Lock & dam #11, Mississippi River, Dubuque, IA
Going to the same places over and over again and coming back with a photo that tells a story a little different than the last one can be a challenge. Even more true if the sky has nothing to offer, either being plain blue, hazy, or just gray.
A week ago I stopped briefly at the lock & dam #11 in Dubuque, Iowa. The commercial barge traffic is of course closed for the season. A photo with the closed miter gate in the foreground and the ice slowly drifting down the Mississippi would have told this story, but something was missing. When the man in his bright overall crossed the lock on top of the miter gate, I knew immediately I had a better shot. The person gives the eye something to hang onto and to return to after the rest of the image is explored.
Mississippi River, John Deere Marsh, Dubuque, IA
The second photo is from today. It was taken at the end of the dyke at John Deere Marsh, just about three mile upstream of lock & dam #11. The dyke reaches deep into the Mississippi River, all the way to the main channel, and during the barge traffic season you can watch the boats coming by very close. Compared to last week not much has changed. Ice still floats down the river, gets jammed at some places, and breaks loose again. The sky was again nothing but boring. Without any boats there is really not much that would give a photo across the water much scale, except for this marker. The story is the same in both pictures (river not frozen over yet, floes coming down the river, no snow on the ground…) and the marker on its little island is just my anchor point.
Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4