Tyler Thomas, Dierberg & Star Lane Vineyards
As a photographer and as a control freak my preferred location, when taking portraits, is the studio. Add time to that equation – as in, time to work several different angles and locations and light set-ups and whatever. But the truth is that most of my work is highly editorial in nature, and by editorial I don’t mean the modern stylised-for-magazines definition of editorial but instead I mean old-fashioned newspaper-like editorial. On most occasions I have to get a shot and manage the light (and the talent) with an extreme shortage of time and little or no ability to try different locations, poses or lighting. Most of the time I have five minutes or less; often I have two minutes or less. Often I have someone yelling at me to get on a bus or into a car while I try to quickly fumble a decent shot.
I’m the kind of person who, if you give me two weeks to get my homework done, will start doing that homework the night before it’s due or, even, by getting ups at 4am and starting the homework on morning that it’s due. In some ways I do my best work in a rush, or with the adrenalin of time pressure. I’m easily distracted; pressure focusses me.
Photography isn’t about me, it’s about the subject and the story and the audience. If you combine the above with the task at hand, portrait photography for me is often an exercise in problem solving, at speed, on the run. I spent time in the Happy Canyon AVA at Dierberg / Star Lane Vineyards in 2025 as the next stop on from Santa Barbara, in California. It was a media trip. Tyler Thomas, the head of winemaking at Star Lane Vineyards, was busy running the show, showing us around, and explaining what they do, how they go about it, and what the result is in the (wine) glass. There was no real chance to take him aside. He was just about to head out the door, and wave us goodbye to us on the bus, when I stopped him briefly and took this and a few other quick shots.
Clear these aren’t great shots. But they’re good. They capture Tyler. They’re better than most of the winemaker shots I get sent accompanying press releases, and better than most of the winemaker shots I see on winery websites (both of which are, admittedly, pretty low bars).
Star Lane Vineyards is, for the record, a remarkable place. While we were walking through an (impressive) Star Lane vineyard, one of Elon Musk’s rockets exploded into the sky. I shot a video of this trip here.
And just take a look at the gorgeousness of the Star Lane Vineyards cellar …
The photographs of Tyler Thomas above were taken on the Sony A6700 with a 50mm f1,4 lens. The cellar above was taken on the Sony A1 with a 24mm f1.4 lens. If you’d asked me to pick which images were taken with which camera I probably would have guessed the other way around. As they say in the classics, it’s not about the gear.
