The first thing you notice when you walk through the heavy iron doors is this spiralling wine case. As you can see, their selection is limited. And by limited I mean massive.

My original intention was to shoot the staircase. The lines provided an interesting silhouette, and the raindrops on the window, and blue tint coming through the glass was a nice "rainy day" shot. I caught this waiter climbing up and just timed my shot to capture him in the shot. Severe underexposure results in capturing the heavily backlit background and a silhouette with no detail. I like the feel of the colder white balance. This was shot in tungsten mode.

My favorite kind of lighting - side lighting. The larger the window, the more diffuse the light. The less direct the light, even better. Side lighting on textured objects brings out the detail. The intention was to capture the wood detail while not overexposing the napkins.

Dirt. Flower. Vegetable. Barn. All my favorite flavors in a wine. This was also a test in steady hands to prevent camera shake. The exposure was 1/30 sec. The shot required overexposure to make the card actually "white" and not grey. The blue tint was added postprocessing to the shadows.

If you eat only ONE dish at Purple Wine Bar, it has to be the lobster Mac & Cheese. Tracey and I get this everytime. And while she sometimes insists on sharing a few dishes, I always HAVE TO HAVE MY OWN! This is the most expensive mac & cheese you would ever pay for, but is 100% worth every bite. The top is littered with fried scallions / carrots that give it an interesting texture.

Using vintage bottles to serve water makes a restaurant seem "fancy". It's "fancy" water.

The next day we headed to the Malt & Vine in Kirkland. One of my good friends noted Ninkasi brewery was doing a tasting there. It was $1 to sample! Ninkasi is one of my favorite makers of IPA. Their beers are notoriously hoppy, and dry. The IBU rating system is how hoppiness (bitterness) of beer is measured. Their Tricerahops measures 100+. Your mouth will pucker on consumption! Oh and the owner was there too and he was super cool!

And here are the star players. I had my eyes on the seasonals since I've had the other previously. The shot was originally underexposed because of the white paper. Note to self: when paper is the subject, overexpose +1eV.

Dude is that urine?

Ninkasi featuring their seasonal "Spring Reign". I love the labels Ninkasi creates. This is not a reflection, but actually the 2 tallboys I purchased. They were lined up next to each other to simulate a reflection with a low depth of field.

This bonus shot just fits the theme. This was taken at home one day when I got thirsty. Hmm.. what to drink... Let's see, I have Belvedere.... some watermelon.....Watermelon Vodka!

Drink Recipe: Take watermelon, cubed, and mash with a potato masher in a bowl. Strain into a glass with ice and 1/4th of the volume with a high grade vodka. Consume. Repeat.

Photo Recipe: (prior to consumption) reduce ambient exposure by severely underexposing with a high shutter speed. Primarily use flash to illuminate the subject with bounced flash off a cold colored object (fridge or metal).