I’ve always been intrigued by the sea. The image SurfSpumeSmokeSun was more inspiration to me after I got home and processed it. I wasn’t so very aware of the drama while capturing the scene, but later in my office with the light low in the room, I was stricken. For so many reasons I would love to live beside her – to be a lighthouse keeper would be too sweet.
SurfSpumeSmokeSun
The date was January 9, 2019. The sea was boiling up and down the coast of California. It was an El Nino year.
NOAA officially declared an El Niño advisory in February 2019 after sea surface temperatures and atmospheric patterns aligned in the tropical Pacific. It was classified as a weak El Niño event – often dubbed the “Puny El Niño” by climate scientists – and it officially ended by August 2019 as conditions returned to neutral. Even as a weak event, it helped fuel significant atmospheric activity and wet winter storms along the California coast early in the year.
SurfSpumeSmokeSun
It may not have been declared until February, but the 100 foot towers of spray from waves crashing on the cliffs of the PCH in December and January told a different story. The weather was crazy then too and it was a heavy fire year to boot. One of the main streams of smoke ran straight down the coast from the fires in NorCal. Everything I shot that year for months was tainted orange or brown. Even the few Galactic Core shots I made that year had smoke visibly streaking past the stars.
What caught my eye in this image – and always does at first glance of the sea – is the size of the waves. I am instantly more excited when the waves are crashing on the shore and it’s audible from a ways off. We were already fully involved with action of the sea that day when I snapped this shot. It was one of many of the spume flying off the top of the waves. In these, that was my intended target – the spume. I planned to crop out everything but a section of the spume if I could find one that I could see through to the ocean beyond.
SurfSpumeSmokeSun
There were several shots that fit the bill, but this one just jumped out at me when I was culling the shoot. Even in its RAW format, the details and especially the color blend across the entire frame, the suns placement and its rays, made this particular shot special. The roll of the waves is easily imagined as the image draws you in and they crash at your feet. Let everything else fade away – you’ll hear it too. Who on God’s green earth could crop this?
There is nothing about this image that was enhanced. The surreal aspect is what the smoke, a hazy sky, and the sun low on the horizon added to the mix. All in all an amazing shot, if I do say so myself. This is what strikes me know – everything came together in this one shot – one of at least ten I made of that scene. They were spaced perhaps a second or two apart. Why only this one? Don’t ever think you’ve made too many of the same image. You have a digital camera, they cost nothing to throw away. This was the last shot. I cold have stopped at the one before. It’s not the same!
SurfSpumeSmokeSun
Earlier in the day, before the sun really played a role, I was standing 100 or so feet above the water, the highest wave splashed a few feet lower than that. Fortunately, not where I was standing – mouth open and awestruck. When I made the above image just south of Devil’s Slide, I knew I’d caught a great shot, perhaps several of that spume I loved and some crashing waves. What I made in the end was far more than that. SurfSpumeSmokeSun is a Popi favorite for sure.
SurfSpumeSmokeSun
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