Weis Rock Shelter – An Ancient Nezperce Home4 min read time

Located about 9 miles from Cottonwood Idaho, Weis Rock Shelter is a niche in the side of the basalt cliffs where the Nezperce people

dwelt for thousands of years. Of course they didn’t always stay there since they traveled all around from the buffalo country in Montana to the Joseph plains in Oregon across the Salmon River from the area where Weis Rock Shelter is located. Archaeologists have found worked round river rock, antler and bone tools in the area along with many bones of deer, bison, sheep and others. Food was plentiful because of the camas roots that they dug on the Camas Prairie and the abundant wildlife in the area. The rock shelter is also close to the Salmon River where fishing is and was good. Today, the sign on the premises says that it has been partially back-filled for protection. There are many large thorny bushes also covering much of the shelter. This next image is looking down Graves Creek road toward the Salmon River. The morning light was so nice on the far mountain. I used the Ice 10 stop ND filter to be able to expose the picture for longer and get a softer sky with cloud movement.

Just up the road is a nice little spring that runs down the cliff into a little pool. I started out there and took this shot with no filter and was able to smooth the water out a little with a 1/2 second exposure.

 

That was really pushing it and the sky is a little overexposed, so I tried out the Ice 10 stop ND filter and was able to get this lovely image.

I am happy with the results that I got. I like the image much better than the one without the filter. The water movement comes out so smooth by doing a long exposure. My camera will only go to 30 seconds on it’s own though so I had to use the Triggertrap cord connected to my cellphone to set the shutter time longer. Triggertrap has a great app for doing this and also timelapse shots and can even trigger your camera by sound or movement. Heres a link to the Triggertrap TT-TRAP Phonetrap, Hot Shoe, Tripod Smartphone Holder for iPhone and Android (Black) which is a holder for your cellphone that goes in your hotshoe slot.

Next I went across the street to Graves Creek and slid down the rocks to find a cool shot of the creek and wildflowers. Again I took a shot with just my Sony SEL24240 FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Zoom Lens for Mirrorless Cameras and no filter so that i could see the difference when I added the ICE 72mm ND1000 Filter Neutral Density ND 1000 72 10 Stop Optical Glass . Here are the results.

No Filter:

With Ice 10 stop ND filter:

Yes that was 5 MINUTES! I love how it came out! I did basic Lightroom adjustments, got rid of some distracting weeds around the edges in Photoshop and used my favorite program for toning ON1 Effects 10 FREE . Watch for some workflow tutorials from me in the near future!

This area is just amazing in the Spring. On the way out of the canyon I noticed some really bright wildflowers along the old Camas Prairie Railroad. I was amazed and had to get this shot to show you.

I mean, what photographer could pass that up? Ok, I saved the best for last! I also shot a 360 degree video of my shoot that you can click and drag to look all around while watching. It’s like your hanging out with me there. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with me? Lol. Well, at least it’s an awesome place to check out. I shot the video with the Ricoh Theta S Digital Camera (Black) 360 degree camera. Heres the video. Be sure to click and drag as you watch. ALSO CHANGE THE QUALITY BECAUSE YOUTUBE STARTS IT AT THE LOWEST QUALITY.

I shamelessly linked to all of the gear that I used above except for my camera. Here’s that Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Body Only (Black) (ILCE7RM2/B) . If you like any of these items and decide you want one, please follow my links as I will get a little commission and be able to afford more gear to show you! If you don’t have the Ice ND Filter, go buy one. What an awesome difference it made. ICE 72mm ND1000 Filter Neutral Density ND 1000 72 10 Stop Optical Glass

To see the other shots from this trip Click Here.

What do you think of the 360 degree videos? I’m going to mount the camera on a tripod next time.