Here are three images, all taken on 25 Oct 2007, of Pewits Nest, in the Baraboo Hills of Wisconsin. All photos were taken with Pentax 67II, Velvia 100. Again, this is one of Wisconsin's very special places; I just can't seem to get enough of it! The first photo was taken with a 200 mm lens, while the second was with a 105mm lens. More details on the third image below...
And, finally, the third photo. This photo was taken downstream of the previous two images, from in the [cold] stream. The water was about four feet deep, loose sandy bottom, and dropping into the plunge pool fast. I'll try to go back next summer when it's warmer and get a better sense of the depth or other places to stand on the left side. And, next fall, I'll take Phil & Joel, and make them shoot from in the creek. ;) When I first arrived on this day and realized that I had this place all to myself, I recalled that I had been wanting to shoot this instream shot. So, I stripped down to my undies (the air temp was about 60F) and slowly waded in while my voice rose an octave... I went in with a wide angle lens, and this photo is severely cropped because the tree canopy was too blown out. Next time, I'd go in with a normal lens.
[Reminds of my old field biology days from college, and our little routine that we'd do: Hi, I'm Marlin Perkins, here for Wild Kingdom. Jim is in the swamp, wrestling the alligator, while I'm standing here on shore, making certain that his Mutual of Omaha life insurance is up-to-date...]
Tim
Great shots! Would love to come down and shoot again but I think I’ll keep my clothes on. Were you in the stream when you took the first two? It looked to me like the only way to get into the stream was from the east end and I couldn’t tell how deep the water was. Up in our area we had so much rain in the fall that the streams were much higher than normal. Was that the case with Skillet Creek this fall? Thanks again for pointing this location out, it is truly a magical place.
I think that you can enter on either the east (upstream) or the west (downstream), but from the west is the easier approach, and from where I started to take the third photo. The water levels were fine this fall, although they were high when I stopped by in August during the ten-day rainy spell that caused all of the flooding. The first two photos were taken from on high.
There used to be a rope hanging from the side of the canyon, so that it was possible to climb down into the area of the next to last pool. But, the rope is gone and the WDNR has posted a sign restricting climbing. I think that it's mostly so that the area isn't damaged, as well as because a woman fell while climbing there this past summer and it took the rescue team a couple of hours to get her out...
And, our three inches of snow are covered with a layer of ice. I'll have my snowblower out today, chugging and chunking along...
Tim!
Posted by Chuck Beatty on December 2, 2007 at 10:02 AM
Tim, these are all beautiful shots. I especially admire the effort you went to to get the last one. Mas huevos! I like the intimacy of the third shot, and I might crop the hot spot at the top. Nice work!
Nice images Tim. I like the second composition most. Lovely light in the gorge interior too.
How deep was the water where you took that 3rd image? I'd be game by the way for shooting there next fall...I'll be student teaching though, so I don't know if I'll be able to make it over there at that point. Hmmm. We'll see how it goes, it'd be fun to get together!
Posted by Tim Mulholland on December 3, 2007 at 11:07 AM
Joel,
I was in about four feet of water, and it was plunging fast. The bottom was sandy and giving way to the plunge pool. I'll try to go out next summer and get a better sense of how the bottom unfolds. I suspect that at the base of the plunge pool, it could be six to eight feet deep. I'm hoping to find a shelf or something similar along the "left-side" wall (as seen in the third photo), so that I could set up there and shoot more directly up the gully...
Tim - good stuff - I'm partial to the first image personally, though it seems a little yellow to me (then again, who knows with this monitor). Looks like a great place to explore though...
CJ
Posted by Mitch Erwin on December 4, 2007 at 11:13 AM
Tim,
My vote goes for the 2nd, 3rd, then the 1st one last.
2nd due to the composition and the uncluttered falls. 3rd next due to the intimateness of the shot. Great captures!
Discussion
9 repliesTim!
[Reminds of my old field biology days from college, and our little routine that we'd do: Hi, I'm Marlin Perkins, here for Wild Kingdom. Jim is in the swamp, wrestling the alligator, while I'm standing here on shore, making certain that his Mutual of Omaha life insurance is up-to-date...]
Enjoy,
Tim!
Great shots! Would love to come down and shoot again but I think I’ll keep my clothes on. Were you in the stream when you took the first two? It looked to me like the only way to get into the stream was from the east end and I couldn’t tell how deep the water was. Up in our area we had so much rain in the fall that the streams were much higher than normal. Was that the case with Skillet Creek this fall? Thanks again for pointing this location out, it is truly a magical place.
I think that you can enter on either the east (upstream) or the west (downstream), but from the west is the easier approach, and from where I started to take the third photo. The water levels were fine this fall, although they were high when I stopped by in August during the ten-day rainy spell that caused all of the flooding. The first two photos were taken from on high.
There used to be a rope hanging from the side of the canyon, so that it was possible to climb down into the area of the next to last pool. But, the rope is gone and the WDNR has posted a sign restricting climbing. I think that it's mostly so that the area isn't damaged, as well as because a woman fell while climbing there this past summer and it took the rescue team a couple of hours to get her out...
And, our three inches of snow are covered with a layer of ice. I'll have my snowblower out today, chugging and chunking along...
Tim!
How deep was the water where you took that 3rd image? I'd be game by the way for shooting there next fall...I'll be student teaching though, so I don't know if I'll be able to make it over there at that point. Hmmm. We'll see how it goes, it'd be fun to get together!
I was in about four feet of water, and it was plunging fast. The bottom was sandy and giving way to the plunge pool. I'll try to go out next summer and get a better sense of how the bottom unfolds. I suspect that at the base of the plunge pool, it could be six to eight feet deep. I'm hoping to find a shelf or something similar along the "left-side" wall (as seen in the third photo), so that I could set up there and shoot more directly up the gully...
Tim!
CJ
My vote goes for the 2nd, 3rd, then the 1st one last.
2nd due to the composition and the uncluttered falls. 3rd next due to the intimateness of the shot. Great captures!