Big Splash on the Atlantic Coast

chrismoore

I've been on a little hiatus from shooting lately, but last weekend a former colleague of mine asked me to take him out to one of my favorite local shooting locations near Palm Coast. The conditions were ideal- high tide at sunrise, strong west wind, though pretty darn cold!

I get my best photos there by braving the elements and getting up close on the rocks, where an unexpected wave took me down. Another photographer was out there and happened to press the shutter just a moment before I was hit.



I pressed my shutter too!



My gear survived, thankfully, and I went home soaking wet and cold, but with a handful of usable shots.

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Cuong

Great looking shots, really up-close-and-personal. You should get yourself and your camera a wetsuit for the next time.:D

Cuong

chrismoore

Cuong wrote:

Great looking shots, really up-close-and-personal. You should get yourself and your camera a wetsuit for the next time.:D

Cuong

Thanks. yeah I probably should get a wet suit or something but thank goodness for weather sealed equipment. I also used a UV filter to protect the lens so each time I got splashed I can wipe it off and not worry about scratching the glass.

wirehunt

It might almost be time for a housing.....

CWSkopec

Nice set, Chris!

Happy to hear the gear survived! And the shot of the splash up close is pretty interesting... maybe a little more contrast to it to bring out the detail and I'd keep it for it's story and uniqueness!

I can't really nit pick any of the others, they all look great. Really like the comp on the last one!

topcat374

Love the combination of the first 2! You really ought to frame these together somewhere!:D

Sorry - should comment on the others too(!)...#4 for me - expecially with the water frozen in time as it comes at you. I feel like I ought to get out of the way!

Alpha_Plus

Nice shots. I like the 4th and 5th of your series. Nice soft lighting.

Was this sunrise or sunset? Which coast are you on?

Unlucky about that wave but at least the gear lives on. I had a close call the other morning too. Gotta move fast after releasing the shutter.

On the news tonight there was a story about a rock-fisherman who died today after being swept off some rocks. Nature can get crazy some times so be careful out there

chrismoore

Alpha_Plus wrote:

Nice shots. I like the 4th and 5th of your series. Nice soft lighting.

Was this sunrise or sunset? Which coast are you on?

Unlucky about that wave but at least the gear lives on. I had a close call the other morning too. Gotta move fast after releasing the shutter.

On the news tonight there was a story about a rock-fisherman who died today after being swept off some rocks. Nature can get crazy some times so be careful out there

This was sunrise on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Yeah, my wife recently heard a similar story about someone dying after being swept off rocks. She was not thrilled about me shooting that close. Thanks for the comments.d

Alpha_Plus

chrismoore wrote:

This was sunrise on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Oh yeah - it was in the title haha.. ooops

WillCAD

When shooting in that location, you probably need one of those leashes on your gear like surfers use on their boards!

What lens did you use for those shots? They're impressively wide.

jsqueri

Wow, sacrificing teh body and gear has yielded you some great results.

Is that ice in the first shot?

hawkeye978

Nice set, Chris. I particularly like the way the sun is coming through the clouds in 6, 7, and 8. It's great the equipment survived.

I'd also be interested in the lens you used.

chrismoore

WillCAD wrote:

When shooting in that location, you probably need one of those leashes on your gear like surfers use on their boards!

What lens did you use for those shots? They're impressively wide.

Not a bad idea! Though I bet if the camera was totally submerged, it would be unsalvageable. Most of these shots were taken at 16mm on a full frame body, using the Canon 16-36mm II. The lens seems to be fine, though I'm torn on whether to reuse that UV filter. I had to wipe it off several times with my shirt and I wonder what impact dragging that salt water would have on the optics. That's why I always use a UV filter, much better to spend $50 for a new one then over a thousand on a new lens.

chrismoore

jsqueri wrote:

Wow, sacrificing teh body and gear has yielded you some great results.

Is that ice in the first shot?

Thanks. No, that's not ice, it is foam from the salt water that deposits all over the place as the tide starts to go down. Up close its rather unsightly and I try to keep it out of the shots as best possible.

If anyone is interested, I've been out to this location 5 or 6 times in the last year or so and its amazing how the same place can look so different with varying tides and light. You can see photos from my previous shoots here.

Thanks for looking.