I love West Texas wine! I had a conversation the other day with a gentleman about a friend of his that was a supposed “wine snob.” You know, one of those folks that will only drink $60+ bottles of imported wines, letting only the “finest” wines indulge his palette. Anyways, said gentleman sent his snobbish friend a bottle of West Texas wine (variety and winery not discussed), and while it was a fine gift, the friend did not have positive reaction…at first. After a while, the friend gave in, drank a glass, and voila, decided that West Texas wine wasn’t so bad, not bad at all, well, some really dang good wine!

I mentioned in a previous post about an article I am working on for a regional magazine about the West Texas wine industry. I wanted to share another portrait from the experience. Greg Bruni, pictured above, is one of the wine makers and owners of Llano Estacado Winery in Lubbock, Texas. Bruni grew up in a California wine family, and his knowledge and techniques as a wine maker has helped shape West Texas wine.

This is one of my favorite portraits I have taken this year! The best part of it all is that it didn’t take long to get it! I counted up, Mr. Bruni and I took eleven total shots. He showed up right at sunrise, we ran out into the vineyard adjacent to the winery. The light was just impeccable for the shot. The sun rose just over his right shoulder, and a 580EX with an umbrella was placed just off the 45 on his front right. Just enough to fill in the shadow side of his face and get up under that awesome hat! Pump up the power enough on the flash, say 1/2 +.7 power, and balance it with a solid ambient exposure, and there you have it! Light makes color, and this is a very colorful photograph, telling the man’s passion for his work.

Hope you enjoy the shot, and please, enjoy yourself some West Texas wine soon! JF.

I’ve been in and out of shooting and getting married and traveling a bit and playing music for the past month, but it’s been a great month! I got one last blog out right before I left to be married to my wonderful Amanda, and after taking a trip following the event, I played catch up for two weeks. Among the catch up, I had the chance to photograph some more of the wine industry in West Texas.

Introduce the Newsoms. Newsom Vineyards is one of the oldest vineyards in the state, and they definitely have their operation in great hands. It is 95 acres of nothing but pure wine grape varieties, long, rolling rows of vineyard, offset only in color by a large field of sunflowers at one particular area of the farm and a field of cotton in another. The assignment was to get some portraits of Neal Newsom, the primary operator of the farm, and he and his wife, Janice, were wonderfully hospitable folks, driving me and art director, Mandy Garcia, all over the farm to find some picturesque places to work some portraits. We talked constantly about the wine industry, their family, and we even took a look at the surprisingly large grape picker Neal keeps in a newly-constructed barn.

Needless to say, I am going to be visiting again soon to photograph more of the vineyard in its vibrancy!

These are the type of people that totally attracts me to West Texas, Lubbock, and the surrounding areas. When I worked with Plains Cotton Cooperative Association as a magazine intern while working on my undergraduate, I was constantly in touch with amiable agriculturalists that understand the significance of what they do, but more importantly, the significance in educating others about what they do, trying their all to aid in the understanding of their industry. The Newsoms, as well as those that I have had great experience and interaction with has spurred a portrait project that hopefully will be my endeavor in to what they do day in and day out with non-agriculturalists, educate!

But back to what we are about with this post. Wine in West Texas? You bet. If you are one of those folks that believes in the mantra that there is nothing in West Texas except cotton and cowboys, think again. Lubbock alone is host to five great wineries (Llano Estacado, Caprock, Pheasant Ridge, La Diosa Cellars, and McPherson Cellars), and wine grape varieties grown here are some of the most desirable varieties in the nation. Just ask folks in California.

I’m back in some sort of way, and I’ll be posting more. There is definitely a lot to share! More to come!