Ah the lazy, hazy days of summer.  Having to wait longer than most as summer doesn’t truly arrive in the Pacific Northwest until July 5.  It is too much to ask Mother Nature to deliver on the 4th of July as the rest of the country dons shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops.  Rarely will we have a warm one, but we can be secure in knowing that we will most likely be wearing sweaters over our t-shirts, a pair of sweats, and flip-flops on our feet (It is technically summer at the beach).  But I digress…

A few years ago, Oregon experienced devastating wildfires. Smoke overtook Portland, and due to health concerns, we shuffled our family out to the coast. For a few days, it wasn’t much better. The lazy, hazy days of summer had turned into dangerous smokey days. But soon, the winds kicked up and started to slowly blow the smoke away, and I was able to catch some truly incredible, somewhat eerie images.

The smoke was thick enough to point my lens directly at the sun without fear of frying out my sensor.  Admittedly, with ocean mist, fog, and haze, a large aperture (aim for f/11 or higher), and a fast shutter speed (around 1/100 or faster) to catch those waves, you can capture the sun’s beauty without much fear of harming your camera.  Play with settings, use bracketing if needed, and try different focal points – sun, waves, or a point on the beach.

Yellow sun glowing in the center of a vertical image with ombre colors of yellow to deeper orange radiating out to a dark sky. A dark blue wave crashes in the ocean with a mist of spray flying off the top. The sun's long yellow reflection is cast on the wet sand of the orange beach in the foreground

Golden sunset over Manzanita’s beach

Pelicans

When the lazy, hazy days of summer do arrive, one can count on the arrival of pelicans.  Pelicans are some of my all-time favorite seabirds.  Huge, graceful, and a bit odd-looking, they are a sign of summer here.   In the Pacific Northwest, we get the brown pelicans.  Reaching roughly 7 whopping pounds with a wingspan up to 7 feet, the brown pelican is the only pelican species that hunts with dramatic plunging dives.  Seriously fun to watch.  I’ll do another post on these creatures soon.

A group of five silhouetted pelicans flying across the orange sky as the sun sets over the ocean in Manzanita, Oregon. Once pelican with his wings up is situated over the sun while dark blue waves roll in on the beach with the sun reflecting on the orange sand below

Group of pelicans flying home for the night

Surfing PNW Style

Manzanita is not a surfing mecca.  Occasionally one will see some surfers, but no barrels to be found.  Windsurfing is more popular here although, the exposed beach break and consistent waves do offer opportunities to catch some waves.  If you want to hang ten, you will want to hit Short Sands Beach or Smuggler’s Cove for better conditions.  However, on this special evening, I enjoyed watching two die-hard surfers going for that last wave of the day.

A surfer carries her surfboard into the waves with the yellow sun beginning to set in the background. Shades of orange to red radiate from the sun giving the sky an orange glow. The sun's reflection lies across the left side of the image on the sand giving the beach an orange glow.

Surfer goes out to catch just one more wave of the day

The whys and some shooting ideas

An ombred sun – is that even a word?  It is now.  One pretty cool effect of smoke, even haze, is its ombre effect on the setting sun. Smoke particles are heavy in the atmosphere and more dense closer to the horizon which in turn causes the deepening colors through the sun and the sky too.

Muted colors of yellow to pink to orange to purple ombre sun appears as it sets over the sea on a purple sky below. A large grey-blue wave crashes in the foreground as the reflection of the sun on the beach is nearly covered by the oncoming wave.

An ombre colored sun begins its descent over the sea.

A large setting sun hangs over the horizon with streaks of haze and clouds covering the sky horizontally. Large fluffy clouds sit closer to the top behind the streaks. The sun is ombre streaked with yellows to oranges to red. The dark blue sea rolls waves toward the beach and the silhouette of a seagull flies in the sky.

The smoke in the atmosphere gives color to the air.  The sun streaking through the smoke glows atop the ocean and the beach.  The warm, rich colors illuminate the air and give the world around an ethereal feel.  Truly harrowing conditions gave way to this haunting beauty.

Bottom half of a peach colored sun peeks at the top with ombre hues of yellows, oranges, pinks and purples radiate down to the horizon over the ocean. Pink reflections from teh sun sparkle over the ocean as a blue wave crashes onto a copper toned beach that is lit up by the sun

Here you can see different focal points that produce unique perspectives to the images.  It is all too easy to shoot from a standing position and too easy to forget other vantage points.  Squat down and become one with the sand to capture the bokeh from the sun on the sand.

Black silhouette rocks are scattered across the center of the beach at the level of the beach are the focus with the blurred sea and setting sun in the background and bokeh sun sparkles off the sand in the foreground.

Yellow sun on an orange sky beginning to set over the ocean with clouds strewn across the sky at the top and fluffy clouds closer to the horizon. Focus is on the dark blue ocean waves rolling onto the beach covered with yellow and orange bokeh

A bokeh covered beach twinkles below blue rolling waves and an orange setting sun.

As always, all of my images are available for purchase.  If you see an image you like that is not in the shop, no worries!  Just email me at nancy@nancyrenwick.com and we’ll set you up!