No Fishing Today

No Fishing Today, a photo by meagan.porter on Flickr.

Taken at South Park in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, March 2011.

Having grown up in Reedsburg, I know that South Park can always be counted on for a good flood picture. It was the first place I headed following that epic storm in June 2008, when the Baraboo River jumped its banks and flooded a few neighborhoods in Reedsburg. Back then, two blue herons were basking on the other side of the road, which had just washed out. At the time I remember thinking that was the coolest shot I was going to get. Boy was I wrong.

Anyway, the access road into South Park was covered in a few inches of ice when I headed over there last week, making for a nail-biting and perilous drive into the park. The river was already butting up next to the road and my brain kept saying, "Just one slip. That's all it would take is just one slip." If I was smart, I would have parked by the Ballwegs' and just walked into the park, but another part of my brain kept saying, "I'm only going to be here a minute. I'll make it quick." Like nature cares.

I also don't think I've been back to South Park in at least a year, since I was smart enough to drive on the unplowed access road and got so stuck that my parents had to pull me out. Fantastic.

Anyway, there were no catastrophes on this trip in. I drove as far as I could on that ice slicked road just up to the point where it had washed out, which I was actually surprised to see. I have no idea how deep the water was but I wasn't about to find out. If I had rain boots on, maybe, but I was unprepared. The water had flowed across the road and into the pond across the street, which had also overflowed.

I took a few shots, focusing on the part I found most interesting, which was the water over the fishing pier. Normally there's at least a few feet between the pier and the river level. The road extends from the bottom right corner of the photo and out toward the center of the photo, where it is washed out. The pond was to the left and behind me, and some of the shallower water had frozen over. The water overflowing from the river was pushing against it, which is what created this neat effect.

When I was a kid, we never played here much as it's almost a mile from my parents' house. But whenever we found a critter in the road or backyard (mostly giant turtles), they were always released into the Baraboo River at this point. I'm not sure what originally designated this as our release point, but that's the way I'll always think of it - driving down the access road late one night, lights glowing on the Waste Water Treatment Plant over the hill, backseat filled with some giant turtle we rescued from the middle of the road. The last time this happened, I begged my brother to let him go instead of selling him, and we did. Jimmy had placed him gently on the muddy banks of the Baraboo River just to the side of the pier in the photo, half in and half out of the water. The turtle paused a moment as if to ask if the coast was clear, then propelled himself at a straight diagonal into the brown water, and disappeared.

Baraboo River Busts Out

Baraboo River Busts Out, a photo by meagan.porter on Flickr. Published in the Reedsburg Independent, March 31, 2011. Taken off South Webb Avenue in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, March 2011.

This photo was taken last week Thursday, when the Baraboo River in Reedsburg was much higher and people were starting to get antsy. The June 2008 floods are still fresh in everyone's minds and while I didn't see anyone filling up sandbags yet, I know several people were keeping a nervous eye on the rising river levels. In the photo at the right, the water had seeped over the banks of the river and into some marshy low-spots, typical of spring flooding. I wouldn't worry until it gets across the road to the city's substation.

With a few dry days, the water levels have since gone down, much to everyone's relief. The TV news was making it sound like we had another catastrophe on our hands, with all the snow we got over the winter and the rain now, and everything melting. Maybe in a couple of years everyone will be used to it and resume ignoring them again.

I was looking for a way to take an interesting high water photo when I happened to catch this scene out of the corner of my eye. I'm not a fan of photos of trees poking out of flood water; it's very difficult to make something like that interesting. My editor took a nice one of trees poking out of water that had frozen over, but the one I liked more wouldn't have reproduced well and we didn't have room in this week's paper anyway. My photo above made it in though.

Anyway, there was a high water scene I liked better but as I don't yet trust myself with night shots, I just didn't go for it, scared of the disappointment. I got home late after a school board meeting last night and the streetlights from Main Street and Lakeside Foods were reflecting off the water surrounding the trees and marsh in my parents' backyard, not something you normally see. It was a nice, eerie, golden-toned photo, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to reproduce what I saw, so I chickened out.

The scene above was something I saw a couple days later, driving down South Webb. I stopped anyway even though I knew we weren't going to have any room for the photo in the paper. There's no good spot to park on that street, so I left my car on the access road that goes around the city shop, in front of a sign that said something like "No Access" or "No Trespassing" or "Not a Through Road," something like that. The road was washed out a few feet in front of my car, so I didn't think anyone would mind. I hiked back to this spot and stood on the guard rail that goes across the bridge to get this shot. It was a little perilous but I was fine. It's due to situations like that, though, that I've started to consider keeping a ladder in my car. I'm only five feet tall, and I've been in several situations the last few weeks where that was just too short and I needed another foot or two to get the angle I wanted. Maybe if I can find a small one... anyway, the guard rail sufficed in this situation.

I like the photo above because I managed to get the "Baraboo River" sign (right), the "Got Cheese?" sign (yellow, behind the Baraboo River sign), and the Reedsburg water tower (center, slightly left) all in one shot. You might have to enlarge the photo to see the water tower but I thought it was neat they all kind of lined up like that.

We had to lighten the photo quite a bit for the paper (printed on yellowish paper instead of white), but the photo above is the original before it was edited for print.

Downtown Dells

Downtown Dells, a photo by meagan.porter on Flickr.

Taken in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, 2010.

I have always been fascinated with the view from the lookout point on the Wisconsin River, just off the strip in the Wisconsin Dells. It's a Riverwalk the city obviously spent a lot of money to build. It runs between the Wisconsin River and a public parking lot.

I think that few people appreciate the significance of the view from that point. From one single point, you see so many facets of the Dells' past, present and future. You see the river itself, the foundation of the entire Dells itself, the natural area and what made it so appealing to early settlers. Then you see the railroad bridge and beyond that, the dam, the modern technologies of the 1800s that allowed the Dells to grow and flourish. They brought industry, people, electricity to the Dells. To the lower left you can see the Dells' boat docks where scenery tour ships launch to bring people closer to the natural beauty of the Wisconsin Dells. Then from the same point you can see rollercoasters jutting out over the treeline, the symbol of the Dells in the last 30 years and the prosperity that has come from them. If you turn slightly to the left, you can see the downtown strip lined with tacky souvenir shops and tourist traps, what John Steinbeck called "the litter of our times."

And the future? Who knows.

The above photo was shot directly into the setting sun to maximize the silhouette of the "Riverwalk" sign.

Looking Down on You

Ever get this look from your cat?

Fiona has become very protective of the slim and fleeting ray of early spring sunlight streaming in from our skylight in the mid-morning. She follows it around the room, perching wherever it may land. In this particular photo, she had (obviously) grown tired of my excitement over the dramatic lighting on her white fur and pink ears and was giving me that classic "if you know what's good for you" cat look.

She's been without that ray of sunlight since last fall. I don't blame her one bit.

Take Me To Your Leader

Monona Terrace, October 2010.


I love the wacky architecture and unexpectedness of Monona Terrace in Madison. I've taken photos there before, striving to be different than the stereotypical touristy looking photos. The photo above captures that, I think.

It was taken after a particularly gluttonous trip to the Great Dane for dinner when John and I attempted to consume a turtle sundae for dessert. Big mistake. It was huge! I joked that we were going to have to be rolled down the hill toward home. Instead we waddled over to Monona Terrace, trying to walk off all that ice cream.

I barely remember taking this photo but I'm quite proud of it, as I haven't quite figured out how to take effective night shots. I have also been struggling to find a way to make those light fixtures look interesting; it has been difficult for me to capture the angles I can clearly see in person but have been unable to recreate on camera. The photo above does both nicely.