We sometimes travel distances for beauty. On a recent Tuesday we traveled 2 hours to Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, California. Why did we drive all that way? Because I know it’s beautiful, and there would be no disappointments. Well, sometimes it could be raining like during my last visit there. There was a little wind, so that meant we didn’t use our macro lenses. However, my 18 – 140 Nikon lens does excellent close up photography in the wind.

During shooting the flowers and grounds, I was having some trouble with my camera’s exposure. I would compensate and then on the next picture, re-compensate. It was bothering me because it meant that I would have to take two shots. One to let me know if I needed to compensate and another with the compensation. Maybe someone can help me figure out if I have a problem with camera or lens. It may be that the sun was bright, but then I’ve shot in bright sun before. Oh, it didn’t happen on my photo outing this week!

Other than that frustration, we had an enjoyable day. And, since I wasn’t driving, I napped on the way back. Yes, the key to traveling long distances is to pick a worthy spot–then you don’t mind the long drive, especially if you can snooze a little on the way home.

This will be a two-part post. Today, I’ll show you some of the flowers. Most are tulips, but there are others. In the next post, I’ll show you the grounds and cavern (wine cellar).