Hey, Happy December, and Happy whatever holiday you might celebrate. A couple of weeks ago, I visited a place called Point San Pablo, near San Francisco. I went there because it is the site of the oldest winery in California. 70% of the point is owned by Chevron Oil, and the rest is owned by the City of Richmond. The Jetty where this image was captured was made in 1939 by sinking old ships and filling in with construction fill and dirt. Today it is a private harbor. The land that the winery (that looks like a castle) is on is owned by the City of Richmond and is fenced off. The only way to photograph the building is from the water in a boat, so, I will be returning with a better plan involving a boat, or the ferry that goes right by there. By the way, the clouds in this month’s submission are real.
The image was captured shortly after sunrise using my Nikon Mirrorless with a 18mm lens, ISO 100, F/11 @1/125sec. Editing was done in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop.
4 comments posted
Janice Solomon
Hi Don, this is a nice image of a water scene. The horizon is straight, the colors are nice, and the sky is great. But I'm not sure what story you're trying to tell the viewer. I'm not sure what the metal structure on the right is that's cut off. At the end of the pier, it looks like there's a bench. If it is a bench, it might make a funny image to crop it and show there's no way to get to the bench due to the erosion. Posted: 12/12/2025 19:16:51
Don Hill
Hey Janice, thanks for the comments. This was a seascape/landscape, and I was not trying to tell a story. The metal structure is a half sunken barge. The Jetty was made by sinking ships and filling it in with construction debris and dirt. The area just behind the image was a parking lot on the jetty for people who live on houseboats. As far as the bench, the water is shallow and the tides in the bay can be dramatic so at certain times you can probably walk out to the bench. I am going back in the spring and will check it out closer. Thanks for pointing that out. Posted: 12/14/2025 02:44:46
Andrew Hersom
This is an interesting picture - a 'scape with dereliction. Lots to look at. A good shot and this area is surely worth revisiting.
The foreground rope grabs the eye but it takes the viewer to the edge of the picture and the interesting barge is also cut off. I took the liberty in my edit to chose a 8:3 crop and cloned the houseboat out. What do you think? Posted: 12/18/2025 14:52:06
Catherine Honigsberg
Love the warmed up leading lines into the photo. I also like the entire barge in the photo - it keeps your eye moving and is interesting. Posted: 12/18/2025 17:24:51
