ANGELA B. PAN

Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin have pretty much lost all their flowers. Whenever that happens it sort of feels like the official end to cherry blossom season but I’m not sad about it. It’s expected for the cherry blossoms to last about a week-ish but there was something very special about this year’s bloom.

They seemed to be puffier and more colorful than ever. We had beautiful weather the entire week with nothing but blue skies. It was so exciting to capture. And it seemed like there were so many more photographers out because of the beautiful weather.

This image was actually captured 2 weeks ago, my first official day of photographing the trees this year.

I got to the Tidal Basin a little bit earlier than my usual time. I say I’d got there around 6:20a and it was ALREADY PACKED! I couldn’t find a parking anywhere spot along Ohio Dr at all. In my head, I thought that since it was Monday and that I was there earlier than I usually am, I should be fine with parking, but I was totally wrong. I ended up parking closer to the Smithsonian museums along the National Mall.

It was all good though because I was able to capture some of the cherry blossom trees by the Washington Monument on my walks to and from the Tidal Basin. This one was taken on my way back to the car. The sun had been out for quite some time but I just loved the cherry blossom trees looked like they were about to engulf the Washington Monument. I think that little bit of cloud adds a nice touch to the framing as well.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/640th sec and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle.

Now for something COMPLETELY different from what I usually do, portraits.

This was fun though. My friend from Colorado, Sam came to visit Washington. This was probably my 3rd year in a row trying to get him to come during cherry blossom season and this year we finally made it happen! Although the cherry blossom trees were not as full as they would have been during peak bloom, he still could not stop saying “Wow this is so beautiful”. It was funny to hear him say it so much because I know I kept on saying it during peak but to hear him say it so often when the petals were falling off made me realize how lucky I really am to live so close to the cherry blossoms.

This image was actually inspired by my friend, Larry. He had taken a similar image of his wife and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to recreate it with Sam. He was completely down for it and it made it even more fun.

We started grabbing all the petals we could from the grass and collecting them in our hands. I love the way this turned out. His facial expression is just perfect! LOL. And I can’t stop looking at all the different ways the petals flew out of his hands. We tried this three times before we stopped and this was the second attempt. I don’t think it could have come out any better.

Luckily, Sam had a faster lens that he let me use for this image. Now I am really considering the 24-70mm F2.8. It’s a beautiful lens and the bokeh is just amazing. Don’t be surprised if you see an updated gear list soon 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F2.8 at 1/1000th of a sec and ISO 1250 with my Sony A7II and the 24-70mm lens.

Ok enough with the puddles in the sidewalk, here’s one in the road. LOL. We won’t make any comments about DC potholes.

I knew the Tidal Basin was going to be a madhouse over the weekend, so to avoid the crowd a bit I spent Saturday morning at Haines Point. It is just west of the Tidal Basin but they have beautiful cherry blossoms all along the way. This image was actually taken while I was walking back to my car.

I found this puddle by accident. I loved the way that the cherry blossoms were lined up along the other side of the road and the reflection was perfect. So I just patiently waited for something to pass by to add a little foreground interest. At first, a person walked by on the sidewalk and they were way too small to even notice. Then a car drove by and it was way too big, covering most of the cherry blossom trees. I knew it had to be a bicycle to complete this image.

So I just stood there and waited. It was a good 5 minutes before I saw one coming. He was on the road closest to me and I snapped a few pictures but thought he was too big. So I knew I had to wait for someone to come on the other side. Turns out that bicycle made a U-turn and went back the other direction.

In my head I screamed “Now that’s a 2-for-1 special” LOL. This one bike gave me so many different angles, it was awesome! Then I went on my way back to my car with a smile on my face.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/200th of a sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Another puddle, same day. Just a few steps away from this image and this image, I found this huge puddle. The difference between puddles is that this puddle had some really pretty petals along side of it.

Now try saying “puddle with pretty pink petals in it” 5 times as fast as you can.

Like I briefly mentioned yesterday, there are puddles everywhere. Especially on rainy days but it doesn’t even have to be rainy to find them. High tide will also make the sidewalks flood and it’s getting really bad. It’s to the point where it can be impassable.

I mentioned it last week but the Tidal Basin really does need your help. It will come to a point where no one will be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms because of the damaged flood walls. If you are interested in more information about the problem, click here and tag your images #savethetidalbasin on social media to help spread the word.

It can be deceiving but that puddle is actually deeper than it appears. I stepped into with my rainboots and the water went up to my ankles. I’ll take no more puddle reflection shots over saving the cherry blossom trees for future generations to enjoy.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/320th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Taken just a couple of minutes after this image, I was so grateful for the rain. It wasn’t heavy rain that made you want to run back to your car. It was just enough rain to make the petals fall a little from the trees but also create these amazing puddles.

On a typical sun shiny day, it’s not surprising to see one or two puddles at the Tidal Basin. But on a day like last Friday, there were puddles almost every corner you turned. Although they aren’t great for the cherry blossom trees, they are really cool to create these reflection shots. #savethetidalbasin. The other great thing about the rain is that they scare away a lot of potential visitors. For a moment there, I thought I had the whole Tidal Basin to myself! I was about to start blasting music from my phone before I saw a group of runners run past me. I should have brought my ear phones.

But I’m glad I got a few minutes alone with this puddle. I had never seen one form around this area so I took advantage of the opportunity and shot a couple of shots.

Pro tip: It’s said to say but everytime you visit the Tidal Basin, you should wear waterproof boots. That’s the only way you won’t can really avoid getting wet but still get puddle shots like this.

In case you were wondering, I was at the Basin again yesterday. It looks like a majority of the trees have lost a significant amount of petals over the weekend. They’re still beautiful and worth the visit if you still haven’t been this year. It just won’t be as pink and fluffy.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/125th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Last Friday we had our first rain of the Cherry Blossom season. It rained off and on all day but I was really hoping it would be a little more off than on. I just happened to have a photo walk with a camera club scheduled so at least until after sunset would have been the best time with me. Even though mother nature didn’t cooperate and started raining in the middle of the night, I was excited to share the experience with them. Rain during cherry blossom season means two things. 1: There won’t be as many people at the Tidal Basin. 2: The petals start falling on the ground. That’s not to say that I want cherry blossom season to end earlier than it should, but I just love the way they blanket the grass. It’s almost like snow when you watch them falling from the trees. I love it. They’re so small and delicate that it can be hard to capture but I think it’s just as exciting.

One of my favorite things to do is to get really close to foreground subjects and make them look larger than they really are. In order to capture this image, I actually just put my camera on the ground and started clicking away. I would move it in different places to get the composition I liked, but the main goal was to make the petals look big.

Although cherry blossom season may almost be over, I have plenty to share with you all! If we are counting the past 8 days of sunrises, I woke up for 6 of them. So I got tons and tons of pictures to share! Plus I can’t wait for the other flowers around the city to bloom. Ok, it’s been decided. Spring is my favorite season.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/200th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.