Update: March 15, 2024: For those who will be in or around our nation’s capital in late March and early April, here’s this year’s schedule:
The 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 20 to April 14. There are multiple events every day of the festival, and some require tickets. Check the calendar on the festival website for specifics:
2024 Cherry Blