Merlot Harvest 2013, Palkonya, Hungary
This photo is the most telling of the day I spent at Haraszti Pince. Harvesting grapes is hard work, and there are no easy jobs. If you’re Feri, the vintner, standing on the back of the truck, you get...
View ArticleRiding a Tractor, Palkonya, Hungary
Interspersed with the hard work of the grape harvest is a good deal of pleasure. Moving from one section of the vineyard to the other, János invited me to hop onto the back of the tractor with him and...
View ArticleWhat the Heck Is a Puttony, Anyway?
Hungarians, like many people, love their traditions. If you’re a fan of sweet Tokaji wines, you’ve probably seen references to three, four, five, or even six “puttonyos” classifications. This refers to...
View ArticleUnder the Spreading Walnut Tree, Palkonya, Hungary
During a break in the harvest, I caught some shade under a walnut tree, and I saw this great view of the Villány valley, with Palkonya’s red Church of St. Elisabeth spire, marking the center of the...
View ArticlePressing Merlot, Palkonya, Hungary
Wow. I let more than a week slip by. In the mean time, I’ve been to two more wineries, but let me finish up with Haraszti Pince before I move on. Being a small winery, this little auger-driven press is...
View ArticlePerfect Light, Konyári Pince, Balatonlelle, Hungary
I’ve learned over the years to go out to make my photographs with a plan, but if the situation isn’t what I wanted, to change the plan, or walk away. I’ll usually try to shoot through the transition...
View ArticleCaged Wine, Konyári Pince, Balatonlelle, Hungary
There is something about seeing the huge cages full of wine in a winery’s warehouse that makes me believe the world is a good place. A farmer has followed a tradition going back 9000 years or more,...
View ArticleWine Hose, Balatonlelle, Hungary
Most of us, when we think about wine, think about the bottle, the crystal glasses, the barrels and vats in the cellar, maybe the grapes on the vine. We don’t often think about the complex process of...
View ArticleWine Glasses, Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pince, Pannonhalma, Hungary
Of course, the second best thing about doing a wine project is drinking wine. This particular winery, part of the Pannonhalma Abbey, has been in operation since 996 CE. It was briefly interrupted...
View ArticleUsing the Split Toning Function in Lightroom
Pretty picture, isn’t it? A beautiful landscape of rich, fall colors and vineyards. Kinda makes you want to go drink some wine, maybe pull out a blanket in anticipation of colder days to come. Feels...
View ArticleReflections on Reflections
Photographers loooooooove reflections, but I’ve been working to take them a step further. It started with a shot of the Taj Mahal on an insanely hot May day during a drought. The Yamuna River was...
View ArticleBeautiful Photo: Szabadsag Hid, Fog
I’ve been storing up pictures for a while. This one goes back to the end of the year, a beautiful foggy day. I don’t think it needs more words than that.
View ArticleBeautiful Photo: Twisting Stairs
I like stairs. I like the lines they make, and the metaphor for climbing toward a goal. And I particularly like it when they give me so many different angles in one frame. No more words for today.
View ArticlePhoto from the World: Blackhawks in Budapest
One of the great things about being married to a diplomat is that I occasionally get phone calls like the one I had last week…”Brian, are you free tomorrow at 11 and 1? We’re putting together a...
View ArticleBeautiful Photo: Crocuses and Shadows
Have I told you yet this week how much I love flowers? Sometimes I see them as O’Keeffe did, all exotic and erotic, and other times, I just get lost in the details. With these crocuses, I wanted to...
View ArticlePhoto from the World: Tram in the Fog
This one’s going out a little late, and probably not too lucid. We had a long day hiking in the High Tatras above Zakopane, Poland, and I’m wiped out. What you see here is not, obviously, from the High...
View ArticleWine for a Year: Raining Beauty
There is something about farmland that calls us. Well, it calls me, anyway. I’m out away from the city. I can listen to the close sounds of birds, and the quiet, distant sounds of tractors, and on this...
View ArticlePhoto from the World: Poronin, Poland
While you’re sleeping, keeping the bed nice and warm, having that dream where you’re on the 18th tee at St. Andrews, I’m out driving around the countryside, looking for photos. Sometimes, anyway. Okay,...
View ArticleBeautiful: Windmill Silhouette
I’ve started writing this post three times now. It was supposed to be a lesson, but my internet isn’t working great, so the 7 pictures I needed for it wouldn’t upload. So I switched to a...
View ArticleBeautiful: Cliff & Trees Silhouette
Clearly I’m having a silhouette problem these days. The reason they never really go out of style is that they always look good. Like a little black dress or wingtips.
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