Thursday at Eden

Eden Park is one part of the city of Cincinnati that I know and like. I am a country girl, born and bred in small towns, and never comfortable in the urban landscapes of the world. But, on top of a hill not far from the big, scary city and overlooking the Ohio River is a little bit of heaven called Eden Park. The art museum is there, and the Playhouse in the Park, an outdoor amphitheater called Seasongood Pavillion, and Krohn Conservatory. There is also something a little special, which you will see later.
My cousin and I met there today, for some time away from our everyday lives, and a slow, peaceful visit. We live too far away from each other for casual drop-ins, and were looking for a point half-way between our rural homes for some girl time. We are both learning our new digital SLR cameras, so we decided on a visit to the conservatory to practice photography. Too bad that Krohn's was closed for major renovations! No matter, we drove on to the top of the hill, to the overview of the Ohio River and the small park with a reflecting pool, ducks, gardens, bridges and statues all ready to pose for our lenses.

the Ohio River, looking east
Kentucky on the right

sunlight on water, so difficult to capture well

Dori, photographing the perennial garden

I spend a good bit of time working on just the right shot of this bridge. Standard angle, color photo - nice enough, but nothing special.

Same angle, in black and whiteand sepia. (Why have all these features if you don't use them?)

Different angle = more imaginative, less static.The bridge is going somewhere, and you are compelled to follow along.

Catching spots of light.

Even better - this angle shows you that the bridge is in a city, tells you more of its story.Close-ups of details can be nice.
Even though the focus here is on the ducks, I still have the bridge in the background.

"I'm ready for my close-up."

Something new from the last time I was here is this statue of a fisherman and his cormorant, donated from a Japanese sister-city.I didn't capture his face as well as I would have liked, and the depth of field is too shallow to keep the cormorant in focus. Ah, well - better luck next time.

For me the most special part of this park is something that I remember from my childhood. We visited Cincinnati a few times as children, and while I don't remember much of those days, one things has stuck with me for all these years: the Romulus and Remus statue here atop Eden Park.
It refers to the story of the twin founders of Rome, who were raised by a wolf. This statue is a copy of the original Etruscan sculpture. It was given to the city by the Italian government in 1931, in recognition of the fact that Cincinnati, named for a Roman general Cincinnatus, was built on seven hills, just as Rome was.

The detail in this sculpture is exquisite.

This is my favorite photo of the statue.
You may all giggle now.