Wind - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

Mckenzie Keth
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Taking senior pictures outdoors--or any portraits, really--is risky. Sometimes I feel like a farmer, who looks to the sky, knowing he is at the whim of the weather. But the farmer and I make the best of it. What else can you do? On this blustery day along the Mississippi River at Alton, Mckenzie Keth faced a constant wind of at least 20 mph, with fantastic gusts, like the one that blew the hair across her face and helped create this unusual portrait.

Shutter: 1/320; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 35 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