Jonathan Nimerfroh is a surf and lifestyle photographer who lives in Nantucket, an island 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. He owns three photography businesses namely JDN Photography, Nantucket Salt and Runaway Bride Nantucket.
Jonathan travels worldwide when the opportunities to surf become limited on his island. His photographs of the “Slurpee Waves” recently became a viral internet sensation.
Here's the story behind the Slurpee Waves that Jonathan captured – this is what Jonathan has to say:
These frozen wave photos were taken during my daily surf check.
When I pulled up to the beach I could see the horizon just look strange. When I got to the top of the dunes I saw that beginning about 300 yards away from the shoreline the ocean was starting to freeze.
The high temperature that day was around 19 degrees. The wind was howling from the southwest which would typically make rough or choppy conditions not so good for surfing, but since the surface of the sea was frozen slush, the wind did not change the shape.
What resulted was perfect, dreamy, slushy waves.
Most waves were around 2 feet with some larger sets slushing through around 3 foot or waist high. What an experience to be absolutely freezing on the beach watching these roll in while I mind-surfed them!
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
The next day I drove up to see if they had melted but, beginning that same 300 yards away from shore, the water had frozen solid and there were no waves at all.
I've been asking all the fishermen and surfers I know if they have ever seen such a thing and they have all reported that this is the first they’ve witnessed, the result of it being the coldest winter they’ve had in 81 years!
I guess the people I asked weren't old enough to remember a colder winter than this!
Jonathan's Accomplishments
Jonathan’s award-winning photography has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Stay Wild Magazine and many more. He is also the proud member of The Photographers Alliance of Nantucket and his work is currently being exhibited exclusively at the Samuel Owen Gallery.
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Image by Jonathan Nimerfroh
Further Resources
If you are inspired by Jonathan's work, feel free to check out his social media links below for more of his work.
Further Learning
Seeing the Light and Understanding Post Processing.
This eBook is made up of three sections which cover the use of a flash, a reflector and natural light.
Learn How to See the Light and Do Your Post Processing…..Properly.
3 Comments
Wow, Dahia, they’re amazing images!
awesome …how about technical details…?
First let me say: they are nice photographs: Jonathan does a nice job. However, these photos drive me crazy: I live on Nantucket and was walking on the beach those same days. The scene was amazing: the muffled sound of the slushy waves was what I remember best. However, do people think these waves were frozen solid? These went viral and I watched the comments…and it seems that people think these were ‘frozen waves’ that were frozen motionless. This article does nothing to dispel this interpretation. The fact is that the waves were breaking like any other waves, and weren’t frozen at all. I seriously think that a majority of viewers of these photos think they were actually frozen waves. Also, we had similar waves one day this winter and I’ve seen similar conditions several times in the past in less cold weather. It’s not that uncommon although more common in calmer water than this particular week.