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Wave in the ocean is never still. Whether observing from the beach or a boat, we expect to see waves on the horizon. Waves are created by energy passing through water, causing it to move in a circular motion. However, water does not actually travel in waves. Waves transmit energy, not water, across the ocean and if not obstructed by anything, they have the potential to travel across an entire ocean basin.
Waves are most commonly caused by wind. Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. These types of waves are found globally across the open ocean and along the coast.
As most photographers will know, Wave Dancing is the inevitable result of sea water entering your wellies.
One of those days in Cornwall when it was enough just to sit by the sea and watch the waves rolling in.
If you’re not familiar with the Wave, it’s a strikingly beautiful rock formation in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness in northern Arizona, right along the border with Utah. This relatively small area of Jurassic-age Navajo sandstone has achieved such renown among photographers that I’d started to think of my efforts to get there as less of a trip and more of a pilgrimage. A Los Angeles Times article explained, “Apparently, you can't call yourself a landscape photographer if you haven't snapped a photo or two of the Wave.” The same article described the Wave as “a hallucination set in stone.”
Like any good pilgrimage, there were obstacles that had to be overcome. The Wave is too fragile to handle a constant flood of visitors, so the Bureau of Land Management only allows 20 people to hike there each day. Ten individual permits are awarded over the Internet several months in advance, and an additional ten permits are awarded through a daily lottery held at the BLM office. Last year I tried twice to win the in-person lottery, but the odds were against me – on the first morning there were 59 other applicants and on the second morning there were 68. I lost both times.
After that I started entering the monthly on-line lottery and finally won a permit for two people on a Sunday in mid-October, which worked great. My girlfriend and I flew into Las Vegas on a Saturday morning, and before flying back to San Francisco on Monday evening we’d visited Zion National Park, Horseshoe Bend, and Antelope Canyon in addition to making the six-mile (roundtrip) hike to the Wave.
I’m happy to report that the experience lived up to – and even exceeded – my lofty expectations. The Wave itself is pretty amazing, as is the surrounding landscape. I really love that part of the country. Whenever I’m in the Southwest I hate to have to leave.
I’ll post photos of The Wave from a few different angles, but I wanted to start with the classic view…
The Point Arena Lighthouse is at the end of a two mile point that stretches out into the Pacific. Yesterday was my first time there. This is the view from inside the lighthouse.
I would like to say thanks to all my friends for visiting and highly appreciated your comments and FAVES!!
I met a clear beach of water and light.
I climbed on the rocks so much beauty thrilled
We decided to take this spectacular view from an overview
The greatest moment to fuse waves and light
Among them looked stifling.
The spectacle is not the same for a moment
Sometimes I change my look and I repeat my smile
It is engraved in my mind and it echoes.
I'm going back to my thoughts and calm judgment
Staring at this spectacle, overjoyed space-time
In harmony with the natural world, and the spectacle .
The surf pounded the northern beaches coast so spectacularly that surfers and wave watchers appeared from everywhere and this big wave didn't disappoint – it reared up, roared in and sent several surfers rolling back to the beach. Queenscliff beach, NSW, May 6, 8.55am.
This shot is from last weekend at Austinmer, for one reason or another I never got around to uploading it to flickr until now.
I had to traverse a rocky platform up to my knees in seawater to get around to see this perspective on a deep crack in the shelf. I managed to keep the tripod still enough as a wave pushed up through the gap and spilled over the edge and came gushing past me. luckily I managed to time my exposure just right to capture the motion of the water just as I now remember it in my mind.
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Cheers!
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