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The tradition of celebrating the blooming of cherry trees in Japan is centuries old.
The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan.
In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or "Sakura," is an important flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a symbol with rich meaning in Japanese culture.
For more than a hundred years, we have celebrating cherry trees blooming in solidarity.
We never tire of seeing these beautiful trees in bloom.
There is a little story behind this image. I wanted to capture this tree, its reflection and the monument, without any people. So I started early, goal was to reach there before sunrise, at the end of high tide, when people weren't there.
As I parked my car and the sky got clear, I almost started to run towards the Tidal Basin. And I fell, quite hard by an uneven concrete slab on the walkway. It knocked me off, luckily there were few people nearby who could pick me up and my gears were not broken. I was not in good shape though.
So I couldn't reach there before the crowd. Sigh!!
It was a great start to my weeklong trip aboard. Woke up before #dawn, biked to the #tidalbasin from #crystalcity with my friend to catch the #sunrise at the #jeffersonmemorial in #washingtondc while being lucky enough to have the #cherryblossom beginning to #bloom. Even caught the #ducks swimming
Yesterday morning's peak bloom cherry blossoms in very still air at the Tidal Basin (5:37am). They can be stunning in the dark as well!
I arrived early and, when I realized that there was no wind and few photographers, I started moving around to capture some shots that are only possible when the wind is calm. I took this near Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Even though it was still dark, the reflection looked great.
Last night's peak bloom cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. Great to see the blossoms again! Peak bloom was declared on Sunday so the blooms were looking good. Since there was no breeze, I was able to take a long exposure late in blue hour.
Explored: March 31, 2021
It was a beautiful day at the nations capital for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was also great to meet flickr buddy, Del Higgins! Get down here if you get the opportunity. It's well worth a visit...just get there early! The crowds are crazy.
photo ID #3167
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We never tire of seeing these beautiful Cherry Blossoms. It was a bit chilly this year for the visitors!
Canada goose enjoying (or oblivious to) cherry blossom on the Tidal Basin, Washington
The two cherries trees framing the goose are among the perhaps 100 surviving original trees gifted to D.C. by Japan in 1912.
The lovely and colorful blossoms of the Yosino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin were close to the Peak Bloom where about 70% of blossoms are open just before Good Friday in Washington DC in 2016. The juxtaposition of the 555 foot marble obelisk that is the Washington Monument behind the colorfully blooming Yosino cherry trees make a beautiful contrast and at the same time combination of natural beauty and man-made architecture. Making a pilgrimage to the District of Columbia at peak bloom has proven to be quite an undertaking over the years for me because only the good Lord knows when those blossoms are going to bloom and even the folks that actively watch change their predictions as the time gets closer because weather is so variable in the Spring. The bulk of the actual festival activities in Washington is this week into the next, a week after peak bloom; if you check this link you’ll see how variable the peak blooms have been in recent history [ www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/about/bloom-watch/ ].
I’d love to say third time’s a charm, but this is actually the fourth time I tried this endeavor and actually had success for a change. The first stab was in 2012, when the Washington Cherry Blossom Festival was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gift of the 3,000 cherry blossom trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo Japan to the city of Washington, DC missed peak by a week, then too early, then too late again. In 2016 the National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary with events going on all over the USA at National Parks including the National Mall which the Tidal Basin, the Washington Monument and so much more are all under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. The Tidal Basin significance to the cherry blossom is important because back in 1912 it was where President Howard Taft’s wife First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador planted the first two trees on the north bank of the basin this was years before the Jefferson Memorial would eventually be located in this same vicinity. There are multiple factors that play a pivotal role in getting good images of the cherry blossoms, the peak is one, but the weather, again Spring and spring showers can literally rain on your parade. So as I took the Metro from Maryland to DC, it was a little overcast, but as the train passed RFK Stadium I saw the skies were getting bluer, the sun was coming out from behind the clouds so I must had a big smile because a fellow passenger said you look happy….the happiness that photographer gets when things are going well. Good Friday I got up early, hoping to get capture some more cherry blossoms, but it was cloudy and eventually rainy. Good thing there are still so many Smithsonian Museums that I have yet to see.
Interestingly here in New Jersey, in Essex County where I now reside, there is park, Branch Brook where there are more trees than Washington DC’s Capitol District but trees around the basin, the majestic national monuments that adorn the National Mall in DC are just magical, definitely worth the trip if you can time it right.
Captured with Olympus E-5 with Olympus Zuiko 12-60MM F2.8-4.0 SWD lens hand held, HDR of 5 RAW exposures processed in Photomatix and cleaned up in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
The cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, are now changing to fall colors.
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