Last Year: A Look Back Part 2

After getting up, as an engaged couple, at 8 in the morning, we scarfed down some snacks, got dressed and then went and sat on the bench outside the front door waiting for our ride to take us round to all the nice wineries in the area. What newly engaged couple doesn't need to start drinking at 10 am?

I was heartily amused by the decor on the porch ceiling.



The view from the first winery, where they served us champagne on the deck and we enjoyed this view.



My favorite place in the world to taste wine: Rolling Dale Winery. Barrel tastings and the friendliest pourers in the world.



To sum up, most of the day I was either looking at my fiance or at something similar to this:



I must have been saying, "Sure, buy us another bottle of that grape juice stuff." just as I was taking this shot.

Last Year: A Look Back

First, we checked out the town and looked for a hat. We strolled along the lake and took in the culture, amused by the other tourists, and admired the wildlife. Who can resist sweet little ducklings?



Then, a little killing time at the beach near the hotel. Boat rental starting in T minus 2 hours.

The sand castle building replacement:





Then a boat ride, that lead to this:



In less than a month, there'll be an accompanying wedding band with that one. *squeee*

Back to Normal

I'll be back to posting again daily next Monday. Vacation is over and now I'm playing wedding catch up.

Oops

I'm out of touch for a few days.

Complaints

Because I'm buried in things to get done today, I'm going forego the storytime I had planned for today and tell you all about the things that annoy me the most in these two shots. Ready? Okay!

I cut off the tail. I got tired of manually focusing the shots of fleeting wildlife that day, so this is an auto focus, and it is not focused properly. How did I manage to do all of that? Oh I know! I wasn't really paying attention. Although I did a teeny tiny bit of post processing - a little sharpening to fake a focus, a bit of a bump on the vibrance on the colors (which made the lighting go all horrible), and some possible shadow work. None of it seemed to do much to help the overall quality of the shot.



Now, this one is better, however, the foot. I cut off the foot. And again with the auto focus and missing the right point of focus. Well done me! I did a teeny bit of post process, had to fix the exposure, was too bright SOOC.



Let it be known, the way to solve most of these problems? Shoot at the right exposure, include the whole of the subject in the frame, and learn how to post process properly.

Scouting

So wedding stuff today, because I have wedding on the brain after last night. We had a menu tasting last night, in which we ate enough food for a table of 5. Between the two of us. I'm honestly not joking or exaggerating. Five servings. And, mostly, it was me eating most of the food. Because I'm a hoover, apparently, when it comes to extremely good food. You can call me Hungry Hippo if you like. (I probably won't reply. Or will be extremely offended. Use the nickname as sparingly as possible, I'd say.) Also, I enjoyed wine tasting everything twice, since I wasn't the one driving. I'm suddenly afraid that I may have aged about 2 more decades in less than a day, however, since I thoroughly enjoyed the one glass of Rose' that we were given to taste with dinner. It was like a lovely stick of butter. Or something more appetizing.

Luckily, the whole menu is decided upon after nearly three hours scarfing food down.

Previously, I did a whole lot of scouting for photo shoot places in the immediate vicinity of our wedding/reception locale. These are all appropriate, right?





This one is especially appropriate, no?

Furry Friends

There's a lake right smack in the middle of Stanley Park called Beaver Lake. There are rumors that there is an actual beaver that lives there, but despite all my best efforts, I have no photographic proof of his existence. Granted, walking around the lake once every few weeks for about an hour or two doesn't really give him a whole lot of time to show himself to me, but that is neither here nor there at this point. All kinds of sweet wildlife makes appearances while I'm strolling along the lakeside pathway.

This guy, I just wanted to bring home with me. He followed me for a while, but gave up when someone walking in the opposite direction produced a bag of nuts. Why didn't I think of that?

Morning Look

Amazingly, this is what I look like when I wake up in the morning. I could stop sleeping on hay, since it seems to stick everywhere, but it's so comfortable. And let's not talk about the water retention.

Architecture, again

Monday is never the best day to get a story out of me, so I thought I'd put up some shots that need less narration than others. This is the Bodleian Library in Oxford, viewed from the top of The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. (The window and organ shot from last week was the interior.)

Every time I'm in Oxford I want to shoot this building, it's incredibly photogenic.



Oh my gads this place is AMAZING! And the bored dragon makes me laugh. (These guys are somewhere along the High Street in Oxford.)

Streams of Light

I've not really cleared my head from yesterday, but I have consumed an entire pool's worth of water. The morning wasn't very welcome from where I was sleeping this morning; the brightness was a little overwhelming and I tried to hide by shoving my head under all the pillows. Somehow the light found me under there, and I've been wandering around sleepy since then.

Foggy

For some reason I managed to not have dinner last night, and then I topped it off with drinking a lot of glasses of beer. At least the patio was open and we could sit outside and enjoy the lovely summery weather. This morning, my head was a little foggy, my limbs were a little shaky, and my liver was a little mad at me. It might be a good time to detox for a few days.

The City of Dreaming Spires

While I was living in Vienna I often marveled at the very fact that most of the buildings one could walk by every day were older than the country from which I came. The first time I went to England (that I can actually remember) was about 15 years ago, and I don't remember feeling the same way about the place. The buildings were not looming and ornate; they didn't stand out as particularly different or as interesting styles of architecture.

In the past 4 years, I've been to England approximately slightly shy of ten times, and nearly every one of those times I've been through Oxford or have visited Oxford for shopping or touristing. Walking around the streets of Oxford is different than my previous trip to England. The buildings feel taller, more imposing, prettier, spikier, and more impressive that I remember any place in England being. Most of the time that I do spend in the city of dreaming spires, I spend agog and dragging my chin around on the floor because of the sheer grandeur of the place. Oxford rightfully puts me in my place, reminding me that most of my life I've been surrounded by a country, let alone buildings, that are centuries younger than the simple shops on Oxford Street.

Got my eye on you

I'm way behind on everything today. I'm trying to catch up, and hope I'll be less crazed tomorrow to be able to write something or post something really pretty for ya.

Mondays

Monday is going a little slow for me this week. I have a list of wedding things to do and I'm trying my damnedest to forget about it.