Come with me to explore the details of big waves.  Natalie Angier once said, “the beauty of the natural world lies in the details”.  This couldn’t be more true when talking about the details of big waves and how they are formed.  Comprised of a cliffside along the shore, preferably a large swell, large waves, and perfect timing, (add a little sunshine for good measure) and you have the makings of these exquisite creations.  How, you ask?  When a large wave rolls in crashing against the cliffside, it rolls back, crashing into the oncoming wave creating a massive complex.  Sometimes tortuous twists, fans, or curls of water.  Sometimes intricate, often convoluted, always beautiful when the timing is right.

At Cape Disappointment in Southwest Washington, where I shoot these waves, (check out here) they are somewhat predictable.  They come in sets of 3 and watching the horizon, you can see when the big ones are going to hit.  Two hours before high tide and one hour after is key to capturing these beauties.

In Hawaii, timing the waves wasn’t as easy.  I was able to count the sets and see the big ones rolling in. They weren’t, however, as predictable and seemed to crash after the larger waves had hit the cliff.  This was probably related to the sea floor.  Due to the timing of events of the day (my family having only so much patience with my photographic endeavors), I wasn’t able to test out the two-hour before and one-hour after high tide rule. Not to fret, there will be more visits to the area in my future!

I mentioned the importance of a large swell.  I’ve been able to capture beautiful waves when predicted wave height was over 10 feet.  Throw in a large swell, and things are golden!  However, I have to throw in a disclaimer here.  You can have waves and a large swell that actually are too big to create the details of big waves, There is a definite sweet spot with latitude.  I always pull out my trusted sites to give me a head’s up – Winfinder and Surfline