Ocean Wave Image Of The Week: South Laguna Beach

There is a force to backwash at coves and beaches in Laguna Beach that define how dangerous shore breaks can get.  Water leaving a sloping beach returns to the ocean in a wave that meets incoming waves with enough impact to twist, bend, and throw waves every which direction you could imagine.  The result is what you see here.  What appears to most to be a beautiful wave is a tale of caution for wave riders who have experienced its force.  Scotty Carter knows the waves of Laguna Beach as well as anyone and the power found in the some of the world’s most distinguished coves and beaches is remarkable.

While we would agree this image is beautiful it also serves as a reminder about the dangers of waves.  This particular day would not have been for the inexperienced for even to them it represents a perilous situation.  Enter the ocean at your own risk on a day like this.  The best advice someone could give the inexperienced is to stay out of the water when it is like this.  Even the most advanced swimmers and wave riders have been hurt on days like this.  The beaches of Southern California are wonderful.  The beaches along the coastline of Laguna are liquid wonderland!

The Birds

On high tide when the waves are big the waves pretty much detonate on the sand.  This is one of those days.  The cloud cover brings a dark and ominous look and feel to this wave and it looks to have scattered a bunch of California Gulls that are trying to avoid becoming unintentional victims of a massive explosion of water.  

The dark side of this photo reminds me of a terrifying movie I saw as a child.  Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”!  

The Birds

On high tide when the waves are big the waves pretty much detonate on the sand.  This is one of those days.  The cloud cover brings a dark and ominous look and feel to this wave and it looks to have scattered a bunch of California Gulls that are trying to avoid becoming unintentional victims of a massive explosion of water.  

The dark side of this photo reminds me of a terrifying movie I saw as a child.  Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”!  

Aliso’s Invisible Wave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again Aliso shore break flares under the influence of backwash rushing back towards in coming waves.  This one is interesting because the water that is flaring is so clear that it is nearly invisible.  I could not have ever imagined seeing a wave like this and it is obviously because what we see in motion happens so quickly that you could not process this.  Perhaps this represents the magic of still photography in slowing down those moments to see and capture what the naked eye cannot.  This one is incredible!  Anyone looking to redo their windows there is plenty of glass in this one!  ]

Enjoy!

Laguna Beach Often Looks Like Is Like An Exotic Location

Photo Credit: Scotty Carter

Let’s face it.  Much of Southern California is so developed from a residential and commercial perspective that you can be at the beach and feel like you never left the city.  In addition to the natural human adoration for the ocean, people flock to beaches to escape the city, heat, traffic and congestion.  In a world gone mad people look to the beach for a get away day of relaxation.  The problem is that the experience of going to the beach is not quite as calming as it should be in most beach towns.  When it is warm the beaches are crowded and the traffic is ridiculous.  Many of these beaches are lined with bars where it is a race to see who can throw up first or a start a fist fight.  These are not the kind of beach experiences that relax us.  If anything it only takes an environment that we love and poisons it!

Laguna Beach is a magical place.  The fact that the city is built into a mountainous coastal geography that is not suitable for over-commercialization makes all the difference in the world.  7.5 miles of jagged sea cliffs, small sandy coves, inter-coastal reefs and headlands that jut out into the water.  The pristine waters of Laguna Beach are rich with marine life and the reefs and plant life give them a tropical blue-green color that is tranquil and inviting.  While I appreciate all of the beaches in Southern California, Laguna Beach has a special place in my heart.  When there it simply feels like you are somewhere in the world on vacation.  It is very difficult to describe how that feels but I can tell you that Laguna Beach comes with a peace and an incredible display of perfectly molded coastline that is extraordinarily beautiful and awe inspiring!

