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Thirsty Thursday: Jokulsarlon

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: St. George Terroir Gin and Tonic

Hey hey hey...I'm finally getting around to posting a Thirsty Thursday. I definitely poured myself a yummy drink tonight. The St. George Terroir gin is one of my favorite. 

But, I digress, you're here for a photo or two. Tonight I'll just share one. Back in May Terry and I took our dream vacation to Iceland. We spent the better part of two weeks cruising around the country in a Dodge Durango in which the back had been converted to a nice sleeping space. We drove where we wanted, took photos, and parked wherever we wanted each night to sleep. The weather wasn't ideal (rainy and windy), but that country is so beautiful, we didn't care. 

I had two things I wanted to see in Iceland. One was Seljalandsfoss, the waterfall you can walk behind. The other was Jokulsarlon, the black sand beach where huge chunks of ice from a nearby glacial lagoon wash ashore. We found both. And they were awesome. 

Here's a photo from our second stop at Jokulsarlon. We camped on this beach, so all I had to do was stumble out of the Durango and into the windy morning light. Interesting Iceland trivia: sunrise in Iceland in May is at about 3:00 am. No joke. Luckily I like early mornings, and this is what I came away with...

I'm already plotting our return to Iceland. It was incredible. In the mean time, I have plenty more photos to help me relive our vacation. 

 

Massey Monday: A day with Mas

Mas and I had some quality time this weekend. It was so nice at Del Monte beach that we decided to hangout a bit. Then we had a drink and fell asleep :-).  

Thirsty Thursday: Sestri Levante Sunrise

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Ancient Peaks Zinfandel

It's been just under a year since we were in Italy and I still haven't looked through all my pictures. #fail. I think maybe it's because I'd like to go back. But, since we haven't won the lottery and Massey isn't a famous dog model (she's a diva of course), I don't think we'll be going back any time too soon. So, tonight I spent a few minutes looking through my Sestri Levante sunrise shots. Here's a few. In typical Welliver Photography style, the sky has no drama.

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: Warmer Days

Drink in Hand: 2007 Carmel S&S Chardonnay Rambler: Terry

These pictures are slightly dated...well, at least they were taken earlier in the year when the days were warmer and I didn't have to scrape my windshield in the morning. Of course, growing up in Wyoming I can't believe I think it's cold in Monterey sometimes. It's definitely not frigid. That said, the past few days have been definitely cooler than the days these pictures were taken. All the images below were taken down south of here at either Montana de Oro State Park or Pismo Beach. I even think I've posted the last image before, but I figured it was okay as it reminds me of warmer days.

Thirsty Thursday: Garrapata State Park

Rambler: Beth Drink at Hand: 2009 Redtree Pinot Noir

Another Thirsty Thursday is upon us once again...time to pour something yummy and plan out a weekend adventure. This week we highlight one of our favorite places to play with our cameras.

A few month ago, cash-strapped California released a list of state parks it intends to close by next summer in order to save money. There are 70 parks on the list. Beautiful places, and quite a few parks that Terry and I like to visit. One of the places on the chopping block is Garrapata State Park.

I was shocked to see Garrapata on the list. Its an incredibly beautiful and popular stretch of coastal highlands, rocky shorelines, and sandy beaches that is essentially the gateway to the Big Sur coast. Its one of our favorite places sunset spots, especially in winter when the passing winter storms produce spectacular clouds and some big waves.

I don't know if the state will close access to this strip of coastline. To be honest, I don't see how they could restrict access to the numerous trails that drop down to the beaches from the Highway 1 turnouts. I don't want to think about losing access to this beautiful area. A decision has been made that I don't understand. All we can do is soak up as many beautiful sunsets as possible before this little piece of natural heaven is taken away.

These photos are from February. It was a magical afternoon of shooting. You might recognize a few from our Flickr stream. We need to get back to Garrapata soon...before its too late!

If you'd like to visit Garrapata State Park yourself, head south from Carmel on Highway 1. The first turnouts are about 9 miles south of Rio Road in Carmel.

Hope you find yourself at one of your favorite places this weekend! Get out there and enjoy it!

