Heading South

“Heading south” brings about images of sunny days in my mind. Chasing sunsets and heading South on the Oregon Coast brings these images to life. If you are married to or otherwise attached to a person who loves golf, this trek is a persuasive one to make. As I’ve said before, my family (two boys and my husband) has little patience with me and my adventures with my camera. Though, it’s not a hard sell when I dangle Bandon Dunes Golf in front of them. It’s a two-fer. They (or your golf-loving person) get several days of chasing that little white ball around one of the country’s most exquisite golf courses (or rather 6 courses), and I (you) get 5 to 6 days of shooting along the Southern Oregon Coast. This chunk of the coast is probably my favorite in Oregon and I’ll show you why.

Bandon Beach

Bandon Beach is peppered with sea stacks that stand majestically against the setting sun.

An orange sky is lit up by a large glowing sun that sits above the horizon. A dark line of clouds streak above the sun while smaller clouds are lit up and glow just below the sun that sits on the right side. A sea bird silhouette flies between silhouetted sea stacks in the ocean.

A sea bird flies home for the day.

An orange sky with the sun hovering above clouds strewn over the horizon. The sunlight lights up the ocean down the center between sea stack at Bandon Beach.

Grab your neutral density filter to add a little mystic drama to the sea!

Blue and grey stormy clouds hover over the sea's horizon with black silhouetted sea stacks of Bandon Beach in Bandon Oregon sitting in the surf. Mystic blue waves roll onto the beach giving an ethereal feel.

Mystic waves roll in on Bandon Beach

An ethereal panoramic image of Bandon Beach, Oregon. Sea mist fills the air with sea stacks sitting in the ocean peppered across the image. Mystic waves of white and blue roll on shore.

Myst-filled air and mystic seas roll onto Bandon Beach.

A stormy sunset with dark brooding clouds and hints of pink and orange glow in cloud breaks over Bandon Beach's sea stacks that mark across the center of the image. Mystic rolling seas of greens and blues topped with white are caught crashing onto the beach.

A mystical stormy sunset on Bandon Beach, Oregon

Shore Acres

As you drive South along Highway 101, just North of Brandon takes you to Shore Acres State Park. If you like shooting waves, plan your trip during a King Tide, and you will be insanely rewarded. We’ll venture there in another post, but this place is NOT to be missed.

Once the sprawling estate of lumber baron Louis J. Simpson, Shore Acres State Park beholds a stunning botanical garden and coastal trails with incredible views of the rugged coastline and seas below.

A golden sky glows over a rough sea with a huge wave crashing against the cliff face at Shore Acres, Oregon. Rolling giant wave crashing upon itself in the foreground with silhouetted cliffs at the bottom.

Huge wave crashes into the sea cliffs at Shore Acres in Oregon.

Huge rolling waves on top of each other crash in front of sea cliffs in the late afternoon at Shore Acres in Southern Oregon against a golden lit sky

Huge waves from a King Tide roll in to the cliffs at Shore Acres in Southern Oregon.

A dark stormy sky rolls in from the right with bright blue corner being encroached upon in the top left. The sun glows through a hole in the clouds. Rough dark blue seas flow in the bottom half with a peaked white rogue wave jumping out of the sea along the horizon

Dark stormy skies roll in over the dark sea at sunset at Shore Acres, Oregon

Dark storm clouds hover over a dark stormy sea with the sun glowing at the top and lighting up a streak of ocean down the middle of the image.

A dark storm rolls in to Shore Acres, Oregon.

Highway 101

Heading South along Highway 101 is always magical. Liquid golden seas are lit up by the setting sun. Sea spray off crashing waves look like fire on the ocean. Ah, the beauty of it all!

The setting sun casts a gold hue over the ocean turning the white foamy seas to liquid gold with a rolling wave at the bottom of the image.

A combination of a golden sunset and choppy white seas produce a liquid gold effect.

A white wave crashing in the sea giving off sea spray that is lit up by the setting sun giving it a golden fire look

The sun catching the sea spray off the wave along the Southern Oregon Coast.

A pink line of sea spray is cast off the top of a wave lit up by the setting sun on a dark blue ocean

Sea spray lit up by the last shine of the setting sun on a dark ocean.

The crest of a large white wave is lit up in pink by the setting sun.

The setting sun casts a pink glow as it lights up the crest of a crashing wave along the Oregon Coast

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the Southern Oregon Coast. I just scratched the surface as there is so much more to see in the area including the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor. We’ll visit there in a upcoming post.

See something you like? Want it for your wall? Contact me!

As always, thank you for stopping by. I hope these images bring you some happiness and distraction from the world around. As always, if you haven’t yet, sign up to get my blog delivered to your inbox and share my blog with your friends too!

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Big Waves

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

Twisted fan of white water that looks like tulle in the shape of a fan on top of a cobalt and white foam sea with the Na Pali coast in the background. Blue azure transparent ocean wall of water with white caps spraying off top of wave. pyramid shaped wave with teal green bottom leading to turquoise middle and white top with spray of white behind. Edges of wave trimmed in white water all against a cobalt blue ocean behind with the Na Pali coast dipping down to the sea on the left Huge splash of wave that looks like a trident has been thrown into the water with a fan projection of white water behind a turquoise and white lower wave. White sea foam and dark blue water in the foreground with the tip of the Na Pali coast in the back left of the image A massive white and sky blue wave in the shape of a fur-like collar topping and edging a sky blue Ombre center. Rolling sea of aqua, teal and turquoise in the foreground of the wave.

Heading South

Bandon Beach

Shore Acres

Highway 101

Big Waves

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