Went Out For A "Photo Drive"

Intimate little scene in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia (click to enlarge)
I intended to take a "photo walk" throughout the Colonial area, but all of the leaves were gone
from the trees so I went on to Plan B for the day.
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 75mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

Earlier this week, it was made clear to me that I needed to vacate our home for several hours as my wife was having friends over which would include lunch.  What to do?  Oh!  I know!  I'll go out and make some photographs!  

Well, you don't have to urge me to long or too hard to get me out to wander and find something to photograph.  I quickly agreed and decided I would drive to nearby Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia to walk the area and see what I could find.  I've been a hundred times (literally) but I always find something new and interesting to photograph in the 18th Century Colonial Capital of Virginia.  If you aren't sure what Colonial Williamsburg is you can find some in-depth information about it here and here.  Also, if you aren't sure what Colonial Williamsburg can provide as far as photographic opportunities, take a look at this gallery on my website.  I've posted many of my Williamsburg images there.  In my opinion, you could spend quite a bit of time at different times of the year and walk away with a good number of interesting photographs.

Typically, the best week in the fall to photograph Colonial Williamsburg is the second week of November.  In the spring, the best week is the second week in April.  Those two weeks bring the most color in the form of flowers and blooming trees in the spring and fall foliage in the autumn.  Addtionally, the weather is usually perfect with mild temperatures and relatively low humidity.  My little excursion was going to be a week late for peak color but last week we had driving rain for several days.  Additionally, as I have previously written, we're preparing to move from our home and the work associated with that takes up most of every day.

Sadly, when I arrived for my photo walk through Colonial Williamsburg, the leaves were almost all gone.  I guess the rain and wind last week pretty much took its toll.  I did make one image that I thought was interesting and will add it to my collection.  Onto Plan B...

One of the backroads through the Yorktown Battlefield. (click to enlarge)
There seems to always be a little more color later into the year at this 
location than in Colonial Williamsburg.
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens @ 120mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 320

Plan B was to turn my photo walk into a "photo drive" and see what raptors, birds and wildlife I could find on the nearby Colonial Parkway as well as around the original Jamestowne Settlement (1607) and archeological site.  Also as part of plan B, I would drive the almost 20 miles from Jamestowne to Yorktown Battlefield over the length of the Colonial Parkway (beautiful drive, by the way) to explore the small backroads through the woods to see what I could find there as well.

Since I anticipated a variety of situations, I grabbed my Olympus gear.  For that kit, I have focal lengths from 8mm (16mm~ FF) to 420mm (840mm~ FF) so I could handle anything I may encounter.  I ended up using the 300mm f/4 PRO lens with the MC-14 1.4x tele-converter, the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens as well as my tried and true 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens.

I did manage to see my little friend the screech owl sleeping at the opening to its
home.  If you look very closely, its right eye is just open a tiny bit, keeping an eye
on me as I maneuvered around to get as close as possible and make some images.
(click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 PRO lens + MC-14 1.4x tele-converter (840mm~ FF);
 1/1000th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 1000

I didn't come home with many images.  I have posted four here.  However, just getting out on a beautiful fall day with a crisp breeze and fresh air was invigorating.  Add to that, wandering with my camera in some of my favorite local places and I had a really good day.  I would have had a really good day if I didn't press the shutter button even once.

As I have done numerous times in the past, just grab your camera kit, head out through your door and wander around until you find something visually interesting.  I don't think you will regret it.

Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2020 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.