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Archive for the ‘Napa Valley’ Category

When my son bought himself a new Canon DSLR, it was inevitable we would go on a photo-shoot one day. That opportunity presented itself during the Christmas and New Year break when we decided to go to Napa Valley and see what we could shoot. We were surprised to see many vineyards with flowering mustard. I’ve only ever seen this around February/March and this was December. We also spent some time in and around the Beringer Estates, where the Rhine House is an landmark building. This house stands amidst beautifully kept gardens and there is wine tasting inside.

While the sun threatened to break through now and then, it never did and the day stayed very grey. In many ways, this is an ideal situation for some HDR treatment, the sky is normally SO bright, it ends up completely white in the picture. So here is a 3 shot HDR with some detail in the sky. The composition is quite deliberate as there was an ugly red cone on those steps and I used the fountain to hide it from view.

The day ended up being a great outing and I am sure it won’t be the last photo-shoot done with my son.

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The CIA, in this case, stands for Culinary Institute of America, which has a campus in Napa Valley (St Helena to be more precise).  Linda and I visited there this last weekend and this place has some great opportunities for HDR photography.

This front view of the institute for example, shows up really well with the dramatic clouds above it. Gives it a bit of a spooky look.

Inside was great for HDR shots. The lobby (I assume that is what  it is called) has this staircase that leads up and forms a great contrast with the brick walls, both in color as well as in look. The stone giving an old and majestic feel while the steel staircase is modern and utilitarian.

There were some renovations going on and they were putting up these really interesting wall designs, two contrasting colored wood panels. A great subject for some abstract shots.

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