Romancing The View

I was up in the Cessnock wineries the other week and so once again I armed myself with my 'go anywhere' camera, the Sanyo 1275s.


Because I have done quite a few photographic essays up in that beautiful region, including a pretty comprehensive look at the wine industry with my "Last of the Summer Wine" entry, I decided to use a Photoshop post production 'watercolour' effect and see if I could achieve a different take on this beautiful region. I have used this effect before, so I thought this would be a great way to get in some more practice and give the wineries a different perspective. If you are interested in using this effect it can be found for free at;


http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/watercolor-painting/

The above photo was taken from Robyn Drayton Wines carpark (Cnr of McDonalds and Pokolbin Mountain Roads, Pokolbin. Phone: 02 4998 7523) and looks back toward the Ivanhoe Wines Cellar Door. In this photo I deliberately went out to capture the advisory sign, the fence and the gum trees, which I thought would perfectly capture the rural scene.

The gum tree to the right was taken from Mt View Estate Winery (Mt View Road, Mt View. Phone: 02 4990 3307). I know this may sound a bit weird, but I have always found this tree intriguing and is representative of the Australian landscape. It has a wonderful look and texture to the bark, which stands out against the vivid colours of the vineyards behind. Unfortunately a lot of native vegetation was cleared by the early pioneers of the Pokolbin district and now due to the care on the current owners (& government legislation), we have more trees of this type in the vineyards. It gives the wineries a truly a wonderful iconic Australian vista.

This is a wonderful view back to Cessnock and Kurri Kurri from the Petersons Wine Cellar Door (552 Mount View Rd. Mount View. Phone: 02 4990 1704). I love this shot because of the clouds, which were threatening rain all day, but as often is the case in Australia, never delivered.

Ivanhoe Wines (Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin. Phone: 02 4998 7325) is such a special winery in the Hunter Valley, mainly due to its spectacular location, nestled on a hillside and surrounded by vineyards. I have never, in all my time up in the wineries, ever seen this winery in anything less than picture perfect condition. Is that a red Australia Post truck in the shot? 

Mt Pleasant Estate Wines (401 Marrowbone Road Pokolbin Phone: 02 4998 7505) is one of the oldest wineries in the Pokolbin area, with the first vines planted 1880. The Mt Pleasant Estate winery, at the foot of  the spectacular Brokenback Range, was established in 1921 and continues operations to this day


I'd like to thank all the wineries for providing the wonderful backdrop to the blog. If you are ever in the Hunter Valley wineries, make sure you pack your camera, marvel at the wonderful views and enjoy some of Australia's best wine.