DQ Photos

Pat - these are truly excellent night photos! So hard to get good ones of the boats, but when we do, they're absolutely beautiful, all lit up like a Christmas tree.

Night photos

Pat, I agree, these are really excellent. I for one would like to see more of your night photos. And if you care to share any tips I'd like to know what you did to get such great shots.

I agree, wonderful pictures, and night shots are rare...please, more...

Boy, sure is nice to see the Eagle on the pilot house instead of that MAL logo.

You said it John. And the antlers, too. She looks good...

Thanks

Thanks for the compliments on the photos; I really appreciate it!

I took a ton more photos, but they're all along the same lines -- approach, lock-thru, and departure -- and all were taken from the same vantage points. I'll look through them again and see if there's anything really unique that I can post.

The best advice I can give for night photography is to a) work with the lighting, b) never use a flash unless you absolutely have to, and c) keep your camera steady. With night photography, lighting is everything. Without it, there would be no night photography.

First, turn off your camera's flash unless you're photographing a person standing 10 feet in front of you. Next, set your camera's aperture to a low F-stop number, such as 2 or 4, which allows more light to seep into the picture. This helps to illuminate distant subjects. Then, set the shutter speed to something slow, such as 1 or 2 seconds, which allows even MORE light to seep into the picture. Then finally, set your ISO to 200; this makes your camera less sensitive to ultra-bright, man-made lights that often monopolize pictures (the 200 ISO also reduces "grain" in the picture).

Note that the above-mentioned settings will make your camera EXTREMELY SENSITIVE to bumps, rattles, finger movements, etc. ALWAYS use a tripod AND use your camera's delay timer function. ALWAYS. I usually set my camera to fire 2-10 seconds after I press the button. That way, it's on a tripod and completely free of hand movements and other vibrations when the shutter snaps. At that time, I'm usually standing 5-6 feet away.

Also, keep in mind that Cheatham Lock is very well lit, so I had plenty light to work with.

Wow, thats what we looked like? What great shots!! The moon was an added plus the last few nights. Thanks so much for sharing.
Ginnie

Jon Tschiggfrie;10817 wrote: Pat - these are truly excellent night photos! So hard to get good ones of the boats, but when we do, they're absolutely beautiful, all lit up like a Christmas tree.

That is very true. The only good night picture I ever took of one of the boats is the Natchez.

What's the story behind the antlers?

Pat, The Golden Antlers are part of a long time tradition that is used to symbolize the fastest steamboat on the river, typically awarded when one steamboat beats another in a race, with the antlers the prize. The tradition runs back to the 19th century. The boat that was the fastest would then display the antlers as an advertisment to passengers and freight companies alike that she had proved she was the fastest. The DQ antlers are reported to be elk and the ones displayed on ther DQ are 14 point, if I remember correctly (that's typically a Delta Queen question on boat trivia day, as I remember it: "what is 7 by 7?" referring to the number of points on each side).

In the case of the Delta Queen the "race" is held annually between her and the Belle of Louisville. I put the word race in quotes as there are typically lots of rule bending and political manipulations in determining which boat actually is determined to be the winner, crossing the finish line first doesn't guarantee anything. The race is held the first week of May, on the Ohio at Louisville. For 2007, the Delta Queen was "declared" the loser despite her crossing the finish line way ahead of the Belle, and the antlers were taken down from the DQ front and given to the Belle. This year, actually three weeks ago, the Delta Queen won, so the antlers were returned and proudly re-displayed.

More Pictures

I finally got some time to go through more of my May 19th DQ pictures that I took at Cheatham Lock.

The best thing I found was a video that I shot of the DQ leaving out of the lock. Attached are some "stills" that snatched out of the video.

I'm very proud of the actual video, although it's barely over a minute long. I did some production work on it and sent it to YouTube, but the link isn't working. Once they repair the link, I will post it here.

When the DQ comes back through here (Cheatham Lock) on June 2nd, I'm going to get some more pictures and video of her.

Photos "snatched" from my May 19 video:

Pat,

There has been a schedule change...look for the DQ on June 1st as she will be in Nashville the 2nd and 3rd now.

~Travis~

Travis, thanks for the heads up!

Late August and early September will be interesting, too. A very reliable source told me that Cheatham Dam will be closed for underwater repairs and that no river traffic will be permitted through the lock. In such a case, would the Delta Queen just stop in Clarksville instead?

Pat,

The normal situation would be for the boat to land in Clarksville...you are right! I have not heard this aboard the vessel. However, I will be glad to mention it and see what I can find out for you.

~Travis~

Thanks again! You're a treasure trove of information. One more question, if you have a second....

Do they ever let visitors onboard for short tours of the boat at certain ports, like the M/V River Explorer does? I could get some REALLY nice pictures then!! 🙂

Pat, they do, but it has gotten a lot less "visitor friendly" over the years. The procedure is to give the company 24 hours notice of your request to visit OR to know a passenger that will be on board so that passenger can be paged to come down to the bow to escort you through security and around the boat. The 24 hour notice procedure is if you want to tour the boat but do not know any passengers and this procedure is discouraged a bit by the company as it ties up a crewmember while you are visiting. This method also restricts your touring the boat much as the crewmember may have to stay in a particular area to do his/her job.

