Some Animal Portraits and Our Trip to California Academy of Sciences

One of my favorite things about my new camera is learning as I go and figuring out what shooting on manual is all about. I find myself practicing on pets and animals since that's what almost always readily available and they don't mind if I'm taking my time to figure something out. Here are just some of the pictures from trips, visits, and rotations from the beginning when I was first learning to shoot on manual.

The first couple of pictures are from California Academy of Sciences from our trip to San Francisco. It was a great museum/zoo and they had a bunch of really cool exhibits. If you're going to the area it was a great way to spend the day.

Some of the butterfly pictures really remind me of  desktop screen savers for some reason. California Academy of Sciences had a great walk through butterfly dome/rainforest exhibit where we took all of the amphibian and butterfly pictures.

The rest of the pictures are pets of family members and friends, usually taken spur of the moment or when I'm in between something/ running errands.

Day Trip to Alcatraz Island and Tour of the Prison

View of Alcatraz prison on approach to the island

Before we headed to Napa Valley, last week's adventure in California started with a stay in San Francisco. With one of Nick's favorite movies being The Rock, one of the sights we knew we had to see was Alcatraz Prison. The history of the island is pretty fascinating, going from military fortress guarding the bay during the gold rush to federal penitentiary holding some of the most notorious criminals of the twentieth century.

The signs posted on the approach and landing dock give a nod towards the history of the island, but it's now one of the nations top visited national parks. The island was once home to military personnel and their families who sought to make it more civilized. Because of this, Alcatraz is host to many gardens, some of which were tended to by prisoners. The island is also full of different architectural styles which changed not only through the generations, but through ownership of the island. From Spanish revival to stark prison, the various buildings and their architecture is what gives the island its character.

Exposed rock of Alcatraz island

Not the be outdone by the rest of the island, there was some beauty to be found in the industrial feel of the prison in addition to it's history.

Alcatraz prison watchtower

Shuffleboard court in Alcatraz prison recreation yard

After exploring the island for most of the morning, we took the ferry back to San Francisco to have lunch in Fishermans Wharf followed by a short walk back to our hotel.

Hope you enjoyed the little bit of Alcatraz I was able to bring back!

Napa Valley Photography and New Years Vacation

Welcome to Napa Valley sign we saw on our Highway 29 drive

My fiance and I just took our first official "grown up" vacation together (a.k.a paying for it ourselves) to Napa Valley,CA. While we had some ups and downs, I was able to take a ton of pictures and thought I'd share some of them.

Our first day in Napa we had a hotel in the downtown area and decided to visit the Oxbow Market for lunch. The market had a ton of locally made food and products which made it really interesting to browse through while working up an appetite. We decided to have some oysters for lunch and stopped at Hog Island Oyster Co. for a bite to eat, our oyster sampler was accompanied by Domaine Chandon champagne, all of which was delicious.

Domaine Chandon sparkling wine accompanied our oyster lunch

Oyster sampler from Hog Island Oyster Co.

After lunch we made our way to the first winery on our list, Chimney Rock in Napa, CA. Their cabernet sauvignon was awesome and the property was gorgeous to boot. We had a great time walking around the property and the staff was really informative.

Water feature at Chimney Rock Winery in Napa, CA

Over the next couple of days we were able to visit a bunch of different wineries, and though they made different styles of wine, they all shared amazing views.

Our hands down favorite winery of the trip was Pride Mountain Winery in St Helena, CA. Their wine is ridiculously good, like seriously amazing. This was also the first winery we were able to do a cave tour with, during which we were able to do a barrel tasting (where you taste maturing wine). The views, the wine, and everything about this winery were outstanding and all the places we visited after this seemed to fall just shy of this amazing place.

We also spent a beautiful part of the afternoon at Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa, CA. We weren't able to do a tasting since we were running to another reservation, but the vineyards were beautiful here.

Beautiful foliage on the vines at Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa, CA

Our last winery visit was to Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, CA. It's a huge castle that was built using stone brought in from Italy and built using traditional medieval materials and methods where possible. The all the details were true to a 13th century castle (including dungeons and a torture chamber) which made visiting here feel like we had stepped back in time.

Moat and castle view at Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, CA

There were many more wineries we visited and pictures that were taken, but I know I've already run on.

Hope you enjoyed!
Be sure to follow me on instagram @rocky092 for more travel and winery posts

Outside of the Beringer Winery tasting room