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Thirsty Thursday: Crater Lake

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2012 Joyce Chardonnay

Digging through the recent archive today, I stumbled across a few shots from Crater Lake from about a year ago and thought I'd share them. I wish there was more drama in the sky, but in typical Welliver Photography fashion, it's pretty plain. Still, the lake is gorgeous and it was great to be there at sunrise.

Thirsty Thursday: Music

Drink in Hand: 2010 Ancient Peaks Petite Sirah
Rambler: Terry

Are you ever awake for the sunrise? I'm not most of the time. I've always been a night-owl if you will. But, if you've occasionally caught a sunrise, do you hear the music in your head? I do. I don't know if it's punk rock, classical, or somewhere in between...but it sure is good.

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: Trinity Sunrise

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2012 Silvestri Pinot Blanc

It's been a busy short week. Perhaps that's because we were backpacking over the weekend. No real technology or distractions other than a camera. The only thing on our minds were water, food, and where we were going to shoot or hike. We have the traditional hundreds of images to process–so you'll probably see some more in the future. For now, here's a shot of a sunrise.

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! 

Thirsty Thursday: Convict Lake Sunrise

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Ancient Peaks 2012 Merlot

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. My parents are visiting for the holidays from Iowa, and I decided we should take a little road trip to the Eastern Sierras. It was a short trip, but we did of exploring along U.S. 395 in and around Bishop. 

On our first morning in the Eastern Sierra we went to catch sunrise at Convict Lake. In typical Welliver Photography fashion, the sky was completely clear...not one ounce of drama. Add a setting moon to that cloudless sky and we didn't even get good winter twilight colors. But we were there, so I snapped a few frames. 

Here's one in the pre-dawn light. 

And this is what it looked like once the sun started to hit the top of Laurel Mountain. 

While conditions weren't incredible for photography, any morning spent shooting in the mountains is pretty much perfect. Get out there and enjoy your favorite scenery this weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Crater Lake

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2010 Muirwood Merlot

I'm not much of a Merlot guy, but it's what we had open. This one was from the "open it any day of the week" collection. Just something red to help end a day. The week seemed to have flown by again and I find myself wondering how can it be Thursday. Work has, of course, been work. I'm still behind and more things keep piling up on the "to do" or "I'll get to that someday" lists. Anyways, onto the photographs.

Tonight I found myself sifting through a couple hundred shots of Crater Lake. I say a couple hundred because I was bracketing the shots so it was three for every scene. These are all from our Thanksgiving adventure to Ashland, OR. It's been ages since I've been there and the lake was just as amazing as I remember it even though there was little to no drama in the sky (that's par for the course for us). I think my favorite from the set is the panorama shot (last one). If you haven't been, I highly recommend visiting.

A special thanks to Bill and Jen taking us (and for driving)! Check out his site for some of his Crater Lake shots.

Just before sunrise...

Thirsty Thursday: Alabama Hills Sunrise

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Ventana Monterey Red Table Wine (last year's) 

So, it never fails. When we want to go summit a mountain (like say Mt Whitney), the weather fails us. It either snows before we get there (meaning that the trail is impassable) or it snows while we're there (meaning that the trail is impassable). Either way, we end up hiking to the base camp of the mountain and then turning around and head back down. Likewise, when we want some weather (aka, some drama) for a sunrise, it's crystal clear. Such is our lot in life these days. Oh, well I suppose. Better luck next year. Here's a few of those crystal clear mornings from the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA.

You need a really big screen for this one!

Thirsty Thursday: Mountains

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: Poppy Pinot Noir

I can't believe it's another Thursday. Even worse, I can't believe I don't have Friday off. . . darn the government and figuring the money things out (sort of).  Oh, well, such is life. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Hopefully there won't be too much "work" over it. And since I've been working quite a bit lately, I haven't had the time to go through Germany and Italy pictures (yes, I know this is not good). Fortunately, the library is quite extensive, so here's a few from close to this same time two years ago. The Eastern Sierras are something at sunrise. You really can't appreciate how huge and majestic they are until you're standing below them. The reflection of color in the water gives all the shots a sense of peace. Here's to a relaxing weekend!