Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend was peak bloom for the Washington, DC cherry blossoms along the tidal basin.  I did not take as many photos as previous years because it was so busy due to the lovely weather.  I went down to the tidal basin twice that weekend.  Once in the morning on Saturday with my mother, who was in town visiting and then again at sunrise on Sunday with my husband.  I took more photos on Sunday then Saturday. 

On Sunday, my husband and I arrived at the Tidal Basin around 6:20 AM (we left the house around 5:45 AM). We tried to find locations that were unique and did not have oodles of photographers with tripods already gathered.  Many of those photographers already gathered were not even shooting at the time they were set up and waiting for the sun to crest the Jefferson Memorial.  While I did take some of the traditional shots, I tried to mix it up with different vantage points.  I also shot hand held the whole time, since I did not take my tripod in anticipation of the crowds.  I think next year if peak bloom falls right, I’ll take a day off work and go during the week in the early morning.  I did enjoy going at sunrise, it was pretty, but I may try sunset at some point.

As stated earlier I shot hand held using a 18-200mm lens. I used an ISO of 200 or 400 with varying apertures and shutter speeds depending on the subject and lighting conditions. For the landscapes I tended to use f8 or above and for close up f5 or lower.  I did have a flash mounted on my camera for occasional fill light, when the blossoms were in deep shadow.  I post processed several of the images using light room to gain the desired effect.

Overall I like several of my pictures you can see the whole collection here.