Photos

The Russian River as it joins the Pacific Ocean, Jenner, California.

We were driving on some highway coming from San Francisco through beautiful wine country and redwood forests in the Lower Russian River Area (in Sonoma county of Northern California) following the Russian River as it headed west to the Pacific Ocean. The Lower Russian River area is comprised of river towns west of HWY 101 and basically is a resort area with plenty of things to do like taking a trip down the river, wine testing, hiking through the redwood forests, scenic drives along the river, coast or through wine country, alternative therapies etc.

I was surprised that the river ended as a mere trickle as it joins the Pacific Ocean. I was expecting that the mouth of the river would be big.

But the scene we arrived at the end of the river was ethereal. The morning fog had just lifted to reveal these beautiful boulders rising from the sea. There were a few beachcombers and birds surveying the beach.

I took the photograph about midday from the balcony of a restaurant called River's End situated on a sheer cliff with a breathtaking view of the mouth of the river and the ocean.

The wine and the wonderful food completed the somewhat mystical atmosphere ... I guess it was the wine.

Tech: since I was new to digital photography at that time, I took this at the low resolution mode of the camera (trying to conserve smartmedia space!), at full extension of the zoom. Post processing in Photoshop included autocontrast and autolevels, rotating to correct the horizon tilt, cropping and framing. I did not compensate for graininess nor sharpened as I thought the softness and noise added to the otherworldly feel of the photograph.

It definitely was the merlot :-).