First Storms of 2014 hit the Beach

Over the past week or so we started to get some minor but welcomed rain here on the north coast. The storms weren’t much, but they did manage to churn up the surf pretty well.  The waves weren’t huge, maybe some 10 – 12 footers, but they sure made an impact when they landed ashore.  I was lucky to have been down at Walk-on Beach before the storms actually landed and the first two images capture the slow build of the storm’s impact.  I like the moodiness of these images as the fog was kind of in and out, and you can see hints of blue sky here and there.

The next two images were captured off of Fish Rock road in Sea Ranch and the bluff top home adds some scale to the scene.  By this time one storm had passed but another was on the way, so the surf was still pretty wild.  These waves were pounding day and night and we could hear them at night while going to sleep.  It’s the best sound to sleep to that I can imagine…pure white noise and it wasn’t some digital creation.

The last two images were captured a day or so later off Headlands Reach in Sea Ranch. There was still one more storm to come and the surf was still exploding nicely along the bluff. I was using my 24-70mm lens so I had to get a little closer to the action and I got wet on more than one occasion.  I tried to perch myself in one location so I didn’t have to worry about getting blindsided by an incoming wave, but I still got splashed a few times.  I guess that’s how you know that you’re in the right place.

I hope we get lots more storms like this as we really need the rain.  As winter heats up you can be assured that I’ll be somewhere out there capturing images of storm surf in all their glory.
Equipment: Nikon D3s; Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens, monopod.