Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Napa Valley Road

The road to the vineyards of Napa Valley stretches for miles and if you haven't driven it before, chances are that your first time will be a bit terrifying. But as long as you keep calm and just relax into those curves by the end of this stretch there is no way that all those picturesque views aren’t going to make up for any close calls.

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Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Napa Valley Vineyards

The vineyard is one of the many beautiful attractions that visitors can see in Napa Valley. Visitors are able to tour several wineries and sample their delicious wine, which makes up for nearly 85 percent of California's total production.

The vines stretch out into miles upon acres under rows upon rows across hillsides overlooking picturesque views over looking small towns nestled within valleys surrounded by mountains whose peaks reach high above foggy clouds obscuring them creating an atmosphere romantic enough for almost anyone.

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Product Photography with Beaulieu Vineyard Wine

As a photographer, at times it can be difficult to make yourself get out and shoot. Sometimes you are inspired and sometimes you aren't. I find that my best shoots are inspired by things that I love. A recent shoot with one of my favorite wines is a great example. First to set the stage: it was a cold wintery Sunday. My wife was heading out for some girl time and I hadn't been out shooting for a few weeks . I caught a glimpse of some wine corks that we had been saving. I love to capture short depth of field and thought it might be fun to grab a few corks and shoot.

Next thing I knew I had a pile of corks on my kitchen counter. I love shooting food so I started staging the corks setting them up in rows and laying them down. The shoot was unfolding before my eyes. I grabbed one of my light stands and booms and grabbed a dark grey bath towel as my backdrop. I snapped a few photos to see if I could get the light to drop off behind the corks.

I then grabbed another light stand with my small light box and my speed light. I set this up camera right shooting downward at a 45 degree angle at the corks and the bottle. A few snaps later and I had the speed light dialed in to a setting that I liked.

The shot was coming together but something was a little off with the bottle. I decided to grab another speed light and throw on a homemade snoot. I put this on another light stand and put it about 6 feet in the air and shot down at a 45 degree angle at the bottle. This was the missing piece for the shot. With this rim light I got a great outline of the bottle and the wine glass in the background.

I then worked through different setups with the corks and the bottle. I moved the bottle to the front, then the back. I kept the corks up in a row, then I laid them down. I tinkered around with the light but kept it mostly the same with little variations here and there. After about 90 minutes of set up and shooting I was ready to put it all away and edit.

It's hard to get out and shoot in the winter months especially if you live in a city like Chicago but through this shoot I was able to work on my product portfolio with a product I love. I was also able to escape the winter, even if only for a few hours. If you are considering getting into product photography or need something to do in the winter months consider setting up a micro studio in your house and getting yourself a few speed lights. The entire setup here took up no more than 3 feet by 3 feet (not including shooter space).

Oh, and if you want to enjoy some delicious wine, check out Beaulieu Vineyard's website, I highly recommend it. Cheers.

Napa Valley Sunrise Photography

I recently vacationed in beautiful Napa Valley, California, where I enjoyed plenty of wine tasting, and more importantly, capturing the scenery in photos. My last trip to Napa this past spring was a whirlwind trip that left me with only a few quick photo opportunities between vineyard visits; this time I had four full days to drag myself out of bed each morning to shoot - and the lack of sleep was well worth it! Not shockingly, the pure beauty of Napa Valley gave me just enough energy to get up each morning to take photos.

We stayed near downtown Napa which gave me easy access to the entire valley. Our rental house had an impressive, picturesque view which I knew would be my first shoot, but I still had to figure out where else I was going to shoot. As we explored the valley I bookmarked each location that looked perfect for a sunrise shot and kept a tally on my phone. GPS makes for a great photo shoot assistant.

I'm in the process of buying a roller bag to accommodate all of my gear. In the meantime I've been packing up my Lowepro AW250 with as much as I can, which forces me to choose favorite lenses as I can't fit my Nikon 28-70 f2.8 , Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and my wide angle in the bag at the same time. I opted to bring my wide angle lens and my Nikon 28-70 f2.8 this time, which proved to work out. There were times I would have liked to have my Nikon 80-200 f2.8, but that's life. The moral of the story: stop being cheap and get a rolling bag!

Napa Valley - BV Vineyard and Domain Carneros

Anyway, back to the adventure..... Day 1 and I'm up (amazingly) at 5:00 am. The sun is not up and I realized I made a slight miscalculation. Due to the mountain range the sun doesn't peak above the mountains until after sunrise. Luckily, the extra 20 minutes gave me time to make sure all the settings were ready to go on my Nikon D800, which I had forgotten being my first time shooting HDR since I got my D800. Settings... Check. Now it was time to play around with my new Lee Filter Set and my 0.9 ND Grad. Looks like I needed that extra time anyway.

In a place like Napa Valley you can't help but feel like one with nature as you are surrounded by this lush intense beauty. As the sun started to approach the mountain line I just sat there admiring the whole process in awe and of coursing shooting the whole time.

Later that day we headed out on our wine tour. We wound our way from vineyard to vineyard and stopped at some old and new favorites: Silver Oak , Inglenook, Beaulieu Vineyard and Palmaz Winery - bookmarking of course along the way.

Napa Valley - Inglenook Vineyard and BV Vineyard

Day 2 was definitely harder to get out of bed than Day 1, but today I had car keys and was ready to travel. I explored the north area of the valley, near Yountville and got some great morning shots. It's hard to look for locations while driving but luckily there aren't many people on the road at that time. Shooting in Napa is pretty amazing but it can also be a challenge since the light I prefer lasts only about 25 minutes this time of year.

The final two days I made my way over to the Domain Carneros area and explored the surrounding miles. Unfortunately, there was one location that I wanted to shoot but didn't have time to go to. Pride Mountain is breathtaking from what I hear so I was a little disappointing that I didn't get to see it or shoot any pictures. Judging from the shots I got and what will end up going in my portfolio I'd say this was a very successful trip. Now that I'm home I wish I was back; I see how people fall in love with California and never come home. I'll just have to hang some of my sunrise shots in my condo to remind me of those early morning adventures...

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