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Thirsty Thursday: Faces of El Jocote

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: 2010 Marilyn Remark GSP

Hello Welliver Photography fans...Thirsty Thursday here again! TIme to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. I've been spending my weekends lately plowing through what seems like an endless pile of photos and video clips from my trip to Nicaragua. I'm normally not that comfortable taking photos of people, but somehow it was easy in Nicaragua. Part of that may have been then awesome telephoto lens I used (thanks Borrow Lenses!) that allowed me to be unobtrusive, but a big part of it was the overwhelming, genuine kindness of the people we met.  

All of these photos came from the tiny village of El Jocote. If you Google Map it you won't find it. There's no electricity (we were there to install solar panels), no cars, and the only running water is a pipe to each house from a solar-powered well near a creek. We did homestays for three nights in this village. Amazing how people can be so happy  and content with so little. Great perspective. 

IMG_7357.jpg

I guess I need to get out and take more people photos! I had a great time and was really surprised at how easy it was once I got comfortable with the role of "people photographer". So this weekend, between video editing, I'll be taking some people photos!  

Thirsty Thursday: The Morning After

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Trader Joe's Cinnamon Blossom Tea...served hot!

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy (or something warm) and make those weekend plans. And since the photos below have an icy feel to them, I highly recommend that TJ's tea to keep you warm.

These photos are from our trip to Iowa. The morning after our arrival, which was a day late due to the raging blizzard. The day after a cancelled flight, a delayed flight, an aborted landing, an actual landing, a bag stuck in airline bag jail, a crazy drive home past the truck grandpa put in the ditch, and a generator-powered evening catching up with my parents, I woke up early, bundled up, and wandered around the farm at sunrise. The 50 mph winds and driving ground blizzard were gone. All that was left was a brilliant sky and clean, white snow.

Wind Sock

Twilight Tree

Fence

Loop

Broken Tree

Pine

Driveway

Windbreak

Bins

Soybeans

Beanstalk
Wire

Snow Ripples

Feets

Snow shapes

Fence Line

There is something magically beautiful on the first clear morning after a Midwestern blizzard. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with them too often anymore. Get out there and find your own beautiful morning this weekend!

UPDATE: If you'd like to purchase any of these photographs, they are available on our store under the Iowa Gallery.

Thirsty Thursday: Summer in Iowa

Rambler: Beth
Drink at Hand: 2010 Ancient Peaks Renegade

Thirsty Thursday is here again! Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans! We spent last week in Iowa. It was an unexpected trip home but its always good to see the family.

You might remember a few of these scenes from this post shortly after Christmas. The seasonal shift of landscapes in the Midwest is certainly something I miss...the 100+ degree temperatures I do not.

Get out there and find a landscape you like this weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Winter Trees

Rambler: Beth
Drink at Hand: 2010 Tolosa Grenache Rosé

Thirsty Thursday here again! Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. I dug into the archives for this week's edition, focusing on a subject that is so easy to overlook.

We were lucky enough to go home to Iowa for this past Christmas. Despite the freezing temperatures, yes, I did say lucky to go. I don't often get home to visit the family, so its always nice to see everyone. Besides visiting family, however, Iowa does have some beautiful scenes. That's right, I said Iowa is beautiful. Maybe its not the obvious beauty of wildflower-filled meadows with snow-capped mountains in the background or a frenetic scene of crashing waves and rugged rocks of an ocean shoreline, but still beautiful. I think since I don't get back that often I appreciate the beauty of the rural landscape more now than I did growing up.

While living in the mild coastal climate here in California is great, I do miss seasons. One of the things I miss most from the Midwest is the amazing dawn and dusk color gradient of the sky during winter. The lack of humidity brings out an amazing palate of pinks and purples and indigo at sunrise and sunset. The colors are so intensely vibrant on a crystal clear morning or evening. Frigidly cold, but vibrantly beautiful. I don't see those colors here at home. I also love the shape of the naked trees during winter. The trees look so different in winter, stripped of leaves, twigs twitching in the lightest breezes.

Enjoy some images snapped on a very cold day at my parent's house. My fingers may have suffered some minor frostbite, but I didn't mind. I couldn't resist the stark skeletons and brilliant colors.

Get out there and find something beautiful this weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Road Less Traveled...

Rambler: Beth
Drink at Hand: 2007 Crianza Old Vine Tempranillo

Not going to lie, this Thirsty Thursday snuck up on us here at Welliver Photography. So while I did pour something yummy (that tempranillo is good!), I haven't had much of a chance to put together this week's entry. We are working on something good for next week, but this week I only have one photo to share.

While this week's post is just a single photo, it pretty much hit the spirit of what we want Thirsty Thursday to be. These posts are supposed to be about getting out there and seeing or doing something different, interesting, exciting, etc. I doubt any reader will know where to find this road. We truly were in the middle of nowhere on a road that doesn't really go anywhere. We didn't see another car for hours (if I don't count the guy and his dog on the 4-wheeler with the shotgun tied to the back). But, oh what an adventure we had this day, and that's what its all about!

Go find a new place to explore this weekend!