Cherry Blossom - Sakura

#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.

GPS co-ord: 38.863364, -77.025632

                                

3) What to see and photograph?:

The trail map in the nps site is very handy to know what to see and where to go.

http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-maps.htm

I would recommend to do these trails and have given some GPS co-ord for the photos below.

i) Memory Loop

ii) Tidal Basin

iii) River walk

 GPS co-ord: 38.887390, -77.041172

  sunset from tidal basin, GPS co-ord: 38.885260, -77.044611

                    

This view is just across the Kutz bridge, next to the Independance Ave SW. GPS co-ord: 38.887638, -77.038104.

Enjoy the blossom !!!

Momuments @ DC

 Living in the east coast, the fall colors in 2011 proved to be insatiable to my camera. Hence, as burgeoning photography enthusiasts, a friend of mine at Boston and myself planned to visit the Acadia National Park this year. Unfortunately seems like the government's decision prolonged the thirst of my camera! That being so, my friend visited me instead. It was end of fall foliage in Virginia. So we planned to visit Washington DC to capture the brilliance of the monuments under the focus lights at night. A reason to visit DC again, but this time for a night time photography. The weekend we visited DC seemed the best time to use the twilight timing leisurely since it was right after the government operations resumed. There were hardly anyone at the capitol.

We reached DC at around 8pm and parked at L'enfant plaza. We were relieved to find the parking spots empty! A short walk to the Tidal Basin helped us capture the reflections of Jefferson memorial and Washington monument over the Tidal Basin.

Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial

18mm, f/22, 30 sec, ISO 100, Tripod used, PP using Lr.

Jefferson Memorial

 28mm, f/25, 30 sec, ISO 100, Tripod used, PP using Lr.

We lost track of time while photographing these shots. It was nearly 10pm. We decided to dine at the Zatinya Restaurant, a lebanese, turkish and greek cuisine combo at the 9th & G street intersection. its a Mezze platter and the food was awesome. The best part is the "Turkish Delight" which is a walnut ice cream, not so cold, not too hard with orange-caramel sauce and caramelized pine nuts.

Dinner energised our brains and we realised we had to spend more time in DC to capture its beauty to the fullest. We had an early start the next day. We visited Constitution Gardens, World War memorial II, Korean and Vietnam war memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol building, White house We ended the day by with a sumptuous dinner at my friend's place.

Here are the shots taken on the next day...

Capitol Building

21mm, f/22, 8 sec, ISO 100, Tripod used, PP using Lr.

                                        

White House - Front view

Back side was closed for some reason, so did not get an opportunity to prove that rear view (South Portico) of the White House is better than front side. 

Constitution Gardens Pond

                                                                                          

World War II memorial

World War II memorial - Atlantic side

Atlantic entrance to WWII memorial

Abraham Lincoln Memorial

A view of the reflecting pool from Lincoln Memorial

Smithsonian castle and washington Monument view from capitol

@ WWII memorial

@ Independence Avenue