background is the Aerie store.

Molly Burke's guide dog.

Accessibility: A photo of Molly Burke's guide dog, Gallop, napping on the floor.

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.

Augustin Bernal Park (Aerial Photography) - Pleasanton, CA

You probably know from my previous blog post that I recently updated the firmware on my DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter which wiped my camera settings. This caused me to accidentally do the whole photo shoot in JPEG and not RAW leading to me not being able to process the photos and making them not look as good. As mentioned in that blog post, I was going to do a reshoot, which I did yesterday on 5/13/2016. I didn't end up having time to process and sort the photos yesterday which is why I am only writing and posting the blog post today.

I hope you enjoy viewing these photos! These photos are from Augustin Bernal Park in Pleasanton, CA. This is my first ever planned photo shoot where I actually planned what I wanted to shoot. My other photo shoots up to this point has been random, spur of the moment shoots. I hope you find my photos and this drone as awesome as the park ranger and construction worker who approached me for a chat yesterday. They just wanted to chat because they thought it was such a cool device. Pleasanton is doing some work on the hiking trails in the park which is why they were there. I didn't end up going hiking yesterday. I'm exhausted from the 6 mile hike the other day so I decided to take a little break.

Full 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 (other than the photos of me), please contact me here. To view my best aerial photos for 2016, use this link. To see my best monochrome photos for 2016, use this link. To see all of my aerial photos from this shoot at Augustin Bernal Park, use this link.

 Aerial scenery view of Pleasanton, CA. In the distance on the far left is Stoneridge Mall and Dublin, CA. The highway you see is Interstate 680. 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

A photo of the mountain range (on the left), Stoneridge Mall in the distance, Dublin, CA in the distance, and Interstate 680.  

A photo shot towards Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and Sunol, CA. The highway, again is Interstate 680.  

 I shot a panorama during this flight too. Far off in the distance on the far left is Stoneridge Mall and Dublin, CA. In the middle is Castlewood Country Club. On the far right is Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and Sunol, CA. As with all of the other photos, the highway you see stretching through this entire photo is Interstate 680. You can view the full resolution panorama here. 

The peak of Augustin Bernal Park. That is usually where I hike to on my hiking trips. The peak is approximately 2.3 miles up the trail. 

I normally don't do this with my drone as I fear a crash, but it was too hard to resist flying toward the peak for a better shot. I know I have enough battery power to sustain a short fly there and back. The peak isn't too far. The peak is only a few hundred feet in horizontal distance from the parking lot. 

I flew about 2/3 of the way to the peak before I had it automatically fly back. I know there most likely won't be an issue, but I felt super anxious. 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

A top down view of the parking lot of Augustin Bernal Park and the golf courses at Castlewood Country Club. 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Came down a bit to get a photo of the parking lot for Augustin Bernal Park. I am standing in the grass field in the center. Can you spot me? You see those 4 tiny baby trees a tiny bit lower and to the left from the center of the photo? I was standing near one of those trees. You can probably make out a little tiny dot on the ground. That is me. 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

Here is a selfie of me flying the UAV.  

 A top down selfie of me flying the UAV. 

Another photo shot towards the Stoneridge Mall direction, but this time facing a bit more down. This is Golden Eagle Estates, the gated community you have to drive through to get to the park. Again, the highway in the photo is Interestate 680. 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

A photo of the parking lot of Augustin Bernal Park from another angle. The highway is Interstate 680.  

Black and white process of the photo 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 Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.