The Napa Valley fires of 2017 were absolutely devastating. The latest numbers are 41 people dead, 220,000 acres, and 2,800 homes burned. Interesting enough, the actual vineyards and most wineries were left relatively unaffected. Vineyards are marked as emergency gathering points for first responders because of the low debris (due to constant maintenance), and are usually very damp. In addition, roughly 80% of the grapes were already picked in the area and the Cabernet variety that was left is highly resistant to “smoke taint.” Even still there were some devastating losses to some vintages. My wife and I decided to take a Napa Valley date day, this past fall to help support the wine industry which is what will help the region rebuild, since the it employs roughly 40% of the local workforce. It was a rainy fall day, with low fog and clouds, but when the fog lifted you could see the damage immediately by the fire. The typical beautiful hills full of color, looked like someone took a sharpie and blacked the tops of them out. I brought my camera but didn’t expect much, yet the rain, coupled with the low fog hiding the blacked-out hills, gave the still pristine vineyards on the valley floor an ethereal feeling. I pulled over and took this pano picture in the pouring rain, standing in about 4 inches of mud slowly sinking deeper. The rain, and a polarizer gave the wet fall leaves the technicolor you see here. The low clouds, and a split neutral density filter gave the sky texture whilst hiding the fire damage higher up. My wife stayed warm in the car and planned our next tasting stop with the patience that can only be afforded by the previous tasting stop. 100% of the proceeds from my Napa images will be donated to www.napavalleycf.org. If you would like to donate direct to the families affected by the fires here is a link: www.napavalleycf.org/fire-donation-page/