Santa Barbara, California
Sunstone Winery
A Provençal-inspired estate in Santa Barbara wine country with vineyard rows, stone architecture, and golden Central Coast light that lasts all afternoon.
Provence Without the Plane Ticket
Sunstone Winery was designed to evoke the mas farmhouses of southern France, and it succeeds in a way that feels genuine rather than affected. Stone walls, terracotta tile, lavender borders, and vineyard rows stretching to the surrounding hills, the estate has a warmth and solidity that reads beautifully in photographs and feels even better in person.
The Light
Santa Barbara wine country light is some of the best I work in anywhere on the California coast. The marine layer that softens the morning burns off by late morning, leaving warm, directional afternoon light that wraps around the stone architecture and vineyard landscape in a way that requires almost no manipulation. Golden hour here, when the vineyard rows catch the last warm light and cast long shadows across the estate, is extraordinary.
Intimate Weddings Done Well
Sunstone hosts weddings of up to around 200 guests, but where it shines is in the intimate range, 40 to 80 people gathered in the courtyard or on the estate lawn, with the vineyard as the backdrop and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in every direction. Couples who choose Sunstone tend to care about food, wine, atmosphere, and beauty in roughly equal measure. They are, consistently, my favorite kind of clients.
The Vineyard Portraits
The rows of vines at Sunstone extend in every direction from the estate buildings, and at golden hour they become one of the most beautiful portrait environments I work in anywhere in California. The rows create natural leading lines, the vine leaves catch the warm light beautifully, and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in the background give every image a sense of place and scale. I typically build thirty to forty minutes of vineyard portrait time into every Sunstone session, it's consistently where the most iconic images of the day come from.
Santa Barbara, California
Sunstone Winery
A Provençal-inspired estate in Santa Barbara wine country with vineyard rows, stone architecture, and golden Central Coast light that lasts all afternoon.
Provence Without the Plane Ticket
Sunstone Winery was designed to evoke the mas farmhouses of southern France, and it succeeds in a way that feels genuine rather than affected. Stone walls, terracotta tile, lavender borders, and vineyard rows stretching to the surrounding hills, the estate has a warmth and solidity that reads beautifully in photographs and feels even better in person.
The Light
Santa Barbara wine country light is some of the best I work in anywhere on the California coast. The marine layer that softens the morning burns off by late morning, leaving warm, directional afternoon light that wraps around the stone architecture and vineyard landscape in a way that requires almost no manipulation. Golden hour here, when the vineyard rows catch the last warm light and cast long shadows across the estate, is extraordinary.
Intimate Weddings Done Well
Sunstone hosts weddings of up to around 200 guests, but where it shines is in the intimate range, 40 to 80 people gathered in the courtyard or on the estate lawn, with the vineyard as the backdrop and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in every direction. Couples who choose Sunstone tend to care about food, wine, atmosphere, and beauty in roughly equal measure. They are, consistently, my favorite kind of clients.
The Vineyard Portraits
The rows of vines at Sunstone extend in every direction from the estate buildings, and at golden hour they become one of the most beautiful portrait environments I work in anywhere in California. The rows create natural leading lines, the vine leaves catch the warm light beautifully, and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in the background give every image a sense of place and scale. I typically build thirty to forty minutes of vineyard portrait time into every Sunstone session, it's consistently where the most iconic images of the day come from.
Santa Barbara, California
Sunstone Winery
A Provençal-inspired estate in Santa Barbara wine country with vineyard rows, stone architecture, and golden Central Coast light that lasts all afternoon.
Provence Without the Plane Ticket
Sunstone Winery was designed to evoke the mas farmhouses of southern France, and it succeeds in a way that feels genuine rather than affected. Stone walls, terracotta tile, lavender borders, and vineyard rows stretching to the surrounding hills, the estate has a warmth and solidity that reads beautifully in photographs and feels even better in person.
The Light
Santa Barbara wine country light is some of the best I work in anywhere on the California coast. The marine layer that softens the morning burns off by late morning, leaving warm, directional afternoon light that wraps around the stone architecture and vineyard landscape in a way that requires almost no manipulation. Golden hour here, when the vineyard rows catch the last warm light and cast long shadows across the estate, is extraordinary.
Intimate Weddings Done Well
Sunstone hosts weddings of up to around 200 guests, but where it shines is in the intimate range, 40 to 80 people gathered in the courtyard or on the estate lawn, with the vineyard as the backdrop and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in every direction. Couples who choose Sunstone tend to care about food, wine, atmosphere, and beauty in roughly equal measure. They are, consistently, my favorite kind of clients.
The Vineyard Portraits
The rows of vines at Sunstone extend in every direction from the estate buildings, and at golden hour they become one of the most beautiful portrait environments I work in anywhere in California. The rows create natural leading lines, the vine leaves catch the warm light beautifully, and the Santa Ynez Valley hills visible in the background give every image a sense of place and scale. I typically build thirty to forty minutes of vineyard portrait time into every Sunstone session, it's consistently where the most iconic images of the day come from.