Thirsty Thursday: Aperture Magic

Rambler: Terry Drink at Hand: 2007 Estancia Zinfandel

Okay, so not the most brilliant wine, but it's enough after the short work week. The photograph for today's post is different than any other photograph I've taken. And no, (for those of you who already looked at it), it's not an extremely edited image. It is edited, but not in Photoshop...just in Aperture...and just barely.

Before I get into the details of the actual edits, let me share with you how I actually took this image. This image was taken the day before the Cote de Tolosa (see previous T.T. post) at Cayucos, CA at the pier. The beach was covered in seaweed and the sun was fairly harsh, but the water was blue. Beth left her camera in the car as we were just checking things out. I wanted to get a shot of the pier with a bit of beach and some people walking. The first two shots I took were completely white.

Oops! I forgot to change my settings from the previous location we were shooting at—rookie mistake. Fortunately, the wildlife (i.e., the people) weren't really moving that fast so I adjusted my camera settings and took another shot. I didn't think anything of the two over-exposed images I just took. When I was able to download the images into Aperture, I saw the "white" images and thought trash. After completing my first round through my photos, I somehow didn't trash one of the "white" images. Oops! Another rookie mistake. But, this time, I was looking at the "white" image in fullscreen and I could see some shapes, just barely, in the center. I decided to edit the image and I was immediately able to "bring back" some of the image by adjusting the exposure slider. With some more tinkering, I was able to get an image that looked like an artist painting of a beach scene. I was mildly impressed...something a bit different.

What did I learn from this? I'm not sure...perhaps pay more attention to your camera's settings before taking your first shot...or perhaps not. Or maybe you can sometimes create something out of nothing? Or maybe, sometimes, you just get lucky, on both counts (the shot and the editing). So, get out there this weekend and make some rookie mistakes. You never know what you'll get!

[exif id="1582" show="location"]

Here are the settings of the improperly exposed image straight out of the camera.

Out of the Camera ISO 500 35mm 0.67ev f/5.6 1/100 sec

Aperture Edits Exposure to -2.0 Recovery to 1.5 Black Point to 50.0 Contrast to 0.06 Definition to 0.33 Vibrancy to 0.2 Highlights to 8.78

What do the Aperture edits actually mean? Well, the Contrast, Definition, Vibrancy, and Highlights are very, very minor edits...they have very subtle effects. The other three (Exposure, Recovery, and Black Point) are the edits that actually matter. I think the exposure is corrected to -1.33 with the 0.67ev taken into account. The recovery adjustment brings back the highest portion of the highlights and the black point adjustment sets the black point to the maximum setting. Basically, three adjustments created the watercolor painting effect.

Massey Monday: Beach Running

Massey loves the beach. We usually go to Del Monte Beach in Monterey. We decided to go there because her little paws are a bit beat up from the Creek Side Ft Ord trails. I ended up walking about a mile and a bit, while she passed me multiple times and ran the length of the beach more than once. If I had to guess, she ran a bit over 5K. Since it had been a while since we'd ran on the beach, she was afraid of the water (I don't understand it either) again. But, once she saw a pelican or gull fly over the water, her fear just disappeared. She even got quite close to catching a bird (see one of the shots below). She had a great run...and then when we got home, she curled up on her chair under her blanket. Massey could do worse.

Mornings at the Beach

We love our dog. She's great...total sweetheart who always wants to play with one of us. But she hasn't adjusted her internal clock to Pacific time just yet...she still 2 hours off in Central time. So every morning at roughly 5:45 she's had enough of stealing all the space at the end of the bed where our feet should be and is ready to start her day--which must start with a trip outside to see if the random cat is still there. Usually by 6:30 Terry groans something about "lay down Massey" and I end up taking her out. And then shortly after Terry heads out the door an hour later (and a few "is he ever coming back?" whimpers from the dog), I can't take her hyperness anymore and we have to go for a run. Today we went to the beach. The beach and the ocean are 2 very different things to this dog. The beach is endless miles of running and birds, birds, birds and sand and awesomeness. The ocean is cold and scary and that water keeps sneaking up on me and trying to get me wet and is so unawesome. Hilarious to watch. Here are a few quick snaps from this morning's stroll...since I said I would post more photos this week.

Don't worry...once I get caught up on my Flickr POTD posting today, I'll throw a few photo essays up from our 2050-mi road trip from Lousyana to Cali. And maybe some from Leadville, too. Patience my friends, patience...housewifing is hard work.