LensTheWay: Cherry Blossom

#CherryBlossom #sakura is once a year bloom which happens sometime between end of March to 2nd week of April, however the peak lasts only for 3 days. (For the past three years it was around April 9th-12th). Millions of people flock from all over the world to see this beauty, which means it will be crowded like anything.

1) How to know if its the peak or not?:

One good way to know is to follow nps website and its live webcam.
http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-plan-your-visit.htm
http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-web-cam.htm

I personally like this below website to follow upon and check the various stages of the bloom from a week before up till the peak. They pretty much cover A-Z on the subject matter.

http://havecamerawilltravel.com/cherry-blossoms/

2) What time to plan for?:

With the morning sun kissing the just bloomed flowers is the best time for brilliant shots. To get into the city most people recommend metro and the nearest metro to get down would be Smithsonian station. Trust me metro will over flow during these times as well.

But if you are doing a picnic or carrying a bunch of camera gears, I would say early morning commute is easy for both driving into the city/parking and photography. In general DC parking is one hell of a pain and needless to say during cherry blossom season, so again go early morning. I usually park in one of the parking lots (A,B,C or road side parking) near Hains point, you will see these lots once you enter Ohio drive SW. Hains point as such is a beautiful place for picnic along with the bloomed trees on either side of the road, so don't forget to pack for your picnic.