I went over to the neighbor state Illinois today and drove up to an overlook in Palisades State Park. There, high up on the rocky bluffs, you have a great view across the frozen river. At the horizon on the left is the Iowa side of the Mississippi Valley and to the right we look upstream towards the Northwest.
The image is the result from three single shots that were merged in Adobe Lightroom. I didn’t use the tripod, just handheld the camera and twisted my upper body for each shooting position. The software does an amazing job if you have components with a clear graphic shape, like these islands in the river, and the pictures have a big enough overlap with each other.
The ice was obviously melting already last week but a drop in temperature and a thin layer of fresh snow last night restored the look of winter to the valley again. As you know I write quite often about the wildlife in the Green Island Wetlands. The lakes and marshes of this preserve are located pretty much in the center of the photo, just behind the trees near the horizon line.
Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, @ 70 mm, f/10, ISO 100, 3 images