Shooting the Red Tide with Nick Isabella
Over the past month, the Red Tide has taken the SoCal coast by storm. The bioluminescent algae lights up the coastline and each time the phenomenon occurs photographers from all over come to our beaches to try to capture the glow and give its brilliance proper justice.
One of our favorite captures was by a San Diego-based photog who regularly works in Orange County. We caught up with Nick Isabella to get a glimpse behind the shot.
First things first, for those that don’t know, explain what bioluminescent algae is and how often it happens?
The bioluminescent algae are microscopic plankton that glow in the dark when agitated or disturbed -- so when they are present in the ocean and a wave crashes, they light up the waves so they appear bright blue.
It’s a chemical reaction, similar to how a firefly lights up at night.
The algae show up somewhere along the coast pretty much every year, but the amount that grows and its location differs depending on ocean conditions… so sometimes we won’t be able to see it at all. This year, however, was particularly strong and hasn’t been this spectacular since 2011.
It’s nicknamed the Red Tide, although the name is counterintuitive because the waves glow blue at night, but during the day the algae actually make the ocean look a rusty brownish red color. It can last from a few days to nearly a month.
Do you specialize in adventure photography?
The truth is, adventure and outdoor photography is not my usual genre. I work mostly as a commercial fitness photographer for clothing and shoe brands as well as a lot of different types of fitness studios, like HIIT training, yoga, and pilates. But because of the current stay-at-home order, most of those types of clients are shut down right now so I’ve been venturing out a bit and trying some new things creatively.
How did the idea for the midnight shoot come about? Tell us about the process that it took to get the shot?
The algae started showing up just a few weeks into the stay-at-home order, but a fellow photographer friend of mine who lives right by the ocean snuck in a few stunning late-night photos of it and sent them to me. It was amazing to see and I knew I had to get out there and take a look. The day after the beaches opened back up for movement activities I went to check out the waves in La Jolla and they did not disappoint. I started thinking about how I could capture them in a way that I hadn’t already seen from other photographers.
I decided I wanted to put a person in the shot, because the photography I love always involves people. My friend, Breanna Danielle (@macro.mermaid), was the model and I rounded up a couple more friends who often assist me on shoots and we made a plan to meet at midnight just south of Scripps Pier in La Jolla.
I knew the process to capture these photos was going to be a logistical nightmare.
I needed to use a long exposure (10-15 seconds), fire a flash remotely in the middle of the exposure, get a shot where the model stayed perfectly still for up to 15 seconds, and we had to capture it all while a particularly long and bright wave was crashing. Oh, and the wave had to crash in frame. So… there were a lot of variables.
But after some test shots and quite a few less-than-perfect photos, we got what we needed. What I ended up doing for a couple of the final photos was to create a composite of two shots: one where Breanna was posed and lit properly and staying impeccably still, and then one where the waves were particularly vibrant. After that it was really just a matter of basic color correction and dodging/burning to create the final image.
What kind of feedback on social media have you been getting since publishing the photos?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The people who have been able to see the waves in person have told me that the waves were captured really well, and those who have never seen it were mystified by the natural phenomenon. I even had someone ask me if it was still happening so they could fly out from Texas to see it! Everyone in the area has been inundated with images of the waves, but I think the ones we captured were unique because we incorporated a person that stands out as an integral focus of the composition.
To experience more of Nick’s photos, visit him on Instagram at @nickisabella.photography.