Mission Peak in Fremont, CA

A while back, I went for a hike on  Mission Peak in Fremont, CA. I took the Stanford entrance up (if you are from the area, you'd understand). Here are some of the photos I took during the hike. I also did a few GPS logs to test out my new Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver. If for some reason you want those logs, just email me using the email provided on my About the Photographer page. I have the logs in Google Earth KMZ, Canon LOG, and GPX formats.

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 one of the links below:

• Mission Peak (Best Photos)
• Mission Peak 2013 (All Photos)

Here is a macro shot of a flower. I took this photo before I started my climb near the trail head. The photo was shot with help from my Kenko Extension Tubes and my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT. 

This is a photo shot near the trail head. On my hike up, I mainly focused on landscapes so I used my wide angle lens. 

Here is another landscape shot of Mission Peak.

Another landscape shot of Mission Peak. 

A panorama of Mission Peak looking down at the SF Bay Area. 

Another photo looking down Mission Peak at the SF Bay Area. I headed up a little bit more after this photo, but I didn't taken any more landscape shots after that.

A cow on Mission Peak. There are many cows on Mission Peak. So afterwards, I started heading down. On my way down, I switched over to my telephoto lens for close up shots. 

The 70mm end of my telephoto lens is good for some landscapes too! Here again, is the view down Mission Peak looking at the SF Bay Area. 

I thought the rock formation looked pretty interesting. So here is a photo of it.

There are many squirrels on Mission Peak. Here are photos of one first looking at me, then eating something. 

It is Spring here in the SF Bay Area. Flowers are blooming. Here is a photo of a Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae) and a bug on it. 

Another Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae) photo. 

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.

Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail - Death Valley National Park (Part 21)

At the end of November last year (2012), I took a trip to Death Valley National Park. This is the second trip there in my life. The 1st time I went, I was still a little kid, and I didn't start taking photos yet. This time, I have a pro camera and I am ready to shoot the scenery. Death Valley National Park is known for its "out of this world" scenery, UFO sightings, and many other things. The desert is a very mysterious and beautiful place. In this chain of blog posts, I will be showing you mainly photos of Death Valley National Park, but also photos from surrounding areas like The Mojave Desert, Alabama Hills, and Rhyolite Ghost Town. I have picked out over 400 photos from my trip to show you guys and I will be dividing them into many blog posts. Unlike blog  post chains before, I obviously can't put a link of ever blog post on every single blog post, so instead, I will do the same thing I did for my Yellowstone National Park photos before, by sticking a link of the Next and Previous post on each blog post instead.

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 work from Death Valley National Park, use this link. To see all of the photos from my Death Valley National Park trip use this link.

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Today, I have the last 9 photos from Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos. The photos for today will include some wildlife photos, HDR landscapes as well as some regular landscapes.

A lizard I spotted in Golden Canyon. I immediately switched on my telephoto lens and started shooting away.
Update 3-12-2013: According to a commenter this is a Side-Blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana)

I did some Google search on the species but I can't seem to find it. If you know, please help me out in the comments below.
Update 3-12-2013: According to a commenter this is a Side-Blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana)

Another photo of the lizard. 

HDR composition

Would make a great emergency shelter for short people. HAHA There was this crevice right in the rocks. 

HDR composition of a rock formation. 

Another HDR composition. 

These are all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I have photos from Devil's Golf Course. 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.

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Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review (Video)

A detailed review of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens. This is a very light weight lens, great for backpacking. I often use this lens for wildlife and flowers (on tall trees). So far no issues. Even though it is constructed out of plastic, this is one rugged lens. I have hit this on walls and other objects when it hangs on my neck, and it has been over a year and still working strong! The zoom is great, and I love the bokeh (make sure you watch the photo slideshow at the end).

If you are a beginner or intermediate photographer on a tight budget and want to start with wildlife photography, this is a definitely a must have for your kit. Remember that EF-S mount lenses are not compatible with full frame DSLRs! If you might upgrade, definitely go for a EF mount lens like this one!

Lens Specifications From Canon's Website:
Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 70-300mm f/4-5.6
Lens Construction: 15 elements in 10 groups
Diagonal Angle of View: 34° - 8° 15' (with full-frame camera)
Focus Adjustment: Front-focusing method with helicoid ring drive
Closest Focusing Distance: 4.9 ft./1.5m
Zoom System: 6-group helical zoom (rotational angle: 84°)
Filter Size: 58mm
Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.0 in. x 5.6 in., 22.2 oz. / 76.5mm x 142.8mm, 630g (lens only)

If you enjoy my video reviews, you can follow me on Youtube here.