A little Napa get-a-way

Last weekend we spent a few days in the beautiful Napa Valley. Of course while we were there we tasted some wonderful wine and enjoyed some fabulous food, the perfect location for both.

Saturday we started with our favorite winery, Flora Springs. The vineyard is somewhat barren this time of year but oh, the potential!

Comparing the wood of French oak barrels and American oak  barrels

Travis was our host for the day. He did an outstanding job of pouring and pouring! (Lighting in the barrel rooms is a bit challenging).

Our second winery of the day was Stony Hill. A lovely family owned vineyard high in the hills. Our hostess was Mrs. McCrea, the proprietor. We enjoyed a barrel tasting in the very intimate barrel room then it was off to the tasting room.

We topped off the night with a lovely dinner at Market. Always one of our favorites. 

And then there was Sunday...

My first Beyond Beyond challenge

Kim Klassen’s Beyond Beyond class started January 23rd. Our first challenge was to spend some time shooting a still life.  We were to post our favorite or favorites. The top shot in the collage was my favorite from the exercise. The other two were  close runner-ups. We weren’t suppose to move the objects instead we were to move around them shooting from various angles. For me, it was a wonderful reminder to keep shooting beyond the obvious first shot and you may just very well find something special.

Mother Nature's light show

Tonight Mother Nature put on a light show. It's one of the advantages of living in the desert this time of year. Thankfully I was able to grab this shot with my iphone before the sun completely set. It was a wonderful way to end a lovely Sunday.

I hope your Sunday was colorful too.

Where did the week go?

Seriously, how did we get to the weekend so quickly. I must be getting old 'cuz I'm sounding like my mother.

Well anyway, another Beyond Layers challenge this week. Actually part deux. Another shot of the tulips to edit. This time I went for a grungier approach.

The original shot posted by Kim Klassen

I cropped the image a bit tighter.  Added two of Kim's textures, silence and jessica. Messed with the blend modes and opacity and masked off some of the texture from the flower. Once I was happy with the image I used RadLab to add a vignette. And this is my take...

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Another Beyond Layers Challenge

Another Beyond Layers challenge, that's two in a row for me. I'm on a roll...

Kim Klassen posted this photo:

She asked us to edit it in our way. Oh boy, this WAS a challenge for me but I did give it a go.

This is my version, I am liking this new chalkboard trend. 

I cropped and desaturated the image. I extracted the flowers from the original black background and used Kim's chalk magic texture.

Kim Klassen's Cuppa Challenge

I'm a student in Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers class but honestly I haven't really participated. Oh, I read the e-mails, download the textures and watch the videos but I've never actually done anything with it. Thursday that changed! I signed up for the next version of the class, Beyond Beyond and decided it was time to actually DO something.

Thursday Kim presented us with a challenge. Take a shot with a cup, a book and an accessory then edit it with one or both of her textures, Chaos and Calamity. This is my attempt.

Cuppa Challenge

I desaturated my photo then added the Chaos texture at soft light blend mode, 80% opacity. I masked off the texture on the piece of candy. And yes, that is my undecorated Christmas tree in the background. I'm making progress, slowly.