ANGELA B. PAN

So funny story. Remember how yesterday I said that the cherry blossom won’t be peaking this year? I was wrong. I wrote that post way to soon because guess what?! Only half the cherry blossoms were really effected by the snow last week. It’s like a huge sigh of relief. I really look forward to this time of year every year and I really didn’t want to miss out on it this time. So for the last 50% of the cherry blossoms remaining, they’re expected peak date is now March 22-25th which is only a few days from now!!!

I went out Sunday morning to meet up with a local instagram group called, Walk with Locals. I had been to some of their events before but this was their one year birthday so I had to go. I hate missin’ out on a good time. Even though it was wet, rainy, and snowing, there was an impressive amount of people who showed up at sunrise. We walked around the tidal basin but I kind of stayed in the back of the crowd. Eventually I was the only one walking by myself when I saw this duck.

Its not uncommon to see ducks in DC, especially around the water. But this one was actually on the sidewalk. So I approached him slowly and calmly and he didn’t seem to mind me at all. We then started having our own little photoshoot. I intentionally got low so I could try to get the “cherry blossoms”, Washington Monument, and duck all in one frame. My settings were  F6.3 1/100th of a second ISO 400 with my 16-35mm wide angle lens. I had to bump up my ISO high even though we were outdoors because I didn’t want any motion from the duck. It was so very grey and dark, it was difficult to get a fast enough shutter speed to make sure everything was sharp.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Walk with Locals! You guys are awesome.

And you know what else is awesome? Cherry Blossoms! I’ll be out there shooting. And if you are too, come say hi!

I just saw that Capital Weather Gang has predicted an even earlier peak bloom date for the cherry blossoms this year. It’s a little nuts that they will be peaking in less than two weeks! This makes me very, very excited. I’ve already been seeing some flowers blooming around the city while driving around. You can’t tell but I have the biggest smile on my face right now 😀

If you’re interested, I created a cherry blossom guide last year. Click here to see it.  All the rules still apply. Hope to see some of you guys there 🙂

This image was taken last year behind the Smithsonian Castle. I feel like that little area of the city is my own secret garden. I can go there in the morning and there will hardly be anyone else there. They seriously have some of the most gorgeous blooms in the city. These pink magnolias trees are some of my favorites. They’re all lined up in against this path way that goes right down the middle of the garden and they are just so stunning when you see them in person. Its also very beautiful when all the petals have fallen on the ground. Seeing the ombre effects on the pedals all spread out, it’s like you’re walking on sunshine. Cue that beautiful 80s music video.

If you want to visit the Smithsonian Gardens you will also find much more behind the Castle than just the Magnolia trees. They have tulips, roses, and cherry blossom trees. Although my personal preference is to shoot the cherry blossom trees by the Tidal Basin and Washington Monument. I love photographing those flowers against memorials. Theres something about the dainty flowers against the marble stone that’s just so beautiful to me.

So excited for spring to be here and grateful for the warm winter we had so we can enjoy the flowers so much sooner 🙂