For my Fathers' Day present, Ruth had booked a photography excursion for us both in a nearby vineyard. It was a good day out, but unfortunately, although much larger than Ruth and John's the vineyard was no where near as attractive.
There were 5 of us in the group - led by Dave from Rohnert Park, who had been a wine maker. It was a bit disappointing that he spent so much of his time telling us about grapes and wine-tasting and very little about the art of photography. That could have been because 2 of the 5 participants weren't photographers and came to accompany their photographer daughter.
Ruth and I enjoyed the day and found some great shots to take. I overdid the bunches of grapes photos but with a digital camera that's not at all important.
Almost unbelievably, it was a cloudy day. This was fine because the lack of sunlight made the taking of photographs a lot easier than in conditions of bright sunlight and dark shade.
About three quarters of the way through the tour, Dave reminded us to look out for snakes, adding the rider that they wouldn't be out in the overcast conditions anyway.
Some of the most interesting shots were the rows of vines leading the eye up to a feature in the hills beyond.
The vineyard - B. R. Cohn - is situated just out of Sonoma. Bruce Cohn, the founder and owner, had at one time been the manager of a group of musicians - The Doobie Brothers. The group had broken up and Bruce had then bought the acreage for the vineyard. A few years later he arranged a charity music festival and his old group reformed for the occasion in order to take part in the concert.
That night was so successful that the group have stayed together and the one off concert is now an annual event. The vineyard is a perfect setting in which to enjoy music.
When we returned to the visitor center a huge lunch was given to us. I'm sure that my lunch along would have fed all 5 of us!
After lunch, Ruth and I took some floral photographs and also four unusual and attractive fun sculptures by an artist living nearby in Sebastopol - Patrick Amiot. If you are ever in that California town - hunt out Florence Street where the sculptor lives. Almost every house on that street has a piece of his work on display in their gardens.
A good, enjoyable, fun and even unusual day. And the sun broke through the fog at lunch time.
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