Cherry Blossoms in Bloom

Last Spring I photographed the Cherry Blossoms in DC for the very first time, and to be honest, I really didn’t like most of my shots. It was so crowded on the day that we visited, which made it really difficult to properly compose an image, much less take one without a ton of people in them. I came home that evening a bit frustrated, and after I reviewed what I had captured, I decided not to put any time into editing them. I sent all of the images off into a storage and file folder grave yard, never to be seen again. Or so I thought.

This Spring I had a plan for a do-over. I was going to stay in a hotel near the Tidal Basin and get up extra early to hopefully catch some amazing sunrise shots, and avoid any unwelcome visitors in my images. However, by the time the blossoms bloomed, all of America had been invaded by COVID-19, and we were asked by the Governor to stay home, so we sadly heeded his request. I was a bit heartbroken to miss yet another opportunity to photograph this amazing site. However, one of my favorite photography teachers once taught me to never delete images permanently if I could help it, because I’d never know when I may go back and realize some of them could be salvaged later! So today, I decided to pull out those images and see what I had to work with. And here I bring you this image, Cherry Blossoms in Bloom. And honestly, I kind of love it!

Like many Americans, I feel that due to this pandemic, our perfectly laid out plans will all be put on hold for awhile. During this time though, I hope we can each take something we had given up on or maybe that we didn’t appreciate, and lovingly work with it, spend time with it, and find the best in it, maybe see if we can salvage it too. Although I thought I didn’t walk away with the perfect image that day, I got to spend the entire afternoon walking around DC with my husband, on a perfectly sunny day, while he carried my tripod and patiently waited for me to find the best angles I could for a shot. And with my eyes (even if I didn’t capture it in camera,) I took in so many new things, interesting people and such beautiful blossoms, it turned out to be a really special day after all. I am glad I had those images I had once cast aside to spark my memory, and I do believe that once life goes back to our new normal, we will all be a bit more grateful for things we had once taken for granted before.

Stay healthy and safe my photography friends, and stay home! This image was shot using my Canon 80D, at 18mm, ISO 1000, 1/1000 of a sec, at F18. Prints are available upon request via email.