Me and the Mississippi River have an old story. When I was a little girl I was super good @ Spelling Bee, I always made it far but when I was in second grade I made it to the finals. In the final round of that competition there was only another girl and me to choose the absolute champion, it was my turn and my word was… yep you guess correctly MISSISSIPPI! and I missed an S… and lost! Ever since, every time I listen to the word Mississippi I spell it, and I always felt like that river owed me something. This was my first time “meeting” it, and oh boy did it pay it’s dues! Right form the first time I saw it via facetime I liked it, but then being there, floating on its waters and just enjoying all the wonderful sights was an out of this world experience. Needless to mention the sunsets that deserve a post on their own.
I was lucky enough to go 4 times! The second time I spent almost all day on the boat fishing, shooting and enjoying the ride. We started the day really early and got to capture some other boaters and fishermen as they started their day too. The light was wonderful, even the place where we parked was awesome! it has a very nice wooden bridge that looked fantastic with the early morning light.
I truly believe that images are worth more than words so here is a huge collection of some of my favorite images of the Mississippi on that photoshoot day.
It was impressive to see the endless sea of green as we left the shore and all the birds floating on the river.
Two of them floating on the river
The fishing went very well, they got 5 fish and Aven was a happy camper!
After a couple hours of fishing we had to take the boat out of the water because the sky was turning black and a storm was announced. But we went to Sabula to eat a late breakfast and waited for the storm to pass.
The storm was only a little rain so we went into the river again, to the place where Eric thought we could find some eagles, and we sure did! It was a young one though, so no white head.
Next was Bird Island, but first we made a stop to photograph the White Eagle II, a beautiful boat we found on the way!
One of my favorite parts of the River were the bridges, very interesting photo subjects.
On our way to Bird Island we stopped in another place where Eric thought we could see some more eagles, and Bingo! there it was the Adult bald eagle with white head and all! I couldn’t see it at first but the river expert said it was there that I better start shooting some photos before it flew so I did, and sure it was!! what a beautiful bird!
Finally we got to Bird Island
On our way back I saw the most adorable floating home with a family floating happily on the river. We got closer to take some photos and realized the guy on the floating home was taking photos too, I shot a few of him and he shot a few of me shooting him :). Don’t miss the windows on the last photo! One of my faves for sure! I could easily live in one of this floating home and go up and down the river taking photos!
As I said before I had a terrific tour guide with a great pair of eyes that knew exactly where to look to find the eagles and the wild life; that explained me a lot about the river and dams, the level of the water and the bridges, he answered all my questions and had an extreme patience with me and my photo taking addiction, that is not easy! Thanks Eric, you rock! I learned a lot about the river and the wild life and I absolutely love my photos. I am a happy camper too!
An awesome day @ the river for sure!
