Blossoms at Sunrise

“In the cherry blossom’s shade, there is no such thing as a stranger.”

– Kobayashi Issa

From a photography perspective, one of the most exciting parts about living in Washington, DC is the opportunity to take advantage of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival.  As a symbol of friendship, Japan gave 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the United States in 1912 and those trees are planted throughout Washington, DC.  There are only about 3-4 days per year where the blossoms are at full bloom, and people flock to the Tidal Basin to see them. In early April, I took a morning off from work to go to the Tidal Basin and take pictures of the blossoms and monuments.  I arrived at about 5:45am and was surprised to see quite a few photographers already set up and waiting for the sunrise.  I do not yet have a lot of photography experience, but I did my best in choosing my spots for pictures.  It was a perfect morning and a lot of fun!