Wine Country, Part II

We left through Sonoma, which definitely had some interesting roadside statues:



















Right next to the San Francisco Solano is monument to the Bear Flag Republic battle:
















And yes, we did hit one more winery and the final, 21st mission I needed. That was a detour in Fremont:

Wine Country, Part I

Probably not a destination you would choose to go to at the end of December, but Sonoma was the location of the last mission I needed for my California missions photos, plus...there's wine! So into North Central region the man and I headed.

Started out around 5am, and didn't get off the 101N until mid-afternoon,then cut across several known "wine towns": Yountsville, Healdsburg, St.Helena. We had made another interesting choice for winter: camping in Bothe Napa State Park. No surprise, there were very few people hiking around and we were the only people there camping. The ranger doing his drive-by offered that "it was 22 degrees last night." Nevertheless, we set up the tent, and then went off on a short hike, and a drive a few miles down the road to visit the mini version of Old Faithful.









New Year's Day had us hopping around St.Helena and Rutherford to the few wineries open. But it was nice to come in from the drizzle outside, have some wine & breadsticks, and see who else was spending a holiday this way.

Wine & Guitars

I have never been much of a fan of people photography. Yet early this year, I was asked to document a wine-tasting event in Pasadena, and I agreed. It was so informal for me--no demands,just a few requests to make sure certain booths were included--that I enjoyed it much more than expected. And I personally ended up finding a niche I like in shooting people: the unaware moment. So interesting to observe others who aren't observing you, and capturing that blank or lost in thought stare that flashes only for a moment. I found that throughout the night I would first try to take a photo in this style before my presence was felt, and I had to make the obligatory shot complete with a pose or unnatural smile.

I actually find the last shot here, with the mix of aware/unaware parties, hilarious.



On a more recent note, the guitar in the first set of pictures was about to be put up on Ebay. I wanted to shoot it before it was gone forever, for purely aesthetic purposes.











The last guitar just happened to be in the same studio, so we played around with that one for some variety.

Wining Around Santa Barbara

Should have done these sooner since this trip was already about 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately small digital pics are all that came from this trip. I decided to experience the wine and forego artistic expression for straight documentation.


First stop was at Summerland Winery in the small town of,well, Summerland. Had a good white wine I can't recall the name of, and an excellent petite Syrah.





Next was Bridlewood Winery in Santa Ynez. Best by far was a 2007 Viognier, and the scent...now I'm no wino, but I want to market that Viognier in a perfume bottle. And I'd probably be smelling my own wrists all day.



Loved their very friendly horses, too.











We'd wasted so much time getting ready to go, there was no way to make another winery before 5. So we putted around downtown Solvang, and even took the gimmicky horse drawn carriage tour.




We actually ended the evening back in Summerland taking our chances on a shady-looking saloon for dinner, and ended up having some exceptional calamari. And I don't even like calamari! Sorry, but the name of the place...is reserved for my most trusted confidantes.