Clos LaChance Winery

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I arrived at the winery, which is just 6 minutes from my house, at 6:15am. That was suppose to give me 30 minutes of twilight shooting and then a colorful sunrise. Not to be. The morning was shrouded in fog. A few others from the photography club joined me and agreed that the diffused light was perfect for capturing the fall color on the vines. The key was to not include the gray sky in the frame.

Compared to a blue sky, fog can seem dull, and many inexperienced photographers express disappointment, but fog presents a different photographic opportunity. With even light and no bright spots from the sun, foliage color just pops, and since that's what I was after, I was happy. Many people might think that I saturated this red in the computer, but I did not. I didn't have to. Around 8:30 the fog started to break up a bit and we were treated to bits of sunlight on the foothills and the vineyards at their base.

This looks like a small river running through the vineyards, but it is just the driveway reflecting the blue sky

It didn't last long. By 9:30 the fog was back thicker than before. I didn't care. Enough light shone through to light up the leaves to perfection. I hiked up a hill above the parking lot and found this graceful arc of vines.

and this lovely red leaf.

You can see more photos from Clos LaChance on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/