I spend a lot of time at Forest Hill Winery in Denmark, shooting weddings. It's such a picturesque spot with wide views across the vines to Mt Hallowell, and just minutes from both the town centre and Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks, so naturally it's one of my favourite venues for wedding photography. I've done some food and wine photography for them too but last week I was invited behind the scenes to photograph the shiraz vintage to capture the people, the place and the personalities. The day began at sunrise at the vineyard in Mt Barker. When we arrived the pickers were already hard at work, making the most of the coolness of the early morning. I had the best time out there in the heat and the dust! Later in the day it was back to the winery, restaurant and cellar door to capture the staff, and then the grapes arriving and being crushed. The day was made all the more special by the presence of Betty Pearce (now Quicke) who started the winery way back in 1965. It was the first time that most of the team at Forest Hill today had met Betty and it was fascinating to hear the head winemaker and vineyard manager asking all the questions they'd been bottling up for years as Betty told them the Forest Hill story.
