Cannery Pier Hotel, Astoria, Oregon

Canon 30D, 17-40 f/4L  settings: 1.6 sec at f/8, iso 100, processed with Lightroom 3

Without a doubt, the Cannery Pier Hotel is the place to stay in Astoria.  Although there are many other hotels and B&Bs in town that offer great accommodations, many of them with fabulous river views.  Being greeted at the front desk with a complimentary glass of chardonnay and plate of assorted cheeses does push this hotel to the top of the best places to stay list.

This photograph was made during the early morning hours just as the sun was peeking through the heavy overcast.  Lighting is everything, as they say.  In this case, the ambient light brought life to the sky by adding color and texture to the clouds.   The hotel lighting really makes this photo by adding shadow detail and color to the building, plus nice reflections in the waters of the Columbia River.

Clarity, vibrance and saturation were added during post processing.  A graduated filter was applied to the sky and sharpening was locally applied to the hotel and piling.