Didn't get out as far as I wanted to, due to several friends shooting here with me and didn't wanna get in their shot. Well they have been warned that come next October, I will get out there further (seems like I have one day of low tide at sunset - if the weather cooperates..otherwise next Feb 5th is a negative tide at sunset..)
What a cool shot! I like the look of this, too bad you couldn't get in there further. I totally missed the Kiwanda cave when I was there a couple of years ago. So is this one where the sun is only at the right angle twice a year? If do, when is prime shooting?
I was here last on october 25th, and then again on Monday. I believe last week of October and first week of feb are ideal for this shot. Marc Adamus know more on this, and his shot is amazing. The problem is that the sand in the tunnel has eroded a bit, and it a bit deeper I believe than when he shot his.
I do know for a fact that there was a HUGE landslide sometime between October 25th and February 6th. It didn't directly affect where this was shot, but about 40 yards behind here.. The Kiwanda keyhole was located 80 or so yards behind this location - and it collapsed at the end of December 2010 sadly.
Thanks for the comments
EDIT..
when I shot this in October, we had a 1.x low tide, right near sunset (6:13pm I think..) This was a .4 low tide, but the low tide was later than the sunset. I think sunset is at like 5:34 or so and low tide was at 5:58.. Still doesn't really matter, as sets of waves come in and can cause problems
Nice work on being aware of the best timing for this spot Dustin - that sounds like a complex set of variables to track for the best capture and while this may not have met your mental image of the perfect shot it certainly looks pretty neat to me.
Mid October and mid February are best, but you need to time it with a pretty low tide at sunset to be able to get anywhere in the tunnel. Those three conditions probably line up about 3 or 4 times a year. Ohh yeah, and it is Oregon, so you have to hope it isn't raining on those days. Now, if you don't care about having the orange glow on the tunnel wall, your options increase dramatically.
I use the Netart's Bay tide chart for this area and it showed us having had a -0.1 tide right at sunset. Now peak light is a little before that, so this was at around a 0.2 or 0.3 tide. Like Dustin, I really want to get in deeper to the tunnel, but I think to do that and have shallow enough water to get good streaking action would require a -1.0 tide or so.
A great shot. I was there last December with two of my photography buddies. We had a great time & got some good images, but it wasn't a low tide. I did hear that the Keyhole collapsed. The locals mentioned that quite a bit of erosion has happened the past few years.
