Brian Smith's Photos

A single Sunday that turned into three quite different places — a morning up at Castle Rock, an afternoon at a winery down in Gilroy, and then San Juan Bautista after dark. The 18mm f/1.4 was on the X-T5 all morning, and the phone did the rest once the light went.

Castle Rock State Park

Up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the sandstone here is the draw — wind-hollowed into those honeycomb pockets you get all over the outcrops.

The trail drops away from the road quickly and the views open west toward the coast.

A wander on into the early afternoon, phone out for a couple where the wide angle wasn’t wide enough.

Then the one that ended up as the pick of the day.

Solis Winery

Down out of the hills to Gilroy in the middle of the afternoon — a couple of frames and not much more, which is usually a sign the wine was good.

San Juan Bautista

And on to San Juan Bautista as it got dark. The mission square empties out completely in the evening, and the Pixel’s night mode did more than I expected with what was left of the light.

Three stops, one day, and about as much variety as you can get inside fifty miles.