Cooks Chasm Oregon at night
I really like this picture taken with my Sony camera. Maybe my favorite, at least at the moment. While much of this is a visual extravaganza the really missing aspect is the sound. The noise here was deafening. I stood maybe 2 feet from a 30-40 foot drop to the pounding ocean. This is Cook’s Chasm. Here the Spouting Horn and Thor’s Well put on fantastic shows (you might google them) and the ocean going up into this chasm is amazingly loud and powerful. Every thirty seconds or so there would be an incredible whomp that literally shook the ground I stood on.
I had done a panorama at Thor’s Well before this shot, but the tide was low enough and ocean calm enough (light wind and clear skies) that the Well was not going to cooperate. I think it will be a cool picture but I was impressed after looking at the camera with the ethereal nature of the ocean splashing against the rocks in this shot.
The ground was encrusted with small black mussels here which crunched underfoot as I walked over to do this shot. There was a slight spray and mist in the air that made the shot quite nippy while I waited for the shot to finish. I drew my coat around me tighter and hoped the dew heater would keep the lens clear of water droplets. Sitting this close to the edge, I normally sit as standing on the uneven ground in the dark for long periods, because it is way harder than it sounds. I stared into the chasm and watched the brightening and darkening of the waters as they surged in coupled with the sound, it was almost mesmerizing. The shot ended and I wasn’t even thinking about it for a period of time watching the waves break.
At last, I stirred and realized I was done and retreated back to Jimmy to end a fantastic evening of sensory delight.
Lens kept totally clear with the Dew Destroyer and Perfect focus with the Reveal focus filter both available at:
42 Shots Sony A7RII, clipped left a bit, ISO 8000, F1.6, overexposed clouds added back properly
