A visit to Napa and Sonoma wine country

Back to my other passion......that of visiting the wine country, soaking in the beautiful scenery...and letting my creative juices run.

I had not driven up to Napa/Sonoma wine country for a few years now and I have been wanting to make a trip. Early May isn't quite the right time for photography as the day is so long and it is difficult to catch sunrise or sunset without having to stay a night in the area. Unfortunately, the way my schedule has been lately it is either now or wait a few months and visit in the Fall. Anyhow, I jumped out of bed early Saturday, with my cameras already packed in the bag, I drove north heading to Napa and Sonoma with a plan to visit Sebastopol and Bodega Bay in the same afternoon. I was not expecting much as far as photography goes....


"Napa wine country hillside basking in the early morning sun - I learned from a winemaker friend of mine that roses planted close to the vines for a reason..some of you may know why"



Left very early around 5:30am from San Jose, I am an early riser and you could get me out of bed wee hour of the morning if it is to catch the light for photography...As Napa is some 140miles away from San Jose, I did not get into town until 7:30am, and the soft morning light was already fading away....Fortunately I was able to catch a glimpse of it...just wished it had lasted longer.....


"Wine country landscape - I like the oil painting look"
The town of Sonoma is very charming...a bit of Taos, a bit of Palm Springs and a lot of wine country....many tasting rooms, great restaurants around the square, and world famous spas on the fringe of town.


"Morning sun showering into a very narrow alley between two weathered stone walls in Sonoma city square"
Also check out my blog entry on HDR High Dynamic Range photography here. I am speechless

Highway 84W

Just a word on Topaz before the entry proper. I re-installed Topaz Adjust plug in I had uninstalled due to Topaz software bug, I am still getting the occasional "can't complete due to program error" (it is annoying as I have to re-do my processing all over again). It does not look like it is a bug that will go away....I resigned to that fact and left the plug in on CS2 for now.

Was up in Livermore California last weekend, took Highway 84 from 680N and it was a beautiful magical ride at 7:30am in the morning (I had to pick a daylight saving day and it was really 6:30am that morning since I had moved the clock forward an hour....that explained my sleepy eyes). There were a handful of cattle ranches along 84E to Livermore, still shrouded in the overnight mist as the early morning sun was breaking through. I said to myself if only I had been there before daybreak and waited for the first light to come through the old house.


Livermore is officially now on my "A few more visits" list :) I often visit a place for the first time to scout for photo opps and make notes of locations in my little notepad I carry with me.



I like the old town charm, oh did I mention the many vineyards in Livermore. Ah, that was the bonus. Or was it the reason why I went there in the first place :)

Footnote: I am going back there soon and this time armed with my old style Canon A1 with rolls of Black and White and Velvia slide films .... It makes me happy just thinking of the prospects.