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Thirsty Thursday: Convict Lake Sunrise

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Ancient Peaks 2012 Merlot

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. My parents are visiting for the holidays from Iowa, and I decided we should take a little road trip to the Eastern Sierras. It was a short trip, but we did of exploring along U.S. 395 in and around Bishop. 

On our first morning in the Eastern Sierra we went to catch sunrise at Convict Lake. In typical Welliver Photography fashion, the sky was completely clear...not one ounce of drama. Add a setting moon to that cloudless sky and we didn't even get good winter twilight colors. But we were there, so I snapped a few frames. 

Here's one in the pre-dawn light. 

And this is what it looked like once the sun started to hit the top of Laurel Mountain. 

While conditions weren't incredible for photography, any morning spent shooting in the mountains is pretty much perfect. Get out there and enjoy your favorite scenery this weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Italian Thoughts

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Beringer Pinot Noir

Nothing fancy tonight, but a decent Pinot to ease into the night. My thoughts today are quite random and I'm not sure if this is actually a coherent post. I'm thinking about many things from spending time with family to laughing and crying to remembering travels. I'm just happy that today's events have been, well, uneventful (or maybe eventful now that I think about it). Sometimes it's a good thing when nothing happens (or that everything seems to go right). Anyways, on to the photos. Tonight's travel memory of choice was Cinque Terre, Italy. I have a few pictures that I think seem to capture the narrow streets and small village feel along with the resort style beaches. Although I wouldn't consider our Italy visit my absolute favorite trip, it was pretty fun (I must say that the wine was quite good though). I think I would recommend that everyone go to Cinque Terre at least once. I'm not sure I'd say go back but there's something about the villages there (even if they are a bit touristy). Still, the narrow streets, atmosphere of the villages, and cool sunsets make it pretty darn neat.

Thirsty Thursday: Crater Lake

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Muirwood Merlot

I'm not much of a Merlot guy, but it's what we had open. This one was from the "open it any day of the week" collection. Just something red to help end a day. The week seemed to have flown by again and I find myself wondering how can it be Thursday. Work has, of course, been work. I'm still behind and more things keep piling up on the "to do" or "I'll get to that someday" lists. Anyways, onto the photographs.

Tonight I found myself sifting through a couple hundred shots of Crater Lake. I say a couple hundred because I was bracketing the shots so it was three for every scene. These are all from our Thanksgiving adventure to Ashland, OR. It's been ages since I've been there and the lake was just as amazing as I remember it even though there was little to no drama in the sky (that's par for the course for us). I think my favorite from the set is the panorama shot (last one). If you haven't been, I highly recommend visiting.

A special thanks to Bill and Jen taking us (and for driving)! Check out his site for some of his Crater Lake shots.

Just before sunrise...

Thirsty Thursday: Atop Mt Ashland

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Paraiso's 2009 Irie Zinfandel

Just a few shots from our Thanksgiving trip up to Ashland, OR. We are fortunate enough to have good friends (awesome photographers) that live in Ashland. The first full day we were there, they took us up to the top of Mt Ashland. The day was beautiful and the views were fantastic. It's actually hard to believe that Mt Shasta is roughly 80 miles away.  Thanks to Bill and Jen for showing us around! Also, if you have a chance, check out his blog.

Thirsty Thursday: Analog

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2009 Paraiso Zinfandel Irie

It's been a long week since last Thursday. In fact, the days have blended together and I find myself wondering how it can be another Thursday already. Last weekend I had hoped to go through some of my Germany / Italy pictures, but it's amazing how fast plans change. These are the shots that I was able to edit throughout blur of last week. Unlike most of my edits (which are almost completely done in Apple Aperture), I discovered that my Nik Software Aperture plugins were automatically updated by Google. I'm still not thrilled that Google felt that it could update software on my computer without my knowledge (not even a notification). However, I have fallen in love with Nik Analog Efex Pro. I'm actually quite surprised that I enjoy these type of finishes so much. Many moons ago when I started to get serious about photography, I found myself waiting for the digital era. I didn't want a film camera. I didn't want a Holga. I suppose I was just naïve. I just wanted a DSLR. I didn't want to deal with developing film. I wanted sharp and crisp images with vivid colors. I wasn't a big fan of black and white photography. I didn't like the imperfect artifacts of film. But that's something's changed lately. I simply love it. There's something about the imperfections and the textures that I love. In fact, some of the images weren't perfect to start with. . . a bit blurry or maybe a poor composition. All of these images were taken with my Canon 5DMKII and processed through the Nik Analog Efex Pro plugin for Aperture. This set is a mixture of images from both Germany and Italy. I hope you enjoy them and all their imperfections. They seem a bit more real to me.