A Few Hours Out Wandering With My Olympus E-M1 Mark II

The day after this year's King Tide (click to enlarge)
All images made with the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 with the exception
of this image which was made with the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 lens.
12mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

I've neglected my Olympus gear much too much this year.  Earlier this week (Monday) turned out to be a beautiful autumn day.  It was warm, sunny, the leaves had some nice color and it was a good day to grab the gear, go out, wander a bit and see what I could find to photograph.  When I left the sun was low in the sky and the light was warm.  The images you see posted here were made in the span of about 3 hours.

I grabbed my E-M1 Mark II with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens attached and grabbed the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens for good measure as well.  Add a polarizer and I was off for a few hours.  In the end, I found that I had used the 40-150mm lens almost exclusively.  That was unexpected.

With no particular place in mind, I headed to a couple of my regular haunts.  The first was Messick Point in Poquoson, Virginia which is located on the very lower Chesapeake Bay.  I then drove over to the Colonial National Historical Park (Yorktown Battlefields from the American Revolutionary War) to drive the loop roads through the woods and battlefields.  Neither place has many people around this time of year so I was pretty certain I would have both places almost to myself.

The image above is from Messick Point.  Normally, even at a normal high tide, these wetlands are not flooded as was Monday morning.  Normally, there are small channels of water running among them.  It was the day after King Tide and the water level was pretty much the same.

The image below is one that I have made numerous times, with each being just a little different from the ones before.  You can see the variety of images just from this one little scene in this post I called Variations on a Theme.  

High tide. 150mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

These rest of these images were all made around the Yorktown battlefields.  There are a couple of wonderful loop roads that guide visitors among the various Colonial and French encampments from 1781.

S-curves under the canopy. (click to enlarge)
57mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/11; ISO 320

It was at this location, above, that I had the good fortune to meet another local photographer.  Mr. Bailey, a retired NASA scientist, was out doing the same thing as me.  Over the next many minutes, we had a very pleasant conversation regarding photography as well as some local sites at which to photograph.  I find you meet the nicest people when out photographing!  I hope I encounter him again some day.  Very nice man.

48mm; 1/4000th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

150mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

40mm; 1/30th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

97mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

Variation of the above image. 40mm; 1/100th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

Lastly, up the road, around the bend and into the unknown. (click to enlarge)
79mm 1/200th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

As I said, it was a wonderful autumn day to be out with a camera and just wandering.  I call this "shutter therapy."  Whenever I feel stressed, anxious, somewhat down or just need a mental boost, grabbing my camera and heading out the door gets my juices flowing and puts me in a good mood almost instantly.

As for the Mark II, she is like an old friend.  I hadn't used her in a while and she felt good in my hands and didn't let me down.  The camera is easy to use, the lenses don't play second fiddle to any others and the small size and weight never get burdensome.  What's not to like?

Who says M4/3 cameras and lenses aren't of professional caliber?  Who says you can't produce good work with smaller sensors?  Not me!

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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