A wave truly is a gift from the sea**. We are baking in a heat wave right now in Southern California, and the only respite is water. I have not been out to photograph waves for a really long time, so I decide to go out this morning since even if there is no surf it is too hot to go running or work out at the gym. At 7am I arrive at my favorite barrel spot, the one place that almost always has at least a little bit of hollowness even when the waves are tiny. I am pleasantly surprised by beautiful conditions. The water is pure glass, there is not a speck of wind, and decent little tubes are coming in every few minutes. Wow, only one guy is out here, while up the road at Cardiff Reef I can see a ton of people including what looks like 10-15 sweepers. How nice to have this little stretch of beach so empty. The water felt great, cool but not cold. I bagged a few wave photos in spite of the fact I am using my slowest-frame-rate camera body (1DsII). Labor Day will be here soon and that, along with the start of school, really clears out the water. The best months of surf are just ahead. I love living near the ocean.
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Cardiff morning surf, breaking wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image ID: 23293
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Cardiff morning surf, breaking wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image ID: 23294
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Cardiff morning surf, breaking wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image ID: 23297
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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** With apologies to Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Keywords: surf, wave, photo, ocean, sea, morning, picture.
My wave pictures are now on Photoshelter in addition to the photos of waves on this website. Of all the photos I have shot over the years, these were some of the most enjoyable to make.
Keywords: wave pictures, wave photos, surf, waves, ocean, stock photo, picture, seascape, image, photograph.
I was saddened to learn that the Wedge claimed a life today. Huge swells rolling in from the south made for a big day at the Wedge. Unfortunately, a bodysurfer was thrown onto the jetty, and after being rescued by lifeguards he died later at Hoag Hospital. My condolences go to his family and friends. Be careful out there guys.
The waves in these photos are dinky compared to what is rolling through today.
(Click here if you cannot see the above slideshow.)
The Wedge in Newport Beach is one of the world’s most notorious and exciting bodysurfing spots. Locals in the 70’s and 80’s developed a reputation for getting barreled in the bruising, thick wave while risking being pile-driven onto the sand if they got sucked over. Growing up in Newport in the 60s and 70s, I remember many times sirens would sound down Newport Boulevard as an ambulance raced to the Wedge to attend to some poor soul who had gone over the falls trying to impress his buds or the (quite fine) local girls, crunching bones as he returned to the beach. The old-school still bodysurfs the Wedge by virtue of a local ordinance that forbids any boards in the water between 10am and 5pm. However, these days boards rule the Wedge, working the place with bodyboards and standup. The Wedge is best on a south swell. Incoming waves reflecting off the adjacent jetty combine with the next wave to form a doubled-up triangular mutant mountain wave that pitches over thick and fast in surprisingly shallow water. The result is a big, sucking, foam-filled donut. Don’t get caught inside during a closeout set.
Fun surf at Ponto this morning. Nice offshore wind, shoulder high sets once in a while. It got crowded about 8am, and the high tide softened the waves up so I got out by 9am and off to a soccer game.
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Wave breaking in early morning sunlight. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 21779
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Longboarder carves wave in early morning sun. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 21783
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Wave breaking in early morning sunlight. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 21785
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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A beautiful Independence Day morning at Ponto: sunny, glassed with lots of little peaks rolling by. Too bad all the folks from out of town got there at 6am and blocked the Coast Highway with their mega-RVs, making it nearly impossible for the people who actually live around here to access the beach!
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Breaking wave, morning surf, curl, tube. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 20887
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Breaking wave, morning surf, curl, tube. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 20888
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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I got out early again this morning and swam out at Cardiff just north of Seaside Reef. For the most part the size had dropped off but it was still warm, glassy, not a speck of wind and sunny at 6:30am. Once again I had a huge stretch of water to myself, only a few guys out at Seaside and the usual crowd at Cardiff Reef. The sets were inconsistent and there was a lot of waiting around. A harbor seal was swimming around near me for a while, and squadrons of pelicans cruised by all morning. It was so still for the first hour that I could hear that soft sound of water ripping along the lip just as each wave would crest before folding over. The extreme low tide at dawn was helping the waves feel the sandbars and kick up. By 8 the tide has risen enough that all the juice was gone and it went flat. Beautiful but flat. I swam around for another hour picking off a few more sporadic set waves. I left at 9 only to watch Italy lose to Spain. I think this swell is done.
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Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20811
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20812
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20815
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Thank you for your patience. This is your official notification: summer is here. You are now free to dive in, a wetsuit is no longer required. Effective until September: casual Friday is expanded to include Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well. From this morning:
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Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20797
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20799
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20800
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 20798
Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Got out for the first time in a long time this morning for a swim before work. Summer is here.
