The mission of East Bay Trails.com is to showcase trails and nature in the San Francisco East Bay and around the world. I believe the path to health and wellness lies in exploring nature, especially through hiking. Through photography, video, news and information, my goal is to share what I've seen so that people become motivated to explore nature, and through that effort, become healthier.
I incorporate Google Earth flyovers in my hike reviews. If you don't see the flyovers, get the Google Earth plugin here.
Enjoy the site and thank you for visiting.
Paul Salemme
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:58AM This is the best time of year to hike Rim Trail. It's not swealtering, and the colors are vibrant.
Location: Lafayette Reservoir Recreation Area
Trails Featured: Rim Trail, Rheem Trail, Canyon Trail
Friday, April 15, 2011 at 11:07PM These are some of the images from a recent hike through Joaquin Miller Park.
Location: Joaquin Miller Park
Trails Featured: Sunset Trail, Sequoia - Bayview Trail, Big Trees Trail, Wild Rose Trail, Sunset Loop Trail
Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 9:08PM Location: Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve
Trails Taken: Round Top Trail, Bay Area Ridge Trail
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 6:48AM These images are from a recent hike to Mt. Diablo to see the snow. From the Highlight Reels section.
Monday, April 11, 2011 at 12:23PM These images from Joaquin Miller park are the result of HDR photography. In HDR photography, you take three or more pictures with a variety of exposures. Some images are under exposed, some are over exposed, in an effort to capture the full range of tonal detail. Then, you use specialized software to combine the images in to one image. The result is typically an image that shows much more color and detail than a single photo. The challenge when working with images of nature is the wind. Usually, you can take three pictures of a scene quickly. However, when working on a trail, especially under a tree canopy, single images can have up to 2 seconds of exposure time. If there is even a slight breeze, the foliage moves, and combining other images may lead to slight bluring. However, most of the time, the result is worth the effort. I don't do this often because of the time involved, but I tried it at Joaquin Miller Park because of the range of light that day.
Slideshow below: