Last week our family went up to Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa so my wife could scope the place out. She’s doing the flowers for a wedding there next week and wanted to be sure she planned adequately. Anyway, it’s a pretty cool place that I didn’t really know existed before she got this job. It’s up on a hill overlooking the southern Russian River valley and has great views. I imagine the sunsets from up there are pretty spectacular. The wedding next week is in the evening, so maybe I’ll get some shots while I help my wife.
This shot is an oak tree in the middle of a deck at the entrance to the tasting building. The tree is pretty spectacular – large, old, and majestic, the kind of tree you almost hate to photograph because you can’t do it justice. I figured my best shot at a decent photo was to make it a little abstract. The thumbnail above doesn’t really do it justice, check out the large version on Zooomr.
The winery is small with simple, but elegant grounds and decor. It fits in with the surrounding hills and doesn’t try to be overly pretentious. It was laid back and classy at the same time. The winery also has a very cool outdoor sculpture gallery. We walked through and the kids just loved it. Lots of great sculptures in a variety of mediums and from many artists. The best part
is that it is free to walk around. The sculptures are spread out in an grove of oak trees on a hillside, so the surroundings are quiet and peaceful. If you’re in Santa Rosa, take an hour and visit. It’s worth the small effort.
I have a few more shots from the winery and sculpture garden on Zooomr. I’m going to blog at least one of them in the next day or so. You can view this shot with a geotag on Zooomr as well.
Off to a completely unrelated topic, Zooomr Mark III is shaping up to be awesome. The Zipline and new Discover page are both cool new features. I’ve run into some bugs, but I’m sure Kristopher will work them out soon enough. I’ve run into problems trying to GeoTag more than one image at a time and some of my old images are smaller than the size I uploaded, but since the Markk III upgrade I’ve spent a lot time finding many amazing photos. Zooomr is fabulous, and the community is incredible. If you don’t have an account, join. Now.