The American Queen Steamboat

*********BREAKING NEWS UPDATE********
Little did I know when taking photos and video that a few houses prior porters were robbed of luggage at gunpoint. See updated post above.

But I don't think its steam powered anymore. My mother-in-law had rotator cuff surgery on Tuesday so my wife and child are in Iowa taking care of Grandma, leaving me to my own devices. I looked forward to getting out to shoot photo and video. The problem is it was so (chose your favorite explicative) hot this week that I chose to stay inside in the cool. It finally cooled down today with the trade-off being stormy and cloudy skies.

The American Queen before departing for points south on July 20, 2013. St. Louis, Mo.

-- Ed Rahe Photo

I drove downtown after work and was surprised to see the American Queen moored at the levee. It is the only passenger cruise boat cruising the western rivers since the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen are no longer in service. The Queens normally departed port at 7 p.m. more-or-less, so I went home, ate supper, fed the dog, etc., and got back to the riverfront at about 7 p.m. The boat actually departed somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45; I did not look at my watch. It headed upbound to the Eads Bridge and made a wide turn and headed back South. I got this shot as it went underneath the Poplar Street Bridge. Though there would have been plenty of time to catch another shot at JB Park or Cliff Cave Park downriver it started raining as I started to drive that way. It was getting dark, and did I mention the lighting? Not good. So, better shots some other time.


I've been reading about shooting stock video and it sounds like something to consider. This clip though isn't up to snuff. The big problem is my Nikon D3200, while it has a nice built in video feature for capturing home movies, does not shoot in true HD. Secondly, I was stabilizing the camera on a monopod which is not as good as a tri-pod. Thus the shakey video. Still its good enough for my personal archive. And, as I always say, it will hopefully be more interesting in 20 years.