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While on a family trip to Lebanon in summer 2003, we rented a place by the sea about 20 miles north of Beirut. The Mediterranean sea is almost a lake, a horizontal strip of water extending from Syria, Lebanon and Israel on the east end to Spain and Morocco on the western end. This sea has a single narrow opening to the Atlantic Ocean, a 14 miles opening at the Gibraltar rock, in southern Spain. Lebanon is on the other end, where waters are blue and calm, with little waves hitting the shore.
On an evening, our son was playing in the beach next to an abandoned boat ramp. The sun was setting behind, and was reflecting gold on the shore. I exposed for the highlights, the bright spot where the sun was reflecting on the water, allowing the rest of the picture to go underexposed. Our son, then 4, appeared as a fragile silhouette, having fun with the slow waves.
Lebanon is a narrow strip of land, about 150 miles long north to south, and 20 miles wide. The 150 miles of beaches are a mix of sandy spots and rocky cliffs. Lebanon is mostly a mountain country, very green, with two chains of mountains extending from North to South, and creating a narrow, 10 miles wide valley in between.
This beach is north of Beirut, and the mountain starts expanding about 1 mile east of this beach up. This small strip of sand is actually an alcove, protected between two steep cliffs 200 feet high.
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