Skyline Photography in Davenport, Iowa

Photo and story by Jason Dozier

Some evenings are perfect for cityscape photography, and some are not. This visit to Davenport was one of those not-so-great evenings for a shoot. My intention was to shoot Davenport’s small skyline from the eastside of the Mississippi River to take advantage of a colorful sunset. Unfortunately there was no colorful sunset on this evening, with mostly overcast skies.

The eastside of the river is home to the small town of Rock Island, Illinois. It has a main street with a few businesses and breweries, and is a nice area. But on this evening, there were high, constant winds. The high winds caused a slight shake in the tripod on occasion, which resulted in a good number of the photos appearing slightly out of focus.

The salvaging shot came in the final few frames of the evening from the shoreline. The image features the sloping rock wall from the shore to the top of the riverwalk area in the foreground, and the interstate bridge over the Missississippi in the background. The bridge connects Rock Island to Davenport.

Unfortunately, I waited until the setting sun had completely disappeared, as well as the horizon light, before recognizing this photo opportunity. I passed the rock staircase that leads down to the shore earlier in the evening, but bypassed it, not seeing the rock-in-the-foreground opportunity it offered.

Having a chance to redo my visit, I would concentrate on that specific area. fortunately, shooting in raw, and at 100 ISO, I was able to bring out the shadows of the rock, as well as the balanced lights of the bridge and Budweiser Baseball park in the background. The image is one of my favorites, and represents the Mississippi River well.