Brangayne Wines

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Last year for Easter, a whole crew of us went out to Orange in New South Wales for a relaxing long weekend. This was the third year that we celebrated the Easter weekend together, and most of the weekend is spent eating, drinking and generally relaxing. As Orange is one of the better known wine regions in the state, we did take a wine tasting tour one of the days (surprising, I know).

This shot is down the drive way leading into the winery. Easter is nicely getting into autumn, so the colors were out on display!!

Sony A7R II | FE 55mm F1.8 | 55mm | f/5.0 | 1/400th sec | ISO100 

King Valley

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For 5 years I have wanted to visit King Valley in Victoria. Mostly because I have a very soft spot for Sangiovese, and King Valley just happens to be the best place in Australia to grow italian-style grapes. So finally this year for my birthday, I booked my own trip and we headed down for what was essentially a long weekend. I found a deal on Luxury Escapes, and we stayed at the Lindewarrah Hotel.

While I think my idea of a perfect weekend would be sleeping late and sipping on wine all afternoon into the evening, we did decide to get out and do a little hiking – just to make sure we weren’t at wineries *all* day long. There are a few areas around King Valley that are absolutely great hiking paths. Today’s shot was out the back of our hotel, as the day was coming to a close.

Also, of the wineries that we visited, these three were the highlights:

Sam Miranda Wines – really nice selection, and diverse range of wines. Their Prosecco was very nice, the Chardonney was surprisingly good, as was the Barbera and the Sangiovese.

Pizzini Wines – they are the kings of Sangiovese. They do make a selection of other wines, a couple of the highlights are the Arneis and the Pinot Grigio. However, they offer four separate Sangioveses, including the more approachable Nonna Gisella, the mid-range Pietra Rossa, the stronger Forza di Ferro, and the reserve Rubacuori.

Dal Zotto – known for their Prosseco (they have five different kinds), they also make quite a few nice reds as well. Again, their Pinot Grigio, their Arneis and the Insieme white field blend are the stand-outs on the lighter side. Their Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and the Cuore Del Re (their Super Tuscan) are fantastic reds – but I am fairly confident to say they have the absolutely best Barbera made in Australia.

Sony A7R II | Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM | 24mm | f/4 | ISO400 | 1/2500th

Mount Phousi

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For me, Laos was a great short trip to a new and unique country. We stayed in Luang Prabong the entire trip, and didn’t get to venture out to anywhere else in the country.  Luang Prabong is the capital, and we figured we’d get a pretty good taste of the country.  The town itself isn’t really very large, and generally 5 days can cover most of the ‘things to do’.  In the center of town there’s a large hill, not quite a mountain – it’s really just 100 meters high or about 300 steps. We took a walk up the hill and got there with a bit of time before sunset. This shot is looking out over the Mekong River from the top of Mount Phousi.

Sony A7R II | Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM | 64mm | f/16 | 1/80th | ISO500

Austin at Night

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When I was 16, I moved (somewhat unwillingly) with my parents from Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth Texas.  To say that it was a bit of culture shock was an understatement.  Like all things when you’re a teenager, it seemed like the end of the world at the time, however, I lived through it, and arguably, it was a major experience that made me who I am today.

I tried to move to Austin after University, but I couldn’t find a job there and ended up in Dallas, which was the second time (out of three).  After I left Dallas (for I think the final time), I had really only been back 1 or 2 times until I got my most recent job.  Out of some coincidence, I have a part of my team which is based in Austin, so I’ve been back 4 times over the last year.  I’m pretty sure a year ago was the first time in more than 15 years that I had been to Austin.

For my most recent visit, I bought a new travel tripod and wanted to try it out.  This is a nighttime photo from the Lamar Street (car) bridge looking back over the skyline of Austin – it’s much different than I remember it back in the late ’90’s!!!

Sony A7R II | Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM | 24mm | f/5.6 | 3.2 sec | ISO400

In the middle of Africa

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A few years back, we took a trip that essentially cut off the bottom of Africa, we traveled from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean, stopping in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. The stop in ZimZam (as it’s known) was really just a single night stop at Victoria Falls and the Victoria Falls Hotel. I’ve talked about this in the past on prior blogs, and it isone of the most picturesque colonial hotels in Africa. We really just that one night at the hotel and this is a stopover on our way to Mozambique. How are the hotel was built over 100 years ago and has some really lovely features that capture the memory of the era in which it was built. This block was at the base of the flag that sat at the end of the hotel steps overlooking Victoria Falls itself, and as you can see, the block indicates the distance between Cape Town, where you are now in Victoria Falls, and all the way up to Cairo which is route the original train went. It really does have me dreaming of going from the south end of Africa all the way up to the north end covering that nearly 7000 miles from tip to tip. Maybe one day I’ll build make make a trip.

