They say that “Practice makes perfect.” Well, in this case, practice made good! The practice was with the macro at the Ironstone Winery in Murphys. The grounds were full of tulips. daffodils and other flowers I can’t name. They were mostly in wine barrels so they could be changed out at will. My macro and I had a great time.
They also had a lake, beautiful landscaping and an amphitheater that was being remodeled. I came home with so many images, it took quite a while to go through them and edit. In this post, I’ll show you my macro work–since I’m bragging. Hey getting to good is better than where I was! I’m not captioning these images since I can only ID the tulips and daffodils.
In my next post, I’ll show you the grounds not shot with the macro.
Old, quaint, touristy, and surviving are just some words to describe Sutter Creek in the California gold country and Amador County wine area. I say surviving because you used to have to go through the town as you drove highway 49. Now there’s a bypass so drivers don’t get bogged down in the town’s traffic.
From the town’s website: A wonderful balance of old and new, today’s Sutter Creek maintains its Gold Rush facade while catering to the wants and needs of visitors from around the world.Shop, dine, slumber, stroll, wine taste, and enjoy the quaint atmosphere of Amador County. Sutter Creek, the jewel of Amador County & the Gold Country, is steeped in history being born of the California Gold Rush and nurtured by the deep rock gold mines of the 19th & 20th centuries.
I wasn’t as impressed with Sutter Creek as I was by Downieville. But then, we were able to buy lunch in this town! Sutter Creek was more commercial, not catering to any season. But it is surviving.
Here are some images.
Looking down the main sidewalk.
An old pump outside a store.
Now what is Kokopelli doing in Sutter Creek?
I liked this building and caught it in between cars.
The side of this building seems to have been painted over many times.
Another building I liked.
This is the first clock I’ve seen on a street that had the correct time.
Napa Valley is the place to go to find mossy trees and mustard plants, and shoot on manual. It’s actually where I had a significant breakthrough on shooting manual. I think I have a smidge more to learn, but I’m mostly there.
Known for its wineries and beauty, Napa Valley was the target for our Exploring Photography Meetup group a couple of weeks ago. We met for lunch and then went off in search for mossy trees and mustard. We had four in our car, and without written directions, we were relying on memory to follow the verbal directions given us. Of course that didn’t work, so we just followed our noses!
Before lunch, we did stop at Turnbull Winery to look at their Ansel Adams exhibit. We took the time to shoot what we could of the winery.
After lunch, we found mustard (a yellow wildflower that seems to grow well under the barren grape vines) accidently while driving to where we thought we remembered the mossy trees to be. It was a small and accessible field–a great find.
Luck followed us to the mossy trees also. These trees had lichen hanging from the barren branches, giving the trees an eerie look. We saw the trees but then went up to the Chappellet Winery and was quickly dismissed back down the road! We did stop to shoot the trees.
Now on to the mossy trees and mustard, both shot in manual!
Mossy trees.
Getting closer.
Just one more view.
A little cheese with your wine?
A flower at Turnbull winery. We stopped there to look at their Ansel Adams collection.
The covered walkway.
Of course I would shoot a tree!
Grape vines. I love their twisted look. No mustard growing here.
The window in the tasting and gallery room.
A lattice cover over a walkway.
The wine vats.
The Ansel Adams exhibit. Loren Yip, a photographer in our carpool, soaks it all in.
The mustard plant close up.
Mustard in the field.
Another vantage point.
Workers trimming the grape vines. We stopped along the highway to shoot this. They didn’t seem to mind.
Slow Shutter Speed 