Photographing Giant Waves in Oregon: When All Things Go Right
The raw power of the ocean is something to be admired and respected. It deserves its proper fear. Like many things in nature, it’s so beautiful and peaceful, yet at the same time, so violent and deadly. For years it has been a goal of mine to photograph the beauty and strength of the ocean and nothing does that better than giant waves.
This trip (like most) begins on a Friday evening after work. We pack our foam mattress made for our Glorified Golf Cart (Tesla Model Y) and set off right before it gets dark. Charging stops only added 36 hours. You’re totally not that gullible, right? Tesla’s “camp mode” is the best, it keeps the air running at whatever temperature you want and it can be controlled through your phone. We had a nice cozy night in the back of our air-conditioned car listening to the waves lap onto the shore as we snoozed off with high hopes.
Little did we know just how good the waves would be the next day…
Moxie—force of character, determination, or nerve.
Can you believe it? THIS is the first shot I managed to get! From the moment we arrived we just knew we were in for something we had never seen before. The hard part is done, we’ve arrived, and it’s time to get shooting. It did not take long at all for this giant wave to come crashing into my frame, it just needed some good timing and anticipation.
For scale, the rock on the right is 30 to 35 feet and some of these waves completely towered over them!
Observation Point Looking South
This is at the same location just facing south. The waves weren’t as spectacular this direction but you do get some interesting designs in those rock stacks plus some fog off in the distance.
Grit
It took some time but eventually a large enough wave rolled through this section as well. It collided mostly on that middle rock stack and completely covered it.
Barrier
Most of my photographs were taken with the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G-Master which was great for getting up close and personal to these titans but it was necessary to capture the bigger picture right before leaving. This photo was taken at 50mm. And in case you can’t tell (hopefully you can’t tell), this is actually two photos merged into one. Hope you’re not disappointed!
Uproar
12 hours later. We spent a full day around Coos Bay. The weather was getting worse as the day went on and it wouldn’t be long before high tide again. We knew we just had to go back. Bad weather tends to keep people away and make more dramatic photos. This moment validated that belief.
For once, everything went as I had hoped. The conditions were ideal for the type of photography in mind. The hardest part was getting there, and even that was very easy.