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Thirsty Thursday: Tübingen

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: English breakfast tea with some local honey

I suppose I should be drinking beer if I'm posting pictures from Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Unfortunately, I'm all beer'd out right now...too much beer the last few days. Anyways, these shots are from last summer. Beth was stuck in business classes all day, I was stuck wandering around Tübingen. Tough life for me but I made due. Perhaps a beer tomorrow or maybe some wine :-)

Thirsty Thursday: Lucca

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Pierce GSM

Lucca from outside the city wall...who would have guessed that it housed such a fabulous city. Even walking on the wall, you can't really appreciate it. It's not until you wander down the streets and find some stairs that lead you to the top of one of the many towers--then, you'll appreciate it. Its narrow streets, its red-roofed buildings, all protected by a brick wall and some trees. Such a cool place. I'd like to go back some day.

Approaching Lucca

The wall

Walking on the wall

Lucca from above

Thirsty Thursday: Vacation

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: 2010 Cambiata Tannat

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. This week I decided to play with a few photos I took while my parents were visiting for Christmas. They were already on vacation, but I went ahead and took a few days off as well and we went to the Eastern Sierra. The area is one of my favorite places anywhere, so I was excited to share it with my parents. We went to all the usual places, but I found a few photos that weren't the iconic Eastern Sierra shots, just places we happened to find ourselves throughout the day. I started playing around with one of these photos in Nik Analog and liked it...so I decided to process a few more the same way, giving this set a vintage "family vacation" feel. 

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I had fun picking the images to do in this set, but I also realized that I could have done more with the camera. I was focused on capturing images of the landscape and I missed out on some cool moments that made the trip our family trip, like the yummy Chinese food or the random stuff we found while driving around. That's really my goal for the coming year...more capturing of moments! Pretty landscapes are nice, but there's something fun about making images that go together to tell a story, whatever that story may be. 

Get out there and make moments...and don't forget to capture them! 

Thirsty Thursday: Warm Afternoon

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2008 Santa Margherita Riserva Chianti Classico

It's late in the afternoon and this is my second trip to Ft Ord in the same day. The first one was for a long run in the morning. The second was just me, Massey, and a camera with a 180mm late in the day. It's been such a long time since I've used that lens. I struggled for a bit and most of my images were blurry but I did get a few shots (look for some of the really good ones in upcoming Massey Monday's). Anyways, I was happy with the few shots I was able to get looking into the sun. I think I like the warmth of these shots. . . the lazy summer feeling in January if that makes any sense. With such nice weather here, get out and enjoy it!

Thirsty Thursday: There be waterfalls here

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Ancient Peaks Merlot

Just a few shots of Pearsony Falls near Prospect, OR from our 2013 Oregon Thanksgiving trip. I really have nothing to say tonight other than I'm hoping to get lost this weekend. No work this weekend. . . all play!

Thirsty Thursday: Do you ever just look at the hills?

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Ventana Monterey Red Table Wine

What makes you look at the hills? Is it the grasses or the trees? Is it the details that most people pass by or the views that most people never see? Most of us, myself included, just pass these things by day in and day out with little to no thought; but, upon looking back at old pictures, we should all take more time to appreciate them. Our busy days shouldn't really be that busy. We're only here in passing anyways. Sometimes, we should just stop and take in the beauty that's around us. Take it all it. Because if we don't, it (or we) might be gone tomorrow.

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Thirsty Thursday: New Year on Mt Mitake

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Prairie Berry Winery Sand Creek American Red Wine

Happy New Year Welliver Photography fans! Thirsty Thursday here again. Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. Since this is the first Thursday of the year, and seeing how this whole "Throwback Thursday" thing is getting to be pretty popular, I figured I'd throw it back to New Years 2007 for tonight's post. 

New Years 2007 was our last New Year in Japan. We'd gone to a Japanese temple either at midnight or on New Years day each year. However, seeing the first sunrise of the year is a big deal in Japan, so for our final New Years we decided to go to hike up Mitake-san (Mt Mitake) and watch the sunrise from the temple located at the top of the 3,048' peak. 

While there is a cog rail that goes up the mountain, we decided, in true Welliver Photography fashion, to hike to the top in the dark. After all, it was New Years and the Japanese love their New Years sunrise celebrations...therefore, the cog rail was packed. The effort was worth it. 

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Though as you can see, it was insanely crowded. And no, that is not Terry hold that camera up...he actually took the photo above and below. 

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After watching the sunrise, visitors at the shrine get their fortune, or O-mikuji, for the year. It is customary to tie to the fortune to a nearby wire or branch after reading the fortune.

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The wires get pretty full on New Years at any shrine. 

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The fascinating thing about visiting shrines on New Years is despite the throng of people, its a quiet, peaceful experience. You leave feeling happy, content, and hopeful for the coming year. 

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Some big changes coming to Welliver Photography this year. Its always nice to reflect on where we've been and what's gotten us to where we are as we move forward into the next year. We plan to make a year filled with adventures, and hopefully, some cool photos doing cool stuff in cool places. One thing is for sure, we only spent one night out in a tent last year and we plan to do much better than that this year! Time to start making the New Years worth of weekend plans! And then get out there and do something awesome!

Happy New Year!