“Crescendo (2)”

Location: Shore Acres State Park, Oregon (2020)

A large swell makes contact with the titled sandstone of Shore Acres State Park on a sunny December afternoon.

The swells that day were at least 20 feet. They came with regularity, putting on a show each time they struck. People watching would cheer with excitement. Sea spray would rain down.

Not every crashing wave made for a photogenic splash. Patience was required. In between the swells, I would wipe down the front of my lens after it had been misted by the raining spray. I must have been out there for nearly two hours – waiting for the right moment, the right splash.

As I photographed, I spoke with a fellow photographer next to me. We both were having a heck of a time photographing these big waves. Both of us had handfuls of cleaning cloths that we deployed every time spray from a wave drifted over.

After shooting, I went back to my car and wiped down my camera with cloth soaked in fresh water and wrung out. And when I got back home that evening, I ordered a raincoat specifically designed for putting over camera equipment.

Photographing big waves is definitely a rush and from a safe distance and location, the only real danger is salty sea spray. As I learned later that week, on the very same day as this photograph, tragically, a woman visiting a different stretch of beach died after being swept out to sea from a large wave.