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Getting that great stormwatching photo
Vancouver Island’s wild outer coast is famous for its winter storms. Tofino and Ucluelet are perfect stormwatching bases—especially if you are interested in storm photography. Many people ask me how to take great photos while a storm is raging.
My answer is: you don’t. Taking pictures during a west coast storm would be like taking pictures while a dozen of your best friends are hurling buckets of water at you.
So, enjoy the storm for what it is. Don as much rubber as you can and get out to the beach, lean into that wind, and go for a walk. But when the storm breaks—that is when you need to be ready with your camera.
Our big storms can last for days, the furious winds building up a big swell out to sea. The weather will break suddenly, a crack opening in the clouds and a splinter of sunlight slicing through. But the swell may continue to roll in for days.
And that is the photographer’s opportunity.
We are lucky here, on the stretch of coastline between Tofino and Ucluelet, because the shoreline runs northwest-southeast. This means that, in winter, the sun hangs low over the ocean for most of the day.When that big storm swell hits our shores, it is backlit by the sun: the storm photographer’s dream.
One of my favourite storm shots is the waves photo, below. I took it one January when I was taking care of a friend’s cabin on Chestermans Beach for a few weeks. I kept my camera on the table, paying constant attention to the sky through the skylight, and ducked out to the beach whenever the light looked like it might be interesting.
Storm swell on Chestermans Beach
On one of my forays out, the waves were so impressive that, even though the light was flat, I set up the camera and snapped a couple of shots anyway. As I was shooting, the sky opened and a beam shot through and lit up the white foam of the breaking waves. That magic light lasted mere seconds, but that was enough: I got the shot.
Some of my favorite places for stormwatching are Ucluelet’s Wild Pacific Trail, the South Beach Trail in Pacific Rim National Park (a short walk from the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre) and Frank Island, on Chestermans Beach, Tofino.
But storm swell can be dangerous and even deadly. Please be extremely cautious about approaching the shoreline when storm swell hits. Shoot with a long lens from afar so you can keep your distance from the shoreline, and keep a constant eye out to sea in case a bigger wave than you were expecting hits shore.
- Photos and text by Jacqueline Windh ©
