Great Falls Apr 2014 0007Spring Day at Great Falls, VA

With the Italy trip only 3 days away I went to the Great Falls on Sunday to do a little landscape practice with my new m.zuiko 9-18mm. Specifically I wanted to try some focus techniques to yield maximum depth of field. I was satisfied with the lens performance. It was a wonderful early spring day and the Virginia bluebells are just beginning to bloom. The park was full of people enjoying the weather and the view. The Great Falls are strongly linked to early United States history. George Washington strongly advocated for a canal around the falls and to make the Potomac river a gateway to the interior and the Ohio valley. Remnants of that canal, abandoned by 1830, remain visible. In the park today, one comes in direct contact with the changing faces of America. The original canal was built by a mix of European and black labor. Today an amazing mix of ethnicities and languages are among the people visiting the park. Some of course are tourists, but Northern Virginia is probably as diverse demographically as any area of the country. Regardless of one's background, we all can enjoy the grandeur and power of the Great Falls. And though Washington's canal lasted just a few years, the country of democratic ideals that he helped build lives on and has expanded to include people from all over the world. Both pictures captured with OMD E-M5; top - m.zuiko 9-18mm@9mm, f6.3, ISO200, 1/1000s, bottom- m.zuiko 40-150mm@62mm, f5.6, ISO 200, 1/1250s.

Great Falls Apr 2014 0023Spring Day at Great Falls, VA