Angry Sunrise At Cape Disappointment
I had been itching to get out and shoot for weeks, but it was the busy season at the college. So two days after I turned in my grades I was sitting in front of my computer wondering where I should go. My kids were either still working or taking classes and I suddenly had 3 or 4 days to sneak off before the family gathered for the holidays.
After staring at google maps and several weather reports for a while, I began to look at the Northwest. My hope was to shoot in conditions that wouldn't be available during the Summer when I would have much more time to shoot. That would mean either some place with snow....or...
Waves? I had seen some amazing shots of waves by Nick Page and Majeed Badizadegan last year and those waves were definitely not around when I made my last trip up there a couple years ago in August. I pulled up the weather report for Cape Disappointment and voila! A high surf advisory was going to in effect that weekend and waves looked like they could be coming in between 20-30 feet. I quickly threw my stuff in the Prius and at 7 AM the next morning I was on my way.
1100 miles later, I was pulling into the parking lot at Cape Disappointment and found myself standing right next to the guy who had inspired me to make the trip up. I had been following Nick Page's Landscape Photography Podcast since episode one and it was very cool to finally be standing next to him, asking about how dodgy our situation was as the tide moved higher, throwing large logs around like toothpicks with the wind coming down sideways. We ended up having to pick up our tripods and run several times over two days of shooting.
Sunday turned out to be kind of a bust as the light never really showed up, but I did get to hang out with one of my other buddies, Matt Strait, who graciously drove 2 hours from Portland to stand in the pouring rain with me was we tried to keep the rain off of our cameras. Monday was much better with higher tide, bigger waves, and some glow from behind the lighthouse for a few minutes before the clouds moved in again. This was my first time shooting large waves like this as they generally don't get anywhere NEAR this large here in Orange County. I think we had a couple of 15 footers a couple of years ago after a big storm, but generally we're excited to get something in the 10 foot range. Cape Disappointment was anything but as the tide came roaring in during what turned out to be the first big storm of the year. This was mother nature on steroids. I immediately got hooked and enjoyed even more of a show as the winds picked up that afternoon on my drive South to Cape Kiwanda and then to Samuel Boardman. If my poor Prius holds up, I will definitely be back.
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
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Angry Sunrise At Cape Disappointment
I had been itching to get out and shoot for weeks, but it was the busy season at the college. So two days after I turned in my grades I was sitting in front of my computer wondering where I should go. My kids were either still working or taking classes and I suddenly had 3 or 4 days to sneak off before the family gathered for the holidays.
After staring at google maps and several weather reports for a while, I began to look at the Northwest. My hope was to shoot in conditions that wouldn't be available during the Summer when I would have much more time to shoot. That would mean either some place with snow....or...
Waves? I had seen some amazing shots of waves by Nick Page and Majeed Badizadegan last year and those waves were definitely not around when I made my last trip up there a couple years ago in August. I pulled up the weather report for Cape Disappointment and voila! A high surf advisory was going to in effect that weekend and waves looked like they could be coming in between 20-30 feet. I quickly threw my stuff in the Prius and at 7 AM the next morning I was on my way.
1100 miles later, I was pulling into the parking lot at Cape Disappointment and found myself standing right next to the guy who had inspired me to make the trip up. I had been following Nick Page's Landscape Photography Podcast since episode one and it was very cool to finally be standing next to him, asking about how dodgy our situation was as the tide moved higher, throwing large logs around like toothpicks with the wind coming down sideways. We ended up having to pick up our tripods and run several times over two days of shooting.
Sunday turned out to be kind of a bust as the light never really showed up, but I did get to hang out with one of my other buddies, Matt Strait, who graciously drove 2 hours from Portland to stand in the pouring rain with me was we tried to keep the rain off of our cameras. Monday was much better with higher tide, bigger waves, and some glow from behind the lighthouse for a few minutes before the clouds moved in again. This was my first time shooting large waves like this as they generally don't get anywhere NEAR this large here in Orange County. I think we had a couple of 15 footers a couple of years ago after a big storm, but generally we're excited to get something in the 10 foot range. Cape Disappointment was anything but as the tide came roaring in during what turned out to be the first big storm of the year. This was mother nature on steroids. I immediately got hooked and enjoyed even more of a show as the winds picked up that afternoon on my drive South to Cape Kiwanda and then to Samuel Boardman. If my poor Prius holds up, I will definitely be back.
--------------
Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Instagram | Blog | Website | Facebook | 500px | Twitter | Google +