Fifty Minutes In Colonial Williamsburg With An Olympus E-M1 Mark II and Olympus 12-100mm f/4 PRO Lens; Part I

Colonial Re-Enactor, French General (click any image to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 Pro lens @ 28mm; 1/2500th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

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Yesterday was a beautiful, albeit unseasonably cold and windy, spring day.  The sky was blue with a sprinkling of puffy cumulus clouds.  The humidity was low and the day had the kind of sky we photographers like for so many occasions. Carolina Blue, as some south of here might say.

Since I had nothing scheduled that had to be accomplished for the day I decided to make the short drive to Colonial Williamsburg, the privately owned preserved and restored colonial capital of Virginia from the 18th century.  If you haven't visited but enjoy American history, Colonial Williamsburg is as an authentic an experience as can be had as well as it being located near Jamestown and Yorktown. I would encourage you to visit.  Even though it is privately owned and managed, most of grounds are available to the public for no charge so it makes taking a photo walk throughout the historical area pleasurable.

Since the tourist season has not yet commenced, Colonial Williamsburg was sparsely populated with only a few groups of school children and mostly fellow retirees, such as myself, casually strolling and listening to the costumed re-enactors giving history lessons.  Much of the time I felt as though I had the place to myself which is nice as compared to summer when it is quite crowded.

Usually, the 2nd week in April is the peak week for spring color, with the residents opening their gardens to visitors.  (Yes, people live in the 18th century homes throughout the historical area.)  However, I suspect due to the extended cold weather we have had locally and across the country, the gardens were sparse with a few beds of tulips, some wisteria and various other blooming flowers showing color.  Mostly, however, the gardens will be much more colorful in a few weeks when the weather finally reflects spring.  FYI, the 2nd week in November is typically the peak fall color week, if you plan on visiting and want to make note of that.

I grabbed my Olympus E-M1 Mark II with the usually attached 12-100mm f/4 Pro lens and just went for a casual walk in the colonial area.  A photo walk of sorts, you could say.  As I said, it isn't yet tourist season so there wasn't much going on but the day was beautiful and I try to practice "seeing" and photographing as much as I can.  I ended up only staying 50 minutes and made about 18 or so images that I feel I can share.  These are mostly "postcard" style images, nothing noteworthy.  I'll post half today and the other half on Friday.

I will have to say that the small size and light weight of the Mark II along with the combination's excellent image quality, versatility and close focus ability of the 12-100mm lens was all I needed.  Combine that little camera with that high quality lens and that is all one really needs for a photo walk.  A real joy to use.

I really encourage you to visit, not only for Colonial Williamsburg's historical significance, but also for photographic reasons.  I literally have hundreds of images I've made through all four seasons over the past many years I've lived in the area and I always see more interesting subjects each time I visit.

More next post so come back.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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