The surf is big today, just as expected. Its big, and continuing to build with projected peak later today, but … it’s NOT CLEAN. I mean that literally (lagoons are still flushing their biohazards from the rain runoff of last weekend) and figuratively (the swell is not groomed right for picturesque surf). Oh well. Maybe it will clean up tomorrow and go glass? Here is what I am hoping for, from the “big wednesday” swell of two years ago:
Santa Anas whipped up strong yesterday, sending offshores out to meet the clean swells coming ashore. Every wave had a rainbow trailing it. Just as each wave was poised to break, the wind would rip the lip off with impressive sound, sending spray aloft only to fall back around me after the swell had passed. It was great, the most fun I have had in the water all year. But …
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Breaking wave, tube, hollow barrel, morning surf.
Image: 19534
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Breaking wave, tube, hollow barrel, morning surf.
Image: 19535
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Breaking wave, tube, hollow barrel, morning surf.
Image: 19532
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Breaking wave, tube, hollow barrel, morning surf.
Image: 19533
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Today those winds are whipping up fierce fires that are burning houses and causing massive evacuations throughout San Diego. I heard on the news that 1000+ fire engines are on their way from surrounding states to assist. Some people, civilians and firefighters, have already been critically injured or killed. We are packed and ready to go if our part of town gets the call to evacuate.
Today things lined up in North County for some great surf. I got out shortly after the sun hit the water this morning in Cardiff. The sun was bright, the swell we’ve had for a few days was peaking, and we got the offshore winds that had the TV weatherman so excited. (Half of San Diego is now burning, courtesy of those winds.) After three hours in the water I had shot 1200 photos — the camera was firing hard. It was quite a workout as there was a steady south longshore current running all morning against which I had to kick the entire time. My legs were wasted when I stopped for lunch today. Here is one sequence that turned out pretty good:
The rest of the shots from this morning can be seen here.
I haven’t posted anything from my Yellowstone trip since I have been tied up with work and kid stuff. I’m almost done editing those shots and will have them posted in the next week or so.
Got to my favorite break at sunrise this morning. It was a short chance to cool off from the weird heat and humidity we’ve had. At 6:30 a mist was still hanging along the bluffs so that I could not see the sand from the water, just enough sun was poking through, and the water was glassed. At 8:30 the beach had become a zoo, RVers from Arizona or wherever had taken all the parking along the coast highway, and I had to run to make my daughter’s soccer game. Ah, got to love Labor Day in southern California…
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Breaking wave, early morning surf. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 19404
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Breaking wave, early morning surf. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 19405
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Breaking wave, early morning surf. Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA.
Image: 19406
Location: Ponto, Carlsbad, California, USA
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Click here for a few more.
Finally some surf and I am tied up at soccer games all weekend. I got a short chance to get in the water just before sunset Sunday evening. Click here are a few more.
Dropped my daughter off at junior lifeguard class this morning and got in a quick swim before starting work for the day. The skies were overcast and the waves were small, but so glassy. Combination of the flat light and glassy water made it difficult to discern swells coming in until they had started to lift up and form, pretty cool. I only had one wave I was able to get inside. You can see the cliffs north of Moonlight Beach in the background, and a few beach walkers out for some morning exercise.
Another overcast morning. What happened to the sun?
Got out for a quick swim while my daughter was in soccer practice. Not much going on, surf was tiny, had to get right up on the reef in order to find anything that was remote hollowish. The water was warm, summer is here.
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Afternoon tiny wave. Tabletop, Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 18972
Location: Tabletop, Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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Bored photographer takes own picture. Tabletop, Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA.
Image: 18973
Location: Tabletop, Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA
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One of my favorite frames from last year. I had South Ponto entirely to myself all morning, and nice hollow waves were firing, pitching up over the sandbars that had set up just north of the cliffs.
More Ponto photos.
A southern hemi swell kicked up the surf the past couple days. Biggest was in Orange County with it’s southern exposure. I could not get up there until this morning and I missed the peak of the swell. I tried Ponto yesterday and got in double-overhead waves with a lens that was too wide to get any proper shots, enjoying a real thigh-burner leg-cramp session kicking against the current for two hours straight. This morning I opted to stay dry and was glad I did. A 45-minute sunrise spin up I-5, grab a bite, then park. First bad omen: people were walking back to their cars. I went out to take a look anyway. The Wedge was a bumpy mess. There was plenty of wave energy but it was reverberating all over and had no consistency. I’m not sure that I would have gotten any good shots had I got in the water, the wave directions were changing with each set and it would have been hard to stay in the pit. Only a few guys were out. I should have been up there yesterday.
Some heavy surf this morning in La Jolla. It’s difficult to get a good shot of this wave as it is crumbly and not particularly attractive, the angle from shore is straight on and the wave is not hollow. Here are a couple guys who took off while I was there this morning.
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Boomer Beach, bodysurfing. La Jolla, California, USA.
Image: 18281
Location: La Jolla, California, USA
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Boomer Beach, bodysurfing. La Jolla, California, USA.
Image: 18280
Location: La Jolla, California, USA
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Grant “Twiggy” Baker, on his way to winning the 2006 running of the Mavericks Surf Contest. This was one of my two favorite frames of the day. I hope to get up there again for the 2007 contest. These guys are superb athletes taking on a truly impressive wave in style. Amazing.
More 2006 Mavericks Surf Contest photos.
