Stormy Skies and Big Waves in the Basque Country, Spain

I always wanted to photograph some giant waves on the northern coast of Spain. It doesn’t happen that often. According to locals, maybe once or twice a year. Luckily, my good friend Jabi Sanz (who is a great photographer) knows the area and called me a few weeks ago. “It’s time” , he said. The wind forecasts were ‘good’, strong winds and high waves were predicted.

Anyone that knows this area knows it’s beautiful by itself with it’s high amount of big sea stacks. The coast is very rugged. The atmosphere completely changes with the big waves, that basically have a playground with all the massive sea stacks. I did my best to try to capture the atmosphere of those giant waves hitting the various elements, sea stacks and lighthouses.

From time to time it would be difficult to stand up because of the strong winds. We were spending hours to capture the perfect wave at different spots and basically shot for 3 full days, from early morning until the evening (with of course nice Spanish dinners and a beer as a reward). Full disclaimer: In most of these shots different waves were combined in 1 photo, for more spectacular effect.

3 days of shooting in the Basque Country, here are the shots:

Sony A7RV - Sony 100-400 GM - 250mm - F/11 - 1/800s - ISO 1600

One of the first shots, the same afternoon right after I left the plane. A different side of Gaztelugatxe, a little church on top of a rock. Standing far, using a 100-400mm lens, we could see some big waves passing from time to time. With patience, I would occasionally catch a really good one.

Sony A7RV - Sony 100-400 GM - 400mm - F/9 - 1/1600s - ISO 400

Isla de Mouro was on my list for a while. I really wanted to photograph this lighthouse with giant waves, and was not disappointed. Zooming all the way in at 400mm, the compression effect with the waves was absolutely beautiful. I shot at 1/1600s, super fast shutter speed to capture all the little details of the water and the flying birds around.

Sony A7RV - Sony 100-400 GM - 400mm - F/10 - 1/1600s - ISO 640

I spent a few hours photographing this lighthouse and experienced sunlight, dark skies, patches of light all combined with giant waves.

Sony A7RV - Sony 100-400 GM - 320mm - F/14 - 1/1250s - ISO 800

The other side of the little island the lighthouse was located on. From here, the sea was beautifully layered with its rolling waves. A little bit less dramatic than the other side, but not less beautiful.

Sony A7RV - Sony 24-70 GM II - 35mm - F/5 - 1/1250s - ISO 400

A dramatic afternoon on the coast with these giant sea stacks. Notice how high the waves were crashing into them. It’s very hard to put them into scale but these were massive. We were treated with very dramatic skies and the occasional rain shower. It was impossible to use a tripod here because the winds were absolutely wild.

Sony A7RV - Sony 24-70 GM II - 53mm - F/8 - 1/640s - ISO 400

The same sea stacks from a slightly different angle.

Sony A7RV - Sony 16-35 GM II - 16mm - F/10 - 1/250s - ISO 1000

One of the most famous sea stacks in this area for photographers. The sea and wind gave this location an entire different dimension. I’m not even sure If I have seen stormy shots from here before. The waves were crashing with high water spray bouncing off the giant sea stack. Shooting with the wide angle here, as I wanted to show the rocky foreground and big dramatic sky in the background.

Sony 16-35 GM II - 16mm - F/9 - 1/320s - ISO 800

Sony 16-35 GM II - 16mm - F/10 - 1/160s - ISO 1000

In about the timespan of 30 minutes, I encountered everything: strong rain, completely grey, light coming through, all combined with massive waves and crazy wind. This is what I love about photography. Especially on the right shot I got soaking wet.

Sony A7RV - Sony 100-400 GM - 260mm - F/7.1 - 1/1250s - ISO 2500

I took out the 100-400 to do some close ups of how the waves were crashing through the arch of the sea stack.

Sony 16-35 GM II - 16mm - F/14 - 0.6s - ISO 200

On the last morning we were greeted with this beautiful sunrise. Even though the storm died down a bit on that day, the waves were still massive, crashing up to the coastline.

Sony 16-35 GM II - 16mm - F/10 - 6s - ISO 100 - NISI Cpl & 6 stop

Our final goodbye: the last sunset of my stay, shooting at the classic Gaztelugatxe. Needless to say we closed the trip in style: A dramatic sunset with even a little rainbow popping up. I really couldn’t have asked for more

I got what I came for: photographing high waves at the many sea stacks of the Northern coast of Spain. But what I was most satisfied with is the ‘feeling alive’, with these crazy strong winds and conditions. And to share that with my good friend Jabi was a privilege. I’ll return soon, probably in a slightly quieter setting!

Gear used:

Sony A7RV

Sony 16-35 GM II

Sony 24-70 GM II

Sony 100-400 GM

Nisi Jetmag Pro filter set.

Thank you for watching.

Albert