Austria – Bill Anders' Rambling, Photos & Beating Feet

Upheld

This photo has become a tradition for this blog on each Christmas Eve since 2010. This ornament is appropriate, as it was spied that year hanging in a vendor’s booth at the Christmas Market in Vienna, Austria.

I know that it has been six months since my last post here, even though I have a deep pool of content from which to pull to have filled up that time. But after 11 years of posting here, I’ve become ambivalent towards this platform and, honestly, the lack of interaction in what has become, predominantly, a one-sided conversation. But that’s an issue for me to figure out, should this rise up the priority list.

Regardless, know that our wish for you is to have a peaceful end of the calendar year adhering to whatever practices bring you comfort and joy.

Hopefully you will find a bit of relaxation in there too.

Globes

We are marking the first full day of winter today with a grin. Yesterday was the kick-off for this year’s Winter Solstice offering over on my photography site and it was a good day (thank you everyone!).

But if you’re following via social media sites, they do a fine job of squashing certain posts that contain certain words, especially words that are a single-word representation of an offering of anything at a reduced level of currency. Why? Because they want us to pay them to increase viewership of those specific posts to normal levels. Or pay even more to increase viewership even higher.

If you are looking for a holiday present, it is too late to get it this week, but if you’re looking for a different look on your wall, now is your chance! Please click on the picture above and you’ll see the code at the top of my website.

Again, thank you all for your support!!!

Winter Solstice Sale

In a few short hours it will be the official winter solstice for those of us north of the equator.

For some that means it’s now the the beginning of a long, dreary winter. A season to dread. But not us. Winter is another great season to get outside, explore and play.

This past Friday was opening day for our local ski mountain. Goddess and I were able to get more than a few runs in on uncrowded slopes before school let out for the holidays. And the rain today.

It’s currently raining up on the mountain, on top of the minimal snow. Hopefully it doesn’t melt the snow and start another rough winter for the mountain, which never opened last winter for the first time in its 50-year history.

Fingers crossed.

As is tradition here on the solstices and equinoxes, I’m offering a sale on my photography.

All products are 20% off (does not apply to shipping costs). Just enter Winter14 in the coupon field when you are ready to check out. Just click on the coupon below to start browsing.

Thank you so much for your continued support. I do appreciate you!

Uplifting

It has been a trying week. But there is no sense in dwelling on the negatives.

Because with the shortening nights, it’s now time to look forward to the light.

Christmas Market, Vienna, Austria.

Changing Gears

After the crush of the last couple of weeks getting the web page ready and making sure things like the Facebook page were ready to go, it was nice to launch the site.

But now it’s time to change gears.

Literally.

After the page launch late Sunday night and just a few hours of sleep, on Monday morning I started attending class at the United Bicycle Institute (UBI). Attending this school was the driving force behind the decision for Goddess and I to move to this town.

And it’s all good so far.

I’ll likely post more on the school starting next week, assuming I have time. This week is their basic course, focused on those bicycle riders who know very little about maintenance. I do have quite a leg up on this class, but I am still learning quite a bit. And having a great time doing it. Next week is when we jump into the professional mechanic-focused curriculum, which already promises to be faster paced and much more stressful, since that leads to certifications.

I’m giddy with excitement to get after it.

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As I prepped the web site for launch last week, I wanted to fill in some holes in the portfolio. There are still more to fill, but I need to keep focus on school.

So as I was perusing the archives, I ran across this one. I am not sure why I passed it by after that trip to Vienna, but I did.

Luckily we have it for now.

That’s the Café Central in Vienna, Austria.

And if anyone is curious, no that is not an HDR image (I don’t do those). Just a few focused curves to enhance contrasts and give it that pop.

Goddess and I were in town to celebrate an anniversary and explore the city in detail, after having only made a brief (one day) visit the year before.

If you ever get a chance to go – GO! Vienna is such an enchanting town, especially down the back alleys and side streets.

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From now until August 31st, 2013, use the code BAPLaunch when you check out at billandersphoto and save 25% on pre-shipping costs. Thank you for your support!

Launch

It has been quiet around these parts for the past week or so.

Usually I apologize for that, but this time I don’t think that I will, even though I do appreciate my loyal readers.

I really do.

So where was the focus? My new web site, of which this blog is a part. Some of you might have even noticed some changes here.

It’s all part of taking my photography a bit more seriously, including delving more into portraiture.

So please click on the image above (which takes you to http://billandersphoto.com), take a look around, kick the tires and leave a comment. Perhaps buy a print or three.

I even dropped the prices 25% to mark the occasion.

Just click on that coupon and a new window will open. Browse and pick to your heart’s content, then enter that code upon checkout. And you’ll be in like Flynn.

If you had browsed my galleries before and think you have seen it all, please look again, especially in the Travel section of my Portfolio. There are new photos in there. And quite a few images that I have reworked for one reason or another.

So you might find something different.

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by my littler corner of the sphere.

Coats

It’s the beginning of a long weekend, finishing with Christmas and Boxing Day.

Perhaps a day of work before starting another long weekend.

We’ll decide later when the end of that weekend will be.

So it’s time to grab the coats and get out there.

Augustiner Brauhaus, Innsbruck, Austria.

Enjoy your holidays, whichever ones you choose to observe.

Quite a nice place…

…to wake up in.

Goddess and I were on the road this week. A wide loop through Bavaria, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. A route filled with landscapes that we love.

Plus this new one, which Goddess had never visited.

And acknowledged that it is not a bad place in which to wake up.

We even discussed the feasibility of my staying there while she drove up to Germany to “rescue” Skinny, our greyhound, while I looked for a place to live.

Never mind the fact that we would have to live like paupers here.

But it was still an interesting exercise.

That is the view of Lago Como (Lake Como), Italy, looking southward on the western shores from Menaggio.

It was a glorious morning, clear and +5C. The roads were full of cyclists and runners, the shoreline full of fishermen, the cafés filling with patrons as they got ready for church.

Our kind of place.

Especially considering that some four hours later, we were exiting the north end of the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland, where it was snowing at a rate of 4 inches per hour (10cm/hr) and visibility at best was 100 meters.

Although we could adjust there just fine.

Skyview

Fighting through the jet lag, needing to get out and enjoy this gorgeous autumn weather.

Bavarian Shed

Similar to Still Standing, but in color.