Chain of Rocks Canal - landscape photography

Chain of Rocks Canal
Photograph by Tom Atwood

The Chain of Rocks Canal was built in the 1950s so traffic on the Mississippi River could bypass the dangerous "chain of rocks" north of St. Louis. It helped create a lovely, strange island near Granite City known as Choteau Island, a winter home for Bald Eagles, farms and a landfill. I think.

Shutter: 1/20; Aperture: f/22 (don't ask me why); ISO: 200; Focal Length: 18 mm

Impressionism

Mississippi River at the Chain of Rocks
Photograph by Tom Atwood

This is about as abstract as I get. Generally in landscape photography the goal is to create a a fairly accurate representation of reality. But capturing the energy of the Mississippi River at the one point where it becomes unnavigable, the "chain of rocks," is impossible in a short freeze frame. So, a longer exposure (6/10's of a second) is needed to reveal the river's movement over the anticline exposure. It also gives the overall image a surreal appearance, enhanced in editing by desaturating the photo. Shutter: .6 seconds; Aperture: f/22; ISO: 100; Focal length: 18 mm