Storm seascapes

Waiting for wind and waves

Over the course of two days, I headed to a favourite spot at sunset, hoping to capture abstract storm wave images. The forecast was for decent wind and no rain, although it was any one’s guess if there would be good light.

On the first evening, I took an X-Pro 3 with me. The winds weren’t expected to be very strong, so I didn’t have a lot of hope for good wave photos. In the end, I made a couple of images with which I am happy, but not the type of images I was hoping for.

On the second evening, conditions were much better. A strong wind blew for most of the day, which tends to create large rollers, that crash nicely against the shore. Just prior to sunset, the sun was still above the clouds, providing good side light, which helped define the waves. I made ICM photos for as long as the light was good.

Once the sun dipped behind the clouds, the light was too flat for good wave photos. By switching direction and shooting into the light, I was able to capture some very nice seascapes around the Ogden Point breakwater. I really liked what the light was doing as it broke through the clouds and lit the background hills.

Although the wind never blew as hard or long as I might have wanted, evening number two felt like I got a bonus photo op given the reasonable storm wave conditions and as well as the great light later on.

A note about this image: While the light was good and the wind still blowing waves onshore, I used the GF100-200mm f5.6 lens to isolate the breakers as they came ashore. This was shot at 1/4 of a second, as I moved the camera in the same direction as the waves were moving. I love using the GFX50S II to make these images because of the huge dynamic range and incredible detail. The photos it captures make terrific large prints.

NB: Photos captured with the Fujifilm GFX50S II and X-Pro3, fronted with Fujinon lenses. RAW files edited in Lightroom.