Scotty Carter has documented Laguna Beach through photography and cinematography for over 25 years.  Today his work is focused on capturing amazing wave images from the vantage points of the shore, in the water and in a lab.  This talented photographer offers absolutely stunning images on canvas, metal and bamboo as well as modern display in acrylic and frames with special matting.  His work focuses on natural phenomena, ocean waves from land, ocean waves from within the shore break zone, coastal hydrodynamic waves and reef science waves.  The team at Scotty Carter Fine Art has the goal of transforming your special rooms at home or in the office that add color, style, and good vibes.  When our clients tell us how much the work adds to their homes and offices it really does touch us because we strongly believe in the need for people to have rooms and places that provide sanctuary.  Adding Scotty Carter imagery to those special rooms will do the trick. Inspired by 25 years of learning how storms thousands of miles away push energy our way only to have the inter-c0astal reefs, headlands, sea cliffs, small coves, sloping sandy beaches and river mouth sand bars of Laguna Beach bend and shape them to their will, Scotty is able to duplicate these processes in the lab.  This work represents his celebration of Water, Light and Energy!

All of the work that Scotty had done and continues to do is a result of the inspiration he found in Laguna Beach, California.

Article By: Rob Brack

Could Jesus Be Watching?

This is not an attempt to convert people to Christianity.  Everyone has their own beliefs.  For those of you that do share the Christian faith I would like to bring to your attention the face looking through the top of this wave as it is curling over.  People have seen Jesus’ likeness in French Toast, Tortillas, Grill Cheese Sandwiches and Tree Bark.  This wave image from Scotty Carter seems to share that quality of a mysterious facial image that could be interpreted as Jesus watching.  I believe that God works in mysterious ways and the ocean and its waves are a gift from God.  Could an almighty and powerful God that has bestowed the gift of the ocean and its waves on us be watching over us through this wave?  Is this a sign that God is present in our lives and watching over us?  Whatever you believe is certainly your choice and you are free to form your own theories and interpretations of what you see.  The team at Scotty Carter Fine Art wants you to enjoy the wave images because they truly are beautiful and a gift.  We love sharing them!

Article By: Rob Brack

Photo Credit: Scotty Carter

Aliso Beach Sunsets Dazzle

It’s time for a break from wave images.  While this glorious sunset which features the sun in a tussle with storm clouds and just a few minutes before disappearing behind the ocean on the horizon, there is a small wave splashing over the reef. Scotty Carter sunsets are a celebration of Water, Sunlight and Clouds.  The combination of the three help to create breathtaking sunsets over the Pacific Ocean.  While you may want to freeze a moment in time and take it all in you have two choices.  Take a picture or hope it was so memorable and your mind is so crisp that it is forever implanted in your memory.  If we could give you some advice, just go ahead and take the picture.  Sunsets along the 7.5 mile stretch of Laguna Beach are never anything short of divine!

Article By: Robert Brack

The Rising Sun And Dana Point Headland

Salt Creek gets this morning water texture when the winds are slightly offshore.  Looking south towards the Ritz Carlton Hotel is a perfect barreling wave with the wind feathering the lip back with spray.  The sun glows in the distance as it is eclipsed by the horizon and the Dana Point Headland.  It will be up and over the coastal mountains and cliffs soon!  There appears to be no one in the water just yet but Salt Creek rarely has no takers.  What a pristine beach it is on the South Laguna, Laguna Niguel and Dana Point border.  To me this place has always seemed like a little slice of heaven.

For those of you that believe in a creator or God, could you imagine a coastline handcrafted any better?  This area is special and it delivers some of the most incredible scenes anywhere over and over and over again.  This beach sanctuary is a gift and all of the hills and shapes and scenery make for a let down when you go to other beaches.  It is hard to put a finger on why that it is but I believe that the backdrops in Laguna Beach are so unique and fascinating that going to the beach in a place Like Huntington is so BLAH!  It just isn’t the same.  It’s beautiful as well but different.  Wave riders, photographers, residents and tourists that frequent this area get that.

If you ever get a chance to see all of Laguna Beach you should do it.  7.5 miles of extraordinary scenery.  It is the inspiration for Scotty Carter and his extraordinary wave images. There is no doubt that Laguna  has left an impression on him that has stayed with him since he was a young boy and it has become a part of who he is.  This gorgeous coastal environment and the picturesque waves have blessed him more than he could ever say.  Working hard to produce incredible wave images from Laguna Beach is his way of giving back while reminding everyone of how special the area is.

Article By: Robert Brack