White Cottage Ranch Photo Shoot

By Rocco Ceselin Photography 7:30 PM Fall in Napa

The beginning of November is really the last call for all the photographers who want to enjoy the colors in Napa Valley. I have been hired from White Cottage Ranch winery to shoot the last day of the harvest. Rudy, the winemaker and Michael, his assistant, have been very helpful during all the shoot and I have been very lucky to be able to capture some interesting details of the winemaking. The winery is located in Angwin, twenty minutes from St. Helena in a beautiful location with rolling hills and surrounded by oak trees and pines. To be able to take good photos, you need to wake up VERY early and, in my opinion, you only have about one hour of warm light to enjoy the outdoor shoot. After 8.30am you better focus on different subjects, good light with long shadows is gone. The winemaking process: grapes had made / selection, juice falling from the press, transfering the grapes to the fermentation barrels... is very fascinating. If you want to capture good images, you need to be very close to the action and be prepared to be sticky and dirty... camera as well. My Canon 5d Mark II has been a good friend also this time and I had to clean it with a wet cloth to get rid of all the solidified grape juice that fell on it. I will update my web site shortly with more recent photos of the fall in the wine country.