Spotted Seals
Strawberry Hill, Oregon – August 2010

Strawberry Hill, just south of Cape Perpetua, is a great place to observe the seals that congregate just off shore on the rocks.

Lewis on the Rocks
Strawberry Hill, Oregon – August 2010

During minus tides, it is possible (though not legal) to walk out to the rocks where the seals hang out. This was as far as we could get this afternoon; and the tide was coming in so we had to make sure that we didn’t get cut off from the shore.

Thor’s Well
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

This is one location I was very much looking forward to photographing although I wasn't certain I would even be able to find it. Located at Cape Perpetua on the edge of a rock shelf that hangs out over the ocean, Thor’s Well is not officially recognized with a sign or description; and there is no trail that leads to it. It was named by a fellow photographer who came across it and thought this fascinating natural phenomenon deserved a name.

Wash Cycle
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

Thor’s Well is a great name although there are other possibilities as well. Devils Washbasin would work since it is often filled with sudsy sea foam; plus it is located near Devils Churn and Devils Punchbowl.

Eruption
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

Just a month earlier, we had all been at Yellowstone watching water violently erupt from holes in the ground. Thor's Well was the same idea but on a smaller scale. Here you don’t get scalded if you stand too close; there you don’t run the risk of getting sucked into the ocean because you’re standing too close.

Awash
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

To capture these images, I set up my DSLR on a tripod with a 17-40mm lens attached. In order to achieve a shutter speed slow enough to convey the motion of the water as it swirled and sprayed, I employed a 3-stop neutral density filter and my camera’s lowest ISO setting. My shutter speed hovered around 1/8-1/5 of a second – about the same range that I use when shooting waterfalls.

...and, yes, the water was cold!

Water Fountain
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

The amount of water surging up out of Thor’s Well – and the violence with which this would occur – was hard to predict. For minutes at a time I stood, watching the water level float gently up and down, tempting me to walk over and look down into the hole. Then, suddenly, the water column would collapse, as though the bottom had fallen out. That was usually a good time to back up.

Aftermath
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

I stood at Thor’s Well for over an hour, mesmerized by water as it flowed in and out of this portal to the ocean. The tide conditions were perfect: an incoming tide that wasn’t yet high enough to engulf the rock shelf or make it difficult to return to the highway; waves that were aggressively pounding the shoreline; and light that kept getting better and better.

Other travelers came down from the highway to investigate what I was photographing. My efforts met with widespread approval from just about everyone but my wife, who felt like the hour I spent next to Thor’s Well was about 59 minutes too long. Ultimately, it was a full compact flash card that brought my photo session to an end.

Frozen in Time
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

My final series of shots at Thor’s Well was taken without the ND filter. The much higher shutter speeds, usually around 1/2000 of a second, brought a totally different feel to the images.

Suspended Animation
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

Devils Churn
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

The conditions that were so perfect for observing Thor’s Well left Devils Churn a little lacking in drama. Here you want high tides and massive surf bringing in surges of water from the ocean to meet a violent end at the very place I am standing to capture this image. Of course, you don’t want to be standing here when it’s happening.

The current lack of visual fireworks belied the impressiveness of this experience. I was standing on top of a deep cavity, carved out from years of pounding waves. As the water surged in and out of it, the cavity emitted an ominous low growl that sent vibrations up through the rock and through my body. A few steps toward either side of this crack and you could feel it breathe as water flowed in and out.

Lewis at Devils Churn
Cape Perpetua, Oregon – August 2010

previous image set: Heceta Head, Oregon
next image set: Drift Creek Wilderness, Oregon