Sony A7R II | FE 70-200mm F4 G | 144mm | f/4.0 | 1/640th | ISO200

Grampians Waterfalls

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On our tour through South Australia and Victoria, we stopped for a few nights in the Grampians. Never one to skip a chance to practice different photog techniques, we found a relatively short hike that ended at a waterfall.  I must have sat for 30 minutes trying to get this shot right.  It didn’t help that a few other people decided to go for a swim in the middle of it…  Great afternoon, and great trip. I couldn’t tell you exactly which waterfall this one was, but great spot.

**Edit : found it.  It’s Hopetoun Falls.

Canon 7D | Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 | 31mm | f/22.0 | 1.5 sec | ISO100

End of Australia

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During our trip to South Australia a couple of years ago, we spent the first part of our trip on Kangaroo Island.  We actually made quite a trip out of that holiday, spending a night in Adelaide, four days on Kangaroo Island, a few nights (including Christmas) in the Barossa Valley, the we drove from the Barossa all the way to Melbourne for New Year’s Eve with a couple of stops in the middle.

So first off, there really is only one way to get to Kangaroo Island, and that’s via ferry boat service from Cape Jervis.  We just happened to have the luck to go down on a night when the seas were a bit choppy, and therefore the ferry wasn’t running. It’s rare that I ever do this, but basically found the closest pub and rented a couple of rooms.  No big deal, and we were out the next morning.

Once we got to Kangaroo Island, we had a few day activities planned, but one of the major highlights was to head to the south-west end of the island and visit Flinders Chase National Park. The park takes up nearly the last quarter or so of the island, and we went as far as you can go.  The other main attractions in the area are the Remarkable Rocks and a couple of lighthouses at Cape Du Couedic.  The shot below tracks the land as it goes out to sea in the Great Southern Ocean and basically just falls into the sea.

Canon 7D | Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 | 17mm | f/22.0 | 1/45th | ISO100

Benguerra Island

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There’s really not a lot to say about Benguerra Island – not because it’s not beautiful, but more because there’s really not much to it.  Last year on our African holiday, we decided to end the trip relaxing and recouperating after a relatively hectic few weeks of travel. Benguerra Island is one island of ~6 that make up the Bazaruto Archipelago on the Mozambique coast.  We stayed at the Azura hotel which was absolutely fantastic, the property was beautiful and the staff were great.

One of the interesting bits about Benguerra, and the whole archipelago is that the coast is actually really shallow. So, when the tide goes out, there is about 1 km of sand that is exposed and you can walk and walk and walk.  It’s a really unique phenomonon that I haven’t really seen anywhere else.  I’m sure it happens, but I just haven’t see it.  In the photo below, you can see a boat that is basically shipwrecked, that is until the tide comes back and the lifts the boat back.  It’s commonplace to just leave those boats far enough out that they aren’t right on shore, but understanding that they will not be in water for a few hours.

Sony A7R II | FE 16-35mm F4 | 30mm | f/14 | 1/125th | ISO200

Kinkaku-ji

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Japan.  Officially country #17 on my list, but that wasreally just a long layover in 2003.  I counted the country because we actually left the airport, went out and had lunch in Narita and met with some of my partners extended family.  I didn’t properly go to Japan until 2015 when we finally went and stayed for nearly two weeks. We spent a few days in Kyoto, then to Odowara, where my partners’ family is from, then a few days in Tokyo.  I don’t think I’ve seen another city that is as picturesque, or perhaps photogenic as Kyoto.  There is an old part of the city with these quaint, small cobblestone streets and beautiful homes. We also went for a beautiful, nine course, kaiseke dinner.

We must have visited a half a dozen temples, but this one stands out for me.  It called Kinkaku-ji, and it is literally wrapped in gold leaf.  Beautiful spot, even though I imagine that it is *always* packed with tourists.

If you go to Japan, make sure to stop in Kyoto for a few days.

Canon Powershot S120 | 5-26mm | 12mm | f/4 | 1/320th | ISO80