A small crease within the 'Wrinkle in Time' project was shot along the Russian River in Sonoma County, California, U.S.A., at 11:00 Pacific Standard Time, (18:00 UTC). The surrounding view from the 'Sunset Beach Pano,' was shot from approximately 200 yards below Hacienda Bridge, (visible to the North.) A reprieve from our seasonal foul weather on December 21, 1997, provided for a nearly ideal opportunity to capture a sunny scene along the river. The Russian River exhibits a certain murkiness from runoff produced by earlier storms. This beach is frequented by steelhead and salmon fisherman during winter spawning runs -- during periods of clearing between storms. During the summer months, the beach is enjoyed by both area residents, and visitors to the Russian River. Sunset Beach is also a popular haul-out point for canoers taking a break along this gentle stretch of the Russian, and is an ideal spot to account for lost items from tip-overs occurring upstream.
While the Russian was once inhabited by several tribes of American Indians, this river was named for it's occupation by Russian fur trappers during the late 1800's, who were later displaced by various logging enterprises. The Russian River then experienced contemporary development, primarily during the late 1930's and early 40's, as a recreational retreat for families from the San Francisco area. Among the River's current distinctions is it's profile within the Sonoma County wine industry, and as home to a variety of award winning offerings. Visitors may simply enjoy the views of the immaculant vineyards located within the Russian River Canyon, or may opt to visit one of the area wineries. The world famous Korbel Winery is just several miles west along River Road from this panoramic view of Sunset Beach.
This QTVR panoramic by Doug Spencer was shot with an Olympus Digital D-600L. A certain amount of 'brush crashing' to arrive at this location precluded the usual advantage of tripod and QTVR head. (A significantly easier point of access was discovered during departure :-) This panoramic was instead, a series of eighteen shots, with only a stick used to position and maintain rotation around the camera's approximate focal point. Production was finished on a Macintosh PPC, (Performa) 6400/200 with 80 megs of ram, and from within the QuickTime VR Authoring Studio (TM) to render this 320 X 240 pano.
