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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: Lichtenstein Views

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2007 De Tierra Pinot Noir 

Beth's last Two Word Tuesday inspired me to finally begin to dig into my photos from Germany and Italy. We both have thousands of shots to go through and I have been having a hard time motivating myself to edit them. I'm not sure why, but it's just been tough lately. I suppose the best way to start is just to start. . .so, I picked the day with only a dozen images. To my dismay, sifting through the dozen photos took me quite a while. I think it had something to do with trying to style the photos. I kept feeling like they needed a vintage look or something like that. Perhaps I should have more wine. I finally settled on these seven shots.

 They were all taken almost immediately after I arrived at Beth's hostel in Germany. Well, I take that back. When I first arrived at Beth's hostel, she was still in class, so I let myself in and immediately fell asleep (jet lag gets me every time). Beth woke me up sometime later and we were off to the castle. I don't think I was entirely sure where I was and I didn't even know what castle it was until I saw her Two Word Tuesday! I promise many more shots are coming. Enjoy the weekend!

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.