Waves - Port Maitland Beach, Nova Scotia



Waves
There is something kind of mesmerizing about the watching of large waves. Living here on the Atlantic, well technically the Bay of Fundy, our property extends from the road to the shore. We own about 900 feet of ocean front and our ponds add another 18 acres of what was formerly a cranberry bog.
When a large storm comes up the coast, we get waves, sometimes some really big ones, by east coast standards anyway. With two Hurricanes off our coast this last week (Jose and Maria), we got some nice surf, and it was a chance to take my new camera, my Nikon d850, down to our shorefront and make some images. The waves were probably 6 or 7 feet high, and were being blown back by an east wind, so we got some nice curls. No surfers braved the 12° C water, but it would have been a great set for those brave enough to try it!
To photograph waves, I use a tripod with protection over the legs, and I normally set up at wave-top height to try and get a good perspective. You do have to be careful, as rogue, or very large individual, waves have swept people off the coast and into real trouble, so keeping an eye out is sensible. I use a slightly telephoto lens for most of these, as I’m trying to isolate nice waves, not make a landscape, and so the 70-200 f2.8 pro Nikkor lens is the best choice here. Great fun to see what I can get - and lots of fun watching the power and yet the peace that breaking surf brings.


Surf from Jose and Maria

A Large Roller Wave