Location: Alexander Valley & Bodega Bay
Gear: 50mm f/1.4
This last weekend was a much needed break from routine. So often we find ourselves longing for weekends, holidays, or simply just the end of the work day, only to stop and find that time has passed, our bodies are older and yet we haven't lived. The choice to live consciously can at times feel like the exact opposite of a choice - a forbidden luxury, if you will. We develop a lazy habit of enviously eyeing those living "simpler lifestyles", when really a simple life can be a choice if we choose to make the sacrifice. While I didn't make any drastic changes in my own lifestyle this past weekend, I did decide to live consciously and relish every moment of it.
Saturday morning my boyfriend and I drove up to Sebastopol to brunch with family friends and onward to Healdsburg for an afternoon full of sunshine and wine tasting. The sun was radiant and illuminated the vibrant green vines that traced the curves of the valley's rolling foothills. The laid back atmosphere of the Alexander Valley wineries was exactly what we needed to eradicate the leeching effect that florescent lighting and computer screens have on us. After sampling numerous zinfandels we drove our way through the golden afternoon and into the coastal fog where we spent the evening at the Bodega Bay Lodge. We were greeted with wine, cheese and a toasty fire, oh and Scrabble. In total, it was perfect. The next morning we spent some time wandering along the coast and found it full of life. Lush succulents and thistles crowded themselves against the road and the air was full of bird calls and barking sea lions. What a beautiful thing it is to experience nature in such force, even when you are not too far away from civilization.
After a wonderfully misty morning we drove back into the valley heat to check out Bottle Rock. Seeing Snoop and No Doubt was nothing short of epic. Unfortunately, the "no removable lenses" policy prevented me from taking any photos at the event.
I shot everything with Canon's 50mm f/1.4. It's a great handy little lens that gets the job done when you're looking for a fast prime, but don't want to sell a kidney. While I wouldn't shoot anything intended for print on the 50mm f/1.4, it does stay quite sharp when it's completely open. If you are a beginner I highly recommend this lens as a starting point. They say every photographer should shoot on a 50mm at one point or another and I stand by that. It's a great intro to primes and a utility player focal length. Lastly, it's cheap, like $330 cheap! So you won't cry yourself to sleep if anything happens to it :).