So I suggest the other method of utilizing a passenger to get you onboard. The August 19th DQ cruise, Nashville to Cincy, is coming through your way. I'm sure the 9 (at least) dot.orgers onboard that cruise, including obviously Deb and me, can accomodate you. At the security checkpoint at the end of the stage on land request to see a particular passenger BY NAME. Security will radio up to the purser who will page the passenger to 'come git you'. I'm sure through e-mails, we can figure out a time and landing that works for you. I will tell you that on August 20th the company is providing a complementary tour of Fort Donelson, so on that day I suspect the boat will be relatively empty...You will also need a photo ID and security will also search through any packages, including cameras, that you bring onboard.

Now I will say that the procedures above were in place last year and am assuming they are still the same this year. I know that all visits to the engine room are out now...

I'll chime in with Bruno too, as we're one of the at least 9 FRNs on board. When I heard "NO more engine room visits" Linda's response was, "We're NOT canceling." I hope by August some saner minds will be in charge and we can go visit her "heart" beating. (if there's beating, something's not right!!). No Hot Dogs, NO Engine room viists, egads, have they already beached her???
S'
David D.

Bruno, visitor policy has been tweaked even more. On the trip that Pat has so beautifully photographed we had friends from Evansville who visited us in Henderson. We had to fill out a form 24 hrs in advance and then their names were given to First Mate (I think) for approval. They were on the guest list in Henderson but we still had to meet them at the stage. Photo IDs still required and must be left at the check in point. Luckily I had asked the purser enough ahead of time so that it worked out fine. There should be no problem for Pat with so many of us onboard the Aug 19 trip as long as we co-ordinate it in advance.
David, I don't think the engine room policy will change but look at it this way. Without the engine room visits or the hot dogs you may actually show up on time in the dining room for dinner!! Linda should be quite happy!!
And Pat, we really like your photos and videos. We're somewhere on the main deck outside the forward cabin lounge. She sure looks "purty" at night.
Thanks for sharing.

Hhhhm, just wondering if we´re still allowed to visit the DQ? 🙂

So far plans are to drive down to Louisville after the Twilight trip and chase the DQ on the Aug 19 cruise and meet up with her in Madison on Aug 25th and maybe go on to Cincy. As there´s a bunch of people on the Aug 26th cruise too. We´re going to follow the DQ down to Louisville.

Carmen

No problem, Carmen, we'll get you on - just have to have that 24 hour notice. The other thing, they are requiring that the person that brings guests aboard has to stay with them ALL OF THE TIME - so makes it hard to ask a Crew member, who would have to 'baby-sit' their guests the entire visit - they have been threatened with the loss of their job, if guests are allowed to roam around the boat. So it's easier to ask pax, since we'd all probably hang out together anyway.

They may be afraid, that since it's perhaps the DQ's last year, that we would 'take' things. There's nothing left that any of us want, since they purged the boat of anything meaningful a couple of years ago. Everything that said DQSC or steamboatin' went in the dumpster - now everything is what MAL has allowed us to have, and most of us do not want any of it. It's an insult that they consider us a 'danger' to the boat - if anything, we're extra security. We know the DQ so well, that we would notice quite quickly if anything unusual was going on.

We do have a bunch on the August 19th trip - I've counted 12 so far - and the same number on the following week. It's great the way it all worked out that we were able to book the same trips. Since we're all traveling less this year, we don't see each other nearly as often as we used to.

Look forward to seeing the three of you.....................

Pat

David, my friend, what I know you meant to say was this: "...we're at least TWO of the FRN's on board..." repeat after me: TWO...the other half (and better half I might add) of your "TWO" is continually convincing you not to cancel, right? So she needs the credit of being the ultimate FRN... 😉

And Carmen, this is just too cool...

So to Carmen and Pat, let any of us know when and where and it will be no problem. E-mail one of us, before August 19th obviously, and we'll get it done. Here's ours:

[email protected]

Pat,

I wish I could say they do. However, due to Homeland Security measures to protect their passengers their policy is not to have guests aboard at any time. The passengers have the ability to have guests come aboard at the ports of call so long as they make the Pursers Office aware of the guest with a full name 24 hours before the guest is expected aboard.

When I was on vacation I was invited aboard by a passenger who had to put my name on the guest list 24 hours before as well.

Sounds like you have several friends already willing to get you on...so enjoy the boat...for she is truly a National Treasure and not to be missed! You will understand the moment you walk aboard her...I can't explain it here. I don't think words can explain the DELTA QUEEN.

~Travis~

Bruno, I claim dyslexia, that's my story and I'm stickin' too it (BTW, it IS true too). But, yes, you're right.
S'
David D.

I will never live that one down, will I? Oh well, someone has to provide entertainment for the FRNs!
Besides, there's still gonna be Sunsets, or has Homeland security prohibited our watching & photographing them too??
S'
David D.