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Sonoma/Napa Valleys sneak-peek II

Photography continued over the weekend on Sunday with a lovely sunny trip up to Healdsburg and my final shoot over in St Helena in Napa Valley. I LOVE St. Helena!

I’m still not ready to give a proper sneak-peek of the dog photos because uh, my apologies, but I am on vacation now and I’d rather focus on drinking wine and relaxing in the sun, than punching buttons on the laptop, lol. (Sorry Sarah, Daniella, Janelle and Tristan- you gals will have to wait! sniff…). But I will share a few environmental shots today to whet your whistle for more to come.

Post-tasting. Sacked out Healdsburg pooch in background.

St. Helena vineyards.

The boutique David Fulton Winery. The winery is pictured below, and the surrounding property is where we did my final dog shoot. On the side of the winery is a very large deck overlooking the vineryards and Napa Valley. A bunch of us (my client, her husband, the winery owner down the street, his wife, David and his wife, their son-in-law, gee, who am I forgetting? oh! the dogs- yes, 3 dogs!) sat out on the deck and drank wine and chatted about all kinds of things late into the evening. It was one of the best nights I have had in a long time, and reminds me of my time in southern France. MaryLee offered a place to stay for myself and my dad the next time we are in St Helena and you can bet we will be taking her up on it! I will definitely be back. A huge thank you to everyone there for making that night so special! And for the incredible bottles of wine you sent with us. We even took home a bottle so fresh that it didn’t even have a label yet! Wow, thank you thank you. :-)

It wouldn’t be California without palm trees. :-)

After we said our tearful goodbyes and left the David Fulton Winery we went over to Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen restaurant and had a fantastic dinner. I highly recommend to anyone who goes to the Napa Valley to check out Cindy’s. You will not regret it!

Last night we also stumbled on one of the best sushi places I have ever been to- Sushi to Dai For in old town Santa Rosa. We devoured our food like it was the last meal on earth, and the asparagus will forever hold a special place in my heart. I read mixed reviews on the place today but honestly those people must have been high, the food was SO good. 

We are currently staying at the gorgeous Vintner’s Inn, surrounded by vineyards. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed. I promise to share more images when I have more time! I’m off to head back out on the vineyard-facing balcony to do some relaxing in the late afternoon sun. Please don’t hate me! I have worked sooo hard for this little reward. :-)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! I promise to drink a glass of wine for you! 

in Cali

I’m in Sonoma Valley now, nearing bedtime at the end of a long day of shooting. It is absolutely beautiful here, and hot! 85 degrees today and expected to stay this way until next weekend. The weather could not be more gorgeous.

I had three awesome shoots today with some really great clients and their really great dogs, and although not ready to do sneak-peeks of any of the dog shots, wanted to share with you one ‘environmental’ shot from each location. 

Tomorrow is more shooting- some for editorial and one more private client. And some for myself!

BTW: for those who wanted to meet up with me in SF on this trip- whether client or friend or colleague, who weren’t able to due to my time constraints and their schedule, it looks good that I will be coming back down to the bay area in January to do some commercial photography and several private client shoots in/near Marin County and San Francisco. I have no idea what the weather is like at that time of year but hopefully it will be good! I LOVE San Francisco so I am happy to come down.

Hope everyone’s weekends are going great, wherever you are, and before I completely unplug on Sunday night I will try and schedule some posts for you to enjoy next week!

Sanger’s shoot location this morning. Can you say WOW? :-)

Max’s shoot location. The most fennel I have ever seen growing in one place ever. The air was scented with the stuff. Yumm.

Heaven’s shoot location in her very own vineyards. 

Happy weekend!

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