A return to Pine Creek this last Thursday evening produced some nice light. I have hoped to capture a decent sunset panorama in the valley – a mix of color and clouds, but no luck yet. The weekends in March haven’t yielded such a situation. It was better than total gray like previous visits. The melt has been on and the water is high again.
Pine Creek meets the Mississippi River
2019-03-17
Panoramas from a previous trip; you can see how high the water was.
This morning was pretty dull. There was not much of sunrise at all. The color was small and brief on the horizon. So brief I almost missed it prepping the drone for flight. I was happy to be out anyway with the possibility of another foot of snow coming tomorrow.
I barely drained the a battery getting this shot so captured a bit more of the town I grew up in the first 4 years of my life; a town I spend many sunrises in annually. These bluff lands are a beautiful area. It’s hard to imagine living anywhere else…ur…um, except this time of year. I could picture myself living all kinds of places. This winter needs to end.
I’ve been waiting for the month of March to get here to create some Pine Creek Panos. The sun sets for the entire month over Frontenac State Park; it lines up perfectly with the valley that Pine Creek emanates from.
The first attempt at capturing an aerial sunset from this valley was cloudy unfortunately. Hopefully one weekend this March will yield some amazing color.
Pine Creek East ViewPine Creek West View360 Sphere
This is a really beautiful spot. A very picturesque valley. I am looking forward to capturing more seasons from here.
Another finally Friday; the work week is done. I look forward to the weekends and photography sunrise/sunset. However, the forecast for this weekend looks like total crap. Freezing rain, snow, high winds – blizzard warning oh my. A recipe for a Netflix binge no doubt. I took advantage of the nice weather Friday afternoon before the storms come. It was nice to get out and fly.
First Stop
I didn’t venture too far; just across the Mississippi River from Red Wing into Wisconsin. My first stop was Pucketville right next to the Harbor Bar. There is a nice view of Red Wing from there and the Jamaican Jerk cuisine is fantastic.
Red Wing Riverfront
Red Wing Riverfront
Red Wing Bridge Construction
Harbor Bar 360 Sphere
Red Wing Boat Houses
Second Stop
I wanted to get a shot of the Trimbelle River tail waters, but wasn’t able to get a close enough. It is a bit difficult to see, but it is out in the distance about center frame. You can see the bridge over the Trimbelle River on Hwy 35 or the right side of the frame. I will have to dress appropriately next time and go for a hike. The patches of evergreens are interesting. A few hundred feet up sure offers a different perspective.
Trimbelle River Tail Waters
Third Stop
I drove around a bit more until I found myself near the gravel pit on Cty Rd VV. This area looked pretty interesting while hovering over the bluff tops. The exposed rock from the gravel pit, the road through the valley and if you look closely, you’ll see the little town of Hager City, WI in the middle of the frame.
K Gravel Pit
K Gravel Pit 360 Sphere
I really love the bluff country where I live. I look forward to photographing it from the air in all seasons.
When I arrived at Bay City Campground this a.m. if was -23F. It’s that type of weather that is so cold it hurts. The parking lots was plowed nicely. The snow on the beach was quite deep and over the height of my boots.
I tried to leave the camera outside on the tripod, but the batteries went dead in minutes in the extreme cold. I sat in the car with the heated seat on high and dashed out periodically to take some shots. It took more time to scarf and glove-up than it did to quickly dash out, snap a few frames and head back to the car before the sting of the cold became unbearable.
The clouds and steam turned out in abundance this a.m. It was another beautiful Bay City sunrise scene.
The huge temperature swing was refreshing this morning. No crazy sub-zero temps or windchill’s to contend with. Instead, we were in for a hazy February sunrise.
The crescent moon just above the horizon upon arrival was an unanticipated bonus.
Jupiter and Venus where still shining bright as were quite a few stars. It was a spectacular site.
The sunrise sequence was filled with a lot of color and wonderful clouds.
On the way home from capturing sunrise in Bay City this a.m. I made a quick stop at the back channel of the Mississippi River. The steam was rising wide and high this morning. It was a pretty magnificent sight.
I didn’t sleep in this morning. The weather forecast was good as was the Photographer’s Ephemeris Skyfire sunrise prediction. It was a titch chilly, but with a hot cup of Caribou and the proper clothing, this wasn’t going to be a big deal. It was a Brrr-b-b-beautiful sunrise. The pre-sunrise color was spectacular.
23 Frame D700 Pano25 Frame D700 Pano
The sunrise wasn’t too bad either.
At 16mm
At 150mm
Beautiful morning all-the-way-around.
Extra
A short time lapse of the sunrise and steam this morning
I know better. When in doubt…go anyway. Even in sub-zero weather. You can always go back home.
This last Friday I looked at the forecast and figured I should pass based on the cloudy forecast and pending snow. The Photographer’s Ephemeris Skyfire, however, was predicting a good sunrise.
Weather Underground
Photographer’s Ephemeris Skyfire
I elected to sleep in. By the time I woke up and looked outside it way beyond sunrise and it looked like I missed a good one despite the forecast.
By the time I reached Bay City, the snow clouds were moving in and the sun was barely visible.
Bay CityBay City
I drove to Maiden Rock to see how the ice looked there. The ice heaves are nothing closed to what they have been in years past. I stopped by the Warrentown Coulee Wayside before Maiden Rock to capture the wide-open vastness from that location.
Warrentown Coulee WaysideMaiden Rock
Lots of ice fisher people. The clouds were closing in and the light fading fast. It didn’t take long for the sun to disappear altogether. By the time I arrived back at Bay City is was almost a complete white-out.
Every time I see the steam rising off of the open water one of Abbas songs starts to play in my head with queen replaced with steam. You know the song I am referring to. Good luck getting that out of your head now. You are welcome 🙂
This a.m. I remembered my spotlight and managed a short snippet of the steam. It was -11 and the camera froze up in just under an hour.
Nikon D700 | ISO 800 | 150mm | f/7.1 | 1/160 secondNikon D700 | ISO 800 | 150mm | f/7.1 | 1/40 second
It was a pretty spectacular sunset this a.m. The color was beautiful.
Pre-surnise
Just before sunriseSunrise
Here is a panorama I shot; you can see the long line of steam
No drone photos/video this a.m. Too cloud to stand around for very long.
