I’ve made several visits to Shore Acres State Park in Coos Bay, Oregon. This location challenges me. My style of seascape photography more often involves getting down to sea level. I like interacting with the ocean - up close and personal. Shore Acres is not that type of location, and on this visit, I had decided to pursue cliff-top photos.

I was staying in Florence, Oregon and made the 1+ hour drive on a foggy, wet Sunday morning to Shore Acres. Mother Nature was kind enough to stop the rain and break up the sky a little during my drive. I timed my arrival at the park with high tide, in hopes of bearing witness to some big waves crashing against the rocks and cliffs at Shore Acres.

Well, Mother Nature is not without a sense of humor it would seem. The rain stopped and the gray sky had a little character. Yet the ocean was very calm, almost flat. I took in a few test shots of one of the classic views at Shore Acres.

The waves barely made a splash among the rocks. Early into my visit, I all but knew I would not be capturing big wave crashes on this day. I turned my attention to the northern side of the cliffs. Beneath the ocean, hidden from view, are reefs and rocks that influence how waves form. Maybe the northern side would yield more aggressive surf?

Not so. There was more interaction among the water and rocks. The mistier atmosphere suggested that as well. Yet nothing approached the dramatic power the Oregon Coast is known to display.

I returned to the southern view. With no rough surf and little color in the sky, my thinking switched to monochrome. Also, capturing long exposures. The ocean was shy this day and would not be the main subject of the images. The sky also remained more or less a featureless gray.

On this day, the angled rock formations at Shore Acres became my subject.

I spent less time than I expected to at Shore Acres. I did depart with a few good frames. And Shore Acres remains a challenging location for me to photograph. Until next time…