Thor's Well, Oregon

He told me it was the scariest shoot he had ever done. Standing on the edge of the raging ocean, he was constantly worried the surge of the surf was going to pull him into the well. Looking down into it you can pretty well know if you go in you will not be coming out. How thrilling! I looked it up on the web and in reading about it saw more of these kinds of comments about how scary was. O.K., it would be really thrilling! When my friend told me the conditions were expected to be prefect soon and would I like to go, there was no hesitation “Count me in.”

It is called Thor’s Well and is located about half way up the Oregon Coast. It is a hole in the rocks that extends out to the ocean so that as a wave comes to shore it enters the hole and surges up through it coming out the top and spilling over on the surrounding rock shelf. It is a continuous emptying, gushing up and out, spilling over, and emptying again. Add to this the surf coming up onto the surrounding shelf as well and you have a real adventure! The classic photos capture the water as it spills back into the well in silky white steams of water.

The best time to be at Thor’s Well is at high tide at sunset or sunrise. If you are fortunate there will be a storm and the sea will be roiling and surging and fiercely spilling up over the shelf surrounding (and scaring) you as it provides an incredible photographic opportunity. There are some wonderful images of this that include lots of drama in the sky, but whether or not the extra drama is present, it is definitely a fun shoot.

Here are four images to give you an idea of the sequence of the surging and emptying process:

The Empty Well

The Surge

Filling the Shelf

The Return Begins

Thor's Well

Never Turn Your Back

When shooting at the ocean it is really important to keep one eye on the surf as it can sneak up on you. This was especially important out on this rock shelf as it was so easy to become completely absorbed by the activity in the well. But looking up, right next to us, was this scene: a reminder to never turn your back on the ocean.

Aurora Borealis - May 10, 2024, Last Installment.

On Friday afternoon, May 10, 2024, Jan and I were getting coffee in a very small somewhat crowded coffee shop in downtown Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We overheard people talking about the Northern Lights showing up that night. And thus began one of the most exciting nights of photography in my life. If you have read my three previous blog posts you have seen some of the spectacular color displays we were able to capture. In these images I have included some foreground information to put the color displays in perspective. The picture above was taken to the northeast of the Trumpeter property where they house the pygmy goats and alpacas. Looking to the northwest you can see the moon low on the horizon. The building shown here has an additional suite that is separate from the main B&B house.. This image is looking due east showin the stable for the animals. Another view to the east showing the building with the separate ...

The Aurora Borealis, May 10, 2024

This last May, my wife, Jan, and I were on vacation in the San Juan Islands, WA. We were there for a week staying at the Trumpeter Inn, a B&B on San Juan Island. Mid way through our stay we heard there was to be a Northern Lights display and that we would likely be able to see it since we were at a latitude just north of Victoria, BC. The excitement was immediate. The conditions were just right as the sky was cloudless and the moon was in its crescent phase and would be low on the horizon (and therefore not overly bright) during the expected good viewing time between 10 pm and 2 am. The image above was taken that night and is what I was expecting to see, a green Aurora. Little did we know what was to come! Early on the was the first hint that something special was about to happen as color in addition to green began to show. I found this very exciting as I had seen green auroras before but never one with the purple/blue colors an...

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