Taking great vineyard images can be challenging. Pictures can turn out blurry, have sunspots and lighting issues or just have nothing to distinguish them from a million other vineyard shots. These 5 tips can help correct the most common of these problems and provide you with some amazing and unique vineyard images.

1. Go out when the lighting is even
2. Detect & remove distractions
3. Use a monopod to get rid of the shakes
4. Look for clouds, colors & other effects to make your images stand out
5. Have patience!

Go Out When the Lighting is Even

The best time to take pictures in the vineyard is when the light is soft and even — usually early in the morning right after sunrise and then again around sunset.  What you want to avoid  is the harsh light that is cast when the sun is high in the sky.

This photo was taken during a hot summer afternoon when the lighting was very harsh with deep shadows and almost white highlights.		This image was taken during the early morning as the sun was just starting to rise making the lighting fairly even.
Sometimes this effect can be kind of cool, but most of the time the image is unusable.		An added bonus is how the light shines through the grapes making the colors even more amazing.

Believe it or not, overcast days (if light enough) can allow you to take pictures all day because the clouds diffuse the intense sunlight giving you that even lighting you need.

Detect & Remove Distractions

One bad grape in an otherwise perfect cluster, a huge brown leaf in the middle of a group of green leaves, or a post running through a series of vines are examples of distractions that can draw the viewer’s eyes away from the main focal point of your image. These distractions will dilute the impact of your picture.   If you identify these distractions beforehand and remove or find a way to minimize the problem the result will be a more perfect picture.

For example, if there is a brown leaf blocking your intended target, go ahead and remove it once you have determined that removing the first distraction will not expose a larger one — such as a gaping hole in the vines or dried out grapes.  If there is a weird vine twining around the cluster you want to photograph, try to re-route it to either side.

The two images below may look very similar, but the one on top has the light colored post running through it which tends to draw the eyes away from the clusters of ripe grapes and breaks up the continuity of the row.

Once I saw the post, I moved down the row a little bit more so the post wouldn’t show and took this picture. As you can see, it looks a lot more cohesive and there is nothing to distract from the cluster of ripe Pinot Noir grapes.

So, next time you see the perfect shot, take a careful look around to see if there are any potential distractions — and then do the best you can to take care of them before they get into your final image.

Use A Monopod To Get Rid Of The Shakes

If you have a difficult time keeping your hands steady while taking pictures, then you probably have a lot of shots that are blurry and out of focus.  Although a tripod will help steady the camera, you loose much of your mobility and may have difficulty setting it up in all the places you’d like.  A wonderful compromise is the monopod.

A monopod is simply an adjustable pole with a camera attachment at the top.  With only one leg, it is very easy to carry around (you can even use it as a walking stick) and when you see the perfect shot, just plop the foot on the ground and use the pole to stabilize the camera, adjust the height (if necessary) and take the picture.  In seconds you have your shake-free shot and can quickly move on down the row.  Even better, they are relatively inexpensive. (Amazon sells them for under $25)

Look For Clouds, Colors & Other Effects To Make Your Images Stand Out

While wandering the vineyard, look for effects that will add interest to your image such as cloud formations, colors, water droplets (you can even bring a spray bottle and lightly spray a few clusters) and so forth. One trick I use to add a little color to my grape images is to crouch down and shoot up through the cluster so you can get a glimpse of sky through breaks in the vines.

In this example, I was able to find this beautiful cluster of Tempranillo grapes during veraison with the colorful leaves all around it.

Have Patience!

Take your time while walking the vineyard and really look around.  Perhaps there are colored streamers in the rows that fan out when the wind blows, then wait until they are all fanned out and then take your picture. Is there a beautiful cloud formation that will be right over the vineyard in a few minutes?  If so, wait until it’s in the perfect position and then take your shot.

That is what I did in the following example. I saw these gorgeous clouds approaching the winery and waited until the cloud opening was right over the top of it and then took the shot!

Conclusion . . .

The main point of these tips are to help you understand the importance of lighting, tools and paying attention to the life in the vineyard and how it can help you improve your images.

Once you understand and implement this, you should see quite an improvement in your images! Have Fun!

Please, Please, PLEASE Take Pictures!

I KNOW how crazy the Holiday season is, and am sure taking photos is probably the last thing on your mind — but it is now, while your tasting room is decorated and full of happy people that you NEED to be taking photos for your online sites!  (The ‘online sites’ I’m referring to are your winery website, blog, FaceBook, etc..)

By taking photos of your guests having fun and uploading them to your sites, you are showing new site visitors how much fun you are (making them want to go and experience it for themselves) and encouraging past guests to visit your site looking for photos of themselves (which also reminds them what a good time they had, making them want to visit again).

If you don’t have time to take the photos yourself, you can set out some disposable cameras and encourage guests to take photos, or you can ‘bribe’ a photographer (they don’t even have to be professional — just someone who can take good photos) with bottles of wine or free entry into an event (this has won me over quite a few times )

Picture Taking Tips

Taking photos of groups of people can be difficult, so here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Try not to take a lot of posed shots — look around for people who are laughing and having a good time and zoom in on them (people respond better to close-ups than full body shots).
• When you find a likely subject, don’t stop with the first shot!  You want to take several photos in a row in case one of the subjects has their eyes closed at the moment you captured your first image or their mouth was in a strange position while they are eating, drinking or talking.
• When you do take posed shots, check to see if there is anything that would distract the viewer from the image’s focus. For example, if a wine bottle will be in the photo, make sure the label is facing front.  Remove any wadded up napkins, empty plates and glasses or anything else that would detract from the photo.

Are There Legalities?

If you are worried about the legality of displaying photos of your guests online, there are several ways to handle this:

1. Do nothing.  As long as it was taken in a public place, you are not selling the image, it does not infringe on the subject’s reasonable expectation of privacy (meaning, you didn’t take it of them while they were in the rest room), and it does not defame or embarrassment them, then you are within your legal rights to take photos of people in your tasting room and at your events and display them on your online sites.
2. If you are uncomfortable taking photos without some kind of notice, then a simple way to take care of this is to post signs at the entrance and around the event/tasting room saying something like “We are taking photos today for our website and FaceBook.  By entering the premises you are giving us permission to use images of you for these purposes.”
3. If even the above is not enough, then a more difficult, time consuming, invasive, but iron clad way of handling this is to have your guests fill out model release forms.  If interested in this option, feel free to download and use this simple form.

Now What?

As soon as you’ve taken your photos, you’ll want to upload them to their own gallery on your website, blog, FaceBook page and/or Flickr.   (I’m mentioning the different options because I know many of you don’t have the resources to immediately add them to your website and so can take advantage of the usability of blogs, FaceBook and Flickr by uploading the images yourself.)

Once the images are uploaded, send out an email blast letting your guests know the photos are up and encourage them to check out the new photo gallery.  You can even make a game of it!  Maybe do something funky with one of the photos and the first person to notice it gets a free corkscrew.

Bottom Line

People LOVE to view photos of themselves, and by keeping your online sites updated with photos and encouraging your guests to view them, you are not only keeping your brand fresh in their minds, but while checking out the photos they may decide to buy more wine from your store or see about an upcoming event they would like to attend (after all, they can look at the photos to see how much fun they had at the last one ).