Where’s Your Comfort Zone?

Thor’s Well, Cape Perpetua, Oregon
Canon 5DMKIII, 35mm, f/16, 1/8th sec., 100 ISO, Singh-Ray 2 stop hard-edge GND, Singh-Ray Thin LB Polarizer, Lexar Digital Media

Let’s face it, we all have our comfort zones in every aspect of our lives.

I’m enjoying one right now. I like waking early, grinding my Starbucks coffee, and writing a blog (I promise, this one will be a lot less contentious than the one of fracking).

I had always wanted to visit Cape Perpetua, Oregon (approximately 160 miles south of Portland) to photograph Thor’s Well. In December 2012, I finally got my opportunity. It was amazing. I remember my pulse accelerating the moment I looked down from the parking area off Highway 101.

Located along the Cape Perpetua shoreline lies Thor’s Well, essentially a large hole in the rock shelf where incoming waves and swells push underneath with their surge (kind of a mini blow hole affect), then withdrew back to sea pulling all the water with its retreat making a toilet bowl flush affect (how’s that for a visual)!

According to the rangers at the nearby Visitor’s Center, Thor’s Well is best seen approximately an hour before high tide to an hour after high tide. How spectacular the sights are is a function of the height of the high tide and the direction and size of the swells. The wind can also be a factor.

The day my friend C.W. McGowen and I arrived, we were at mid-tide. Still enough for the “suck” to photograph well.

Thor’s Well is accessed from a parking overlook alongside Highway 101. I started photographing immediately from this high perch but soon realized that there was nothing stirring in me. Pretty pictures, but no emotional connection.

Thus, it was time to follow the main trail down the rather steep bluff from the parking area. As I moved closer to the rocky beach area, I noticed my pulse increasing. This is a good sign for me personally – it means that I am getting connected and excited about what it is that I came to photograph. It also means, and I’ve learned this that hard way over the years, that it is time for me to be careful.

There are no limitations as to how close one can get the Thor’s Well. I guess if one was foolish enough, they could dive right in (may be the last dive one would make). The key was not to slip, or worse, be caught and pulled in by a sneaker or rogue (and heaven forbid a freak). Thus, it was imperative that I never took my eyes off the ocean. The swells were choppy enough as it was.

My recollection was that I started on a rocky outcrop, perched about four feet above Thor and felt somewhat safe (quite frankly, a false sense looking back now). With every inch that I crept forward, the resulting frames got stronger, revealing the scary nature of the mass of water being sucked down into this endless pit (actually it was a shelf, though I did not know how deep it went). I have since researched this and found that the hole is about 20 feet deep – that’s me times 3 1/2 – scary!

There are no limitations as to how close one can get the Thor’s Well. I guess if one was foolish enough, they could dive right in (may be the last dive one would make). The key was not to slip, or worse, be caught and pulled in by a sneaker or rogue (and heaven forbid a freak).

But I also knew inside, that for the ultimate image, to really give my viewers a sense of what it is like to feel as if one was going to be sucked in, that I would have to get as close as my comfort zone would allow. I wanted to photograph Thor’s suck with a wide angle lens (35mm on a full-frame sensor). So I pushed closer, step-by-step.

I’ve learned through experience that it is at this moment, the one where my heart is pounding hard against my chest, the one where I am staring down my worst nightmare (getting sucked under into the ocean), that I personally have to recognize and respect my fear as I know my adrenaline is pumping. Adrenaline, at least for me, is what pushes me out of my comfort zone. That quest for the best image I can make. It is also what puts me on a fine-line between getting a killer image and, well, getting seriously injured or killed.

I’ll admit, it is a rush like nothing else I’ve experienced in life (except for my younger days when I downhill ski raced). Maybe that’s it, Maybe I’m trying to recapture those adrenaline-filled moments of my youth. I really don’t know.

What I do know, was that at the time I captured this frame, I was standing a mere 5 feet from the lip of Thor’s Well, on wet, slippery rocks (I remember trying to comfort myself with the thought that I could use my tripod as a brace – looking back, that was a false sense of security)!

Believe me, I didn’t stay long. I waited out and photographed three explosions of water through the well, and three suck-backs. That was enough. I had pushed the envelope and it was time to retreat to higher ground. I knew I had gotten my image and lived to tell about it.

I think the key point of revealing this story is to get you to think about how far out of your comfort zone would you go to get an image. This was a success and I lived to tell about it. But I also hear of the stories each year of people being caught by a sneaker or freak wave. Or those that fall off Yosemite’s many falls trying to get that vicarious look straight down. Heck, Gary Hart and I taught two monsoon workshops at the Grand Canyon last year (and are teaching two more this year) where we allow students to photograph lightning storms (we do go over a stringent safety orientation – but really, with lightning, you are never safe). They all know this, but they all want the experience and are willing to risk their lives to photograph lightning.

Every year we go to the Grand Canyon, we hear about someone who got too close to the edge a slipped. Nature is not Disneyland. We all know that (though I question some of the tourists that I see doing stupid things).

Personally, I just try to pay attention to my fear level (which is screaming at me to stop), and respect that it is in direct conflict with my adrenaline level (which tells me to push it even further).

I tell my students to listen to their inner voice and pay attention to what they are feeling. Pushing too far past your own personal comfort level is what leads to accidents or worse.

It’s amazing what the power of making a special image will do to an otherwise sane person!

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2014 Photo Workshops – Complete List

5th Annual Kauai Workshop – Garden Isle and Tropical Paradise – June 20-24, 2014 (Hurry – Only 2 Spots Remaining)

2nd Annual Monsoon Photo Workshop – Workshop #1 – Grand Canyon National Park – August 9-13, 2014 (co-taught by Don Smith and Gary Hart – WORKSHOP SOLD OUT :: WAITING LIST ONLY)

2nd Annual Monsoon Photo Workshop – Grand Canyon National Park – Workshop #2 – August 15-19, 2014 (co-taught by Don Smith and Gary Hart – 3 spots remaining)

3rd Annual Fall Color in Grand Teton National Park – Workshop #1 – September 23 – 27, 2014 (WORKSHOP SOLD OUT :: WAITING LIST ONLY)

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6th Annual Arches/Canyonlands National Parks and Monument Valley :: Full Moon Over Red Rock, Arches, Canyons and Monument Valley’s Mittens – October 4-8, 2014 (3 spots left)

4th Annual Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks :: Bryce Canyon Hoodoos and Zion Fall Color – November 1-5, 2014 (5 spots left)

2015 Photo Workshops

6th Annual Magic Light, Moonlight, and Pfeiffer Arch Workshop – Winter in Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula – January 4-7, 2015 (10 spots remain)

7th Annual Northern Arizona Workshop – Grand Canyon (full moon), Page (Horseshoe Bend and Upper Antelope Canyon) and Sedona – March 20-24, 2015 (8 spots remain)

8th Annual Springtime in Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula – Wildflowers, Misty Fog and Headland Color – April 3-6, 2015 (10 spots remain)

Oregon/Washington’s Columbia River Gorge -Don Smith & Gary Hart – Wildflowers and Waterfalls – April 14-17, 2015 (5 spots available)

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 Category: Landscape Photography      Tagged: Cape Perpetua, Oregon, Pacific Ocean, shelf, sunset, Thor's Well

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