surf foam bubble iridescence

[David_Senesac]

Constructive wavelength interference iridescence of sunlight on surf foam bubble thin film and bubble dome magnified pebbles, San Mateo County, California.

(full image size 2400x1800 pixels)

(full image size 3000x2300 pixels)

For more seashore close-up digital images:

http://www.davidsenesac.com/slideshows/wflwr_coast/seashore_cu_slidesh.html

 

[Overread]

Darn those are very impressive shots
I really like the effect that you have captured here - freezing the action on something I think most people ignor

 

[Dioboleque]

Very neat! I like #1 best. Only critique would be the black spot at the upper right corner is a little distracting.

 

[createnetwork]

Very cool, are the pebbles just on the beach now?

 

[David_Senesac]

Very cool, are the pebbles just on the beach now?

Of course sea surf foam forms wherever waves crash on shores. Windy conditions tend to whip up the white sea foam more. Where foam lands on pure sand or pebble beaches, the speed of seawater sinking in is directly related to the size of the sand grains or pebbles with the larger the size, the faster it disappears. On an ordinary beach one will never see the above because the seawater sinks in too quickly. Another thing that occurs is sea foam bubbles pop faster in a breeze than when the air is still. Where I like to photograph the above three situations come together. One, the beach is all stony pebbles instead of fine sand that makes for more photographically interesting elements beneath the magnifying bubbles. Two, an adjacent mass of rock blocks the usual sea breeze. Three, areas of monolithic bedrock shelves mix with zones of pebble stones and provide level basins covered by shallow depths of pebbles where the surf drains off slowly. Thus shallow pools where the crashing surf and foam float atop. I wait beside pools of foam atop water till the level drops to just above the level of the pebbles. And the geology and life of that coastline might have some effect on the seawater chemical makeup and thus tendency to form foam with usable film thicknesses for constructive interference.

...David

 

[Rachelsne]

What a great idea, very effective

 

[Sarah23]

Of course sea surf foam forms wherever waves crash on shores. Windy conditions tend to whip up the white sea foam more. Where foam lands on pure sand or pebble beaches, the speed of seawater sinking in is directly related to the size of the sand grains or pebbles with the larger the size, the faster it disappears. On an ordinary beach one will never see the above because the seawater sinks in too quickly. Another thing that occurs is sea foam bubbles pop faster in a breeze than when the air is still. Where I like to photograph the above three situations come together. One, the beach is all stony pebbles instead of fine sand that makes for more photographically interesting elements beneath the magnifying bubbles. Two, an adjacent mass of rock blocks the usual sea breeze. Three, areas of monolithic bedrock shelves mix with zones of pebble stones and provide level basins covered by shallow depths of pebbles where the surf drains off slowly. Thus shallow pools where the crashing surf and foam float atop. I wait beside pools of foam atop water till the level drops to just above the level of the pebbles. And the geology and life of that coastline might have some effect on the seawater chemical makeup and thus tendency to form foam with usable film thicknesses for constructive interference.

...David

<--me after reading that...haha!

Nice shots! I really like them and it makes me wish it was warmer so I could go swimming!! (no beaches around here though )