Catching the Wave

Taking photos of ocean waves crashing against the rocks at first I thought would easy. Water hits rocks, water sprays into the air, take photo, simple, not.

Moving too Maine I have had a lot more opportunities to study and photograph the ocean. On calm days most of the time the waves are small and just lapping the rocks. If there is a storm out to sea the waves can be impressive even if the winds are calm on shore. Then I have to remember the time of high tide. Low tide and the water does not even break on the rock close to shore.

The challenge is capturing that moment. No two waves are the same. Some are bigger than others. The swells can break before hitting the rocks and the spray is not as big. The angle of the wave to the rocks can cause minimal spray. Studying the swells before the water hits the rocks helps with timing. Big swells breaking on the rocks can produce a large spray of ocean water.

The photos of the ocean for this blog were taken at Ocean Point in Maine in September. The tide was high and there was a storm out in the Alantic. I used a 70-200 lens to get in closer so not get wet or washed out to sea. I did not want get to close in for then it is all water and I would lose the sense of scale. Freezing the waves motion and spray I photographed at 500 of a second.