Tag Archives: Mississippi Palisades Park

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Savanna, Illinois Revisited—June 24, 2010.

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On a blustery winter morning I find it nice to look through photos made on warm summer afternoons.

In June 2010, I had just bought my Canon EOS 7D DSLR (digital single lens reflex) and made an extended drive around the Midwest to visit friends, gather materials for a book, and test the camera. This went on for several weeks.

On the afternoon of June 24th, I revisited familiar territory along the Mississippi River at Savanna. Not yet fully trusting the digital camera, I exposed a number of slides from the top of the bluff.

A BNSF double stack container train works along the former Burlington main line near Savanna, Illinois. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 100-400mm lens set at 150mm. ISO 200.
A BNSF double stack container train works along the former Burlington main line near Savanna, Illinois. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 100-400mm lens set at 150mm. ISO 200.
Trailing view of the same stack train; exposed my new EOS 7D with 400mm lens set at 235mm. ISO 200.
Trailing view of the same stack train; exposed my new EOS 7D with 400mm lens set at 235mm. ISO 200.

I made this pair of images from river level of an eastward BNSF double stack was headed toward Chicago.

Of the two, I much prefer the second photo. For me this better portrays the railroad in its environment with a variety of secondary subjects to add interest.

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Spirit of the Mississippi—Part 2

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Savanna, Illinois.

On April 2, 1995, I spent the afternoon with Tom and Mike Danneman perched atop a bluff photographing trains along the Mississippi River. With three SD40-2s, you just know that this westbound was making a great sound along the river! Exposed on Kodachrome 25 with a Nikon F3T.
On April 2, 1995, I spent the afternoon with Tom and Mike Danneman perched atop a bluff photographing trains along the Mississippi River. With three SD40-2s, you just know that this westbound was making a great sound along the river! Exposed on Kodachrome 25 with a Nikon F3T.

A favorite location along the river was the Mississippi Palisades Park a few miles north of Savanna. Back in the mid-1990s, Mike and Tom Danneman and I would park at the public lot near river level and follow a designated hiking trail to one of several overlooks.

There standing on a plateau a top a river bluff made from millions of years of sediment, we command grand views of the river.

At the time, Burlington Northern would run a parade of trains in the afternoon and we’d photograph these roaring up and down the old Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line. This was a versatile location, good for photos at all times of the day. I don’t know that we ever tired of it.

At other times, we’d try angles from river level as well.

I often looked for angles that put the railroad in context with the river. Burlington Northern's well-polished rails glint in the evening sun on April 2, 1995.
I often looked for angles that put the railroad in context with the river. Burlington Northern’s well-polished rails glint in the evening sun on April 2, 1995.
Sunset over the Mississippi on April 21, 1996. Rock climbers make for a curious silhouette. Exposed on Fujichrome Provia 100 with a Nikkormatt FTN.
Sunset over the Mississippi on April 21, 1996. Rock climbers make for a curious silhouette. Exposed on Fujichrome Provia 100 with a Nikkormatt FTN.

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BNSF Eastbound Along The Mississippi River at Savannah, Illinois.

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BNSF Eastbound Along The Mississippi River at Savannah, Illinois.

 A Commanding View of the Mississippi River.

On June 25, 2010, I used my Lumix LX-3 to expose this backlit image of an eastward BNSF intermodal train hugging the east bank of the Mississippi River near Savannah, Illinois. My vantage point is a limestone outcropping atop the bluffs in Illinois’ Mississippi Palisades State Park

This former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy double-track line is part of BNSF’s raceway between Chicago and the Twin Cities.

A BNSF intermodal train along the Mississippi River on June 25, 2010.
General Electric DASH9 locomotives lead a BNSF intermodal train along the Mississippi River on June 25, 2010.

I exposed the image in manual mode, using the camera meter to gauge exposure for the river to avoid blowing out the highlights in the water. I turned all the automatic features, (including the auto focus) ‘off’, thus giving me a virtually instantaneous shutter release that allowed me to neatly fill the frame.

One of the difficulties with many small cameras is a ‘shutter lag’—an undesirable delay from the time the shutter button is released and the actual moment the shutter opens. This unfortunate problem handicaps a photographer’s ability to capture the decisive moment and greatly limits the potential for railway action photography. For me one of great advantages of the Lumix LX-3 is the ability to disable automatic functions and thus obviate the problems associated with a delay. The other camera’s other great advantage is its Leica Vario-Summicron  lens, noted for remarkable sharpness and clarity.

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