Napa Valley Vines Photo

Photographer’s Note

Sunday was a beautiful day in the San Francisco Bay Area with the kind of sky that begged to be photographed. It seemed a perfect day to drive to the Napa Valley to take some photographs of the region's famous vineyards as autumn brings its special colors to the vines. Over the next couple of days I'll post a few photos I took during my meandering.

The first photo was taken on the west side of the valley from a country lane not typically used by the tourists who come for the excellent wine and food to be found in the region. I'm facing north with the late afternoon sun to the left. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about this particular vineyard, but then it is only those vineyards producing grapes for the most expensive wines that are given names. I don't even know what kind of grapes are grown on these vines. All I know is that the view captivated me. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Rinie_Hoff, spence, carper, jhm, nwoehnl, Endy has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2004-10-25 3:52

This is like torture, Curtis, giving me this view on the early morning! I am a wine lover, and the thought of it, makes the water run into my mouth! ;-)
Lovely view on those rolling hills with trees, the vineyard in the foreground, and the row of trees to frame the picture on the right.
The rows of vines add a lot of depth to the picture. Beautiful sky!

GrahamB (939) 2004-10-25 5:23

This is very nice Curtis. I like the lines of vines leading into the scene and the rolling hills beyond. Lovely autumnal colours on the vines.
One minor point is that at the left side the top of the row of vines is lost as it meges with the filed of vines beyond so I feel the picture feels a bit 'empty' there and doesn't have the stronger verticals of the rest of the scene. I would maybe try cropping a bit from that side - not too much, maybe just one vine.
Very nice shot.

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spence (1679) 2004-10-25 5:31

Beautiful light, Curtis, and a great sky! I love vineyards - they're so photogenic. I really like the hills in this shot, too, and the lovely natural colours. The dark trees on the right create a nice anchor here. Well done.

carper (64194) 2004-10-25 7:22

very nice one Curtis,
I see a good photo with a lot depth and a great colours, whatever I made a WS and I hope you like it,I think you made then a better depth, farther very good job

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jhm (81817) 2004-10-25 8:50

Excellent angle for make this photo, Curtis, very nice depth, good perspective and lovely autumn colours in this vineyard. The mountains together with the beautiful sky give a beautiful picture. Very well seen!

nwoehnl (118) 2004-10-25 8:59

Nice scene from the Napa vineyards, Curtis. The uphill view affords a good perspective along the lines made by the vines as well as by the trees on the right. Great sky and good rendition of the seasonal light and colors. One minor compo thing is I'd have preferred to see the "starting pillar" of the left row of vineyards as well.

I came through this area in 2001 en-route from Sacramento to SF. I think the Napa winery where I stopped was Beaulieu Vineyards (I talked the lady into letting me take one of their logo tasting glasses which I still have). Overall I found Sonoma Valley (which I also saw) to be the more scenic and quiet experience.

sn00zie (2384) 2004-10-25 9:52

a nice perspective used in this capture. feels like endless travel...

Hanssie (9133) 2004-10-25 13:10

Great lines, good colours, lovely hills and a beautiful sky, nice total !

elroyie (2750) 2004-10-25 14:56

Very good picture with great colours and very good balance, between the three parts of the picture, you caught a great sky for this scene, well done!

P.S. never mind the names of the grapes... :)

Endy (1025) 2004-10-25 22:46

Hi Curtis! A very different shot from your latest ones! I like the perspectice created by the aligned vines. Your point of view permits to have a view of the hills in background and to capture this beautiful sky.

A nice composition! Well done!

RGatward (19737) 2004-10-26 4:02

Good subject a vinyard, with all those lines and repition. You made good use of it here, and the atractive sky compliments the shot nicely.

Photo Information

Copyright: Curtis Grindahl (cgrindahl) (6109)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-10-24
Categories: Daily Life
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS, SanDisk Ultra II, Hoya Super HMC 72mm UV
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2004-10-25 3:31