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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: 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: 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: 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.

Thirsty Thursday: Vernazza Views

Rambler: Massey....I mean Terry
Drink in Hand: Ancient Peaks 2012 Blanco or 2011 Cabernet Franc (or both?) 

Perhaps I've had too much to drink. In my defense, it's a Thursday (or holiday right)?! I realized tonight that I need to go through my Italia photographs. They've been neglected for far too long. I'm not sure why I haven't edited them. Perhaps it's because I'm intimidated by the mountain of photographs that I have. Here's a few that I just finished tonight of the Cinque Terre village Vernazza. This was one of my favorites of all the villages. I'm not really sure why, but this one and Corniglia were my favorites!

Thirsty Thursday: San Francisco Wanderings

Drink in Hand: 2010 Ventana Rubystone
Rambler: Terry

Besides being unemployed this week, Beth and I headed up to San Francisco to attend the 2013 Atlassian Summit. The Summit was awesome! Look up #summit13 on Twitter and see what you can find. The first day, Beth signed up for Atlassian training and I had part of the day free...so I wandered the streets from our hotel to the Summit. For some reason I fancy street photography. I think it's because I'm always surprised what I capture and I'm always inspired.

By the way, the Atlassian Summit rocked again this year! 

Thirsty Thursday: Switzerland Memories

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Ventana Red Table Wine

Beth's leaving for Germany soon and then I'll be joining her in the near future in Italy, I figured it was appropriate tonight to sift through a few of our last European adventure to Switzerland. You could probably go back through the archives on the blog (March 2012) and find some better shots, but something new (or rather unposted) was in order for tonight. If Italy happens to be anything like Switzerland, I think we may never come back.  Of course, I do hope it's a bit warmer

Thirsty Thursday: Beauty is all around us

Rambler: Terry Drink in Hand: 2007 Le Mistral (quite possible one of the best red wines around)

What can I say this week. . . it's been a rough week. We both seem a bit overly busy and can make progress on the little things that are supposed to be easy and quick but it seems like the bigger (maybe more important) things seem to elude us (me). Perhaps both of us have stretched ourselves a bit too thin, or maybe we need to manage time better. Most of these issues are at work, but keeping them separate from everything else is always tough. A delicate balance of work and real life. To complicate things, we also have a dear friend fighting perhaps her final battle with cancer. Through all the noise this week, our hearts and hopes are with her and her family. Sometimes it feels like you want to lock yourself away from the world and wait for it (whatever it is) to pass. Thinking about these things makes me appreciate the little things a little bit more. The music you listen to while driving to work, the feeling you get from a good run or workout, the good food and drink you share with friends (the tomatoes, the wine, the fish, the ice cream...), the dog that always makes you smile, the falling asleep next to that one person you always fall asleep next to. I think I could probably keep going, but for this short post, it's the walking around a city (Portland, OR) with a camera finding the things that most people just pass by. So, instead of locking yourself away from it all, go find those average things and take them in. Take it all in. Time is against all of us. Go enjoy.

Thirsty Thursday: Ahhh, Lucerne

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2011 Ancient Peaks Sauvignon Blanc

Just a few images tonight from our Switzerland trip. Unfortunately, we were only in Lucerne for a night. All that really needs to be said about Lucerne is, "Ahhh, Lucerne." There's something about the atmosphere of the city that just puts you in a relaxed mood. Perhaps it is the architecture of the place or maybe it's the chocolate shops filled with yummy Swiss goodies. I tend to think it's related to the relaxed cafes near the water and the people. Life seemed slower here than elsewhere. I suppose it could be that places you visit seem more relaxed than the places you've lived, but I hope that's not true of Lucerne. I wish we could have spent more time here, sitting next to the river, people watching, chatting, and sipping cappuccino goodness.

Thirsty Thursday: View From the Top

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Handcraft Petite Sirah

I know I haven't written a blog post in a while, but Beth has been carrying it. I still haven't been through all my Switzerland photos and now I have about 1600 more photos to go through. But, after a little convincing from Beth, here are a few photos from the "Top of Europe".

The views from the top are spectacular and I'm not sure the pictures do the view justice. And as for the buildings, who thinks to build structures in those places...only the Swiss.

Thirsty Thursday: Shots from Bodie

Rambler: Terry Drink in Hand: Carmichael Pinot Grigio

I've been just now getting to editing, or rather, going through images I took when Beth and I went to the Eastern Sierras earlier this fall. Most of my images from this trip were of the mountains or Mono Lake. However, I did make my first visit to Bodie and loved the old buildings.

Thirsty Thursday: A City Walk

Rambler: Terry Drink at Hand: 2009 Rail2Rail Old Vine Zinfandel

Old, old photos...okay, not that old, but back from 2006. So, no MFT, no EOS40D, and no real craft. Tonight, I intended to post some images of flowers or cherry blossoms or something 'springy' from the past. Unfortunately, none of the 'springy' images from back then really jumped out at me. I browsed through project after project in Aperture. Nothing seemed to inspire me to create a blog post. I finally stumbled across a project of images that I took with a Canon IXY 700 (PowerShot). Definitely not a high performance camera...back then these didn't even shoot raw. Nevertheless, the best camera that you can have is the one that you have with you.

Beth's job back then always had her working in downtown Tokyo at the New Sanno hotel. I always seemed to be able get away to visit her when she was working. During these visits, Beth would have to go to work and I'd go wandering about Tokyo. And when I say wandering, I really mean walking. No subways. No trains. No taxis. No buses. All walking. These images are from a trek starting at the New Sanno through Ebisu and Shibuya and finally ending in Shinjuku. Always a bit of fun for me. I sure wish I had a bit more craft back then. I wasn't able to capture everything I remember, but they're enough for me. I always enjoyed trying to capture the architectural lines of the buildings. And in the case of the last image, the great lengths that were taken to hide construction work in the city...a wall of leafy contact paper with a lock to keep everyone out!

And, by the way, I...(sorry Beth)...we can't wait to go back.