Approaching the Vaca Mountains from Suisun Valley, we found the sun lighting the autumn vineyards like autumn fire.  I walked up the vineyard maintenance roads to take a variety of pictures from several angles.  Due to the rapidly changing light, I had to work quickly.  In post editing, I chose a sky I had imaged the day before to continue the impression of fire in the sky.  I then darkened the Vaca Mountains to create the dramatic dark space between vineyard and sky. The resulting diagonal composition leads the eye up the vine covered hill to the intersection of sky and vineyard. 

While exploring the backroad vineyards in Suisun Valley one winter day, I noticed some fabulous oaks in a hillside vineyard and decided to come back the next day at dawn to catch them against the rising light.  Conditions early the next morning were perfect, and I composed a series of photographs of the magnificent oaks in the vineyards.  The silhouettes against the sky are a dramatic feature of this composition featuring the vineyard vines against the morning light.

This is a black and white version of the above piece.  Black and white often creates more defined texture in the image.  The above piece is color, but washed out by the bright light of morning so as to be nearly black and white.  In this piece, I have converted the image to black and white, increasing the contrast and texture in the image.

This series of images of Cabernet grapes in the veraison phase (showing different colors as they ripen) was taken using a technique called focus-stacking. In this process, multiple images are taken at different focus points.  The images must then be aligned, as each is at a very slightly different perspective.  After alignment, the images are stacked into one composition, with the image in clear focus from the closest until the point at which I want the background blurred.  The effect is to give the image a three dimensional effect, causing the grapes to almost jump off of the page.  This is the second of the series.  

This series of images of Cabernet grapes in the veraison phase was taken using a technique called focus-stacking. In this process, multiple images are taken at different focus points.  The images must then be aligned, as each is at a very slightly different perspective.  After alignment, the images are stacked into one composition, with the image in clear focus from the closest until the point at which I want the background blurred.  The effect is to give the image a three dimensional effect, causing the grapes to almost jump off of the page.  This is the fifth of the series.

This fusion composition includes a number of my photographs combined into a single image.  First, I took a variety of pictures of the Valley Harvest sculpture in downtown Vacaville, California,  at different perpectives  to use in the composition.  The tree with the bird is from Antelope Valley in Southern California.    The bucket in the sculpture holds pears, which is also what the little girl is picking up.  The moon is from shots taken in the Colorado mountains.  I took pictures of some pears and hung them in silhouette from the tree where it appears they are about to be picked.  I made it appear that the moon lit the farmer's face and hand.  I used a variety of layers to create the star field. 
Note: When summers were hot, it was not uncommon to harvest fruit at night in the Vacaville Valley.

This image is the result of "light painting" a scene.  I'd like to say it was my own effort to create the moon and meadow lighting,  but the amazing effects were all created by Lightscape 2025 in the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  The moon is a large, spherical model suspended by wire. The lights were lasers and colored spotlights "painting" the trees and foliage.  Above the trees, you can see a gray, cloudy sky. I chose a rule of thirds composition and long exposure for this piece.

This is one of my favorite pier pictures.  There are so many points of interest in the image. The equipment was on the pier for repairs, creating a variety of silhouetted shapes that reminded me of giant, mechanical creatures.  A tiny star of sunlight peaks out around a piece of equipment.  The setting sun created a fiery orange glow in the misty spray under the pier as waves crashed against the timbers.   On the wet beach, a young family is enjoying the sunset while a jogger approaches, all silhouetted against the spreading water.  In that same, smooth, spreading water, the backlit timbers of the pier reflect behind the human elements of the scene.

My wife advised me that I spent 10 hours on just the tree in this image.  Originally taken against a complex background, I had to zoom in and digitally clip each branch and twig.  Mistakes were made, and the process was not as seamless as it should have been.  When I finally had the tree ready, I placed it on a layer in front of a moon image I had taken in the High Sierras.  The hillside into which I blended the base of the tree is on Pleasant Valley Road.  The small groups of sheep are from Rio Vista.  If you look closely at each group of sheep, you will find at least one of each group looking back at you.  The starry sky was created using multiple layers of filters blended into a dark sky background.  This picture sold for $950.00 at the KVIE auction.