The Oregon coastline has some amazing natural features and one of them is Thor’s Well. You could kinda think of it as a blowhole in reverse. The big show is as the water drains back through the hole after a wave washes in. Seen some amazing photos of it so when on the coast last weekend with our dear friends Scott & Kalebra, we went to check it out. Now this wasn’t a photographic weekend, we were just goofin so in that spirit, we did no homework that normally goes into making one of those classic photos. In fact, we didn’t even really know exactly where Thor’s Well was (a turn out on the highway). Well, luck was with us.
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So here’s the deal. You want to be at Thor’s Well when sunset and high tide are at about the same time. This would be ideal for getting the cool sky (if you’re not cursed with the OR Coast marine layer) and the best flow through the hole. With this, it is a given you are going to get wet! In fact, in a big tide action or during a storm, it might be really dangerous going after this shot! Well, we were there while the tide was still rising at sunset which for us, worked out. There was a moment when we had a killer sunset with great God beams, but no wave action. And the wave action is really the biggie in this whole thing. I was shooting with the D750 / 18-35AFS (on a RRS tripod with rock claws) and the key I think, was the Vello Wireless Shutterboss.
So you’re standing there watching the waves. Not everyone performs, in fact, few ever really do the “biggie” that floods 360 around the hole giving you the great blurred water feel. You can see in the series above just about every version of blur but the perfect one. I never got it. You can see the great sunset, but how little the water performed. And then there is the timing. I varied shutter speed from 2-8sec and this was because often, you only could get one click in per wave. You have to guess how much water is going to come up, overflow and then slip back down. If your timing is off or, shutter speed too slow, you don’t get “the” shot. The single image you see above is my favorite, but not the best. Don’t get me wrong, standing out there with Scott was great fun! Seeing his face when that last, big wave hit just when he said, “Just one more” is something I’ll never forget. It’s a gorgeous part of our wild heritage that I’m so glad we got to enjoy with friends!