Great Falls Virginia on the Wild Side

We visited Great Falls National Park in the morning recently after lots of rain.  It is a wonderful place to photograph the sunrise.  The current was strong and exciting.  I'd never even heard of Great Falls before moving to Maryland.  There is a quite interesting history behind the falls if you are curious, including a time when they tried to use it for a canal and it more recently had a carousel amusement.

 

 

The park is on the border between Maryland and Virginia in Fairfax County, near Washington DC.  It is a great place to visit anytime in the year.  It is also very popular for walking your pet (on a leash of course) and hiking.

Fun things to photograph at Great Falls include the C and O Canal, birds (like great blue herons, geese, turkey and black vultures), deer, kayaks and the falls themselves.

I am also including a photo of a rainbow in the falls.  How many colors can you see in my photo?

Expect the Unexpected

On Oct 14th,I was wandering around St. Mary's College of Maryland looking for pictures of leaves for a St. Mary's County Camera Club competition.   Often I don't find the photo I plan to get, but find something else even better.  I was amazed to see waterlilies in October in the small pond. 

The lily pads were interesting too.  If you are familiar with old video games, the leaves reminded me of an old game.  Feel free to guess. 

Then, I saw an unexpected treat near sunset.    With photography you always need to be prepared for the unexpected.  It is worth having several lenses with you just in case.  That's life I guess! 

By the way,  I didn't find any good leaf pictures that day, but  I hope to get some soon.

(See also Jan 6, 2011 for a similar theme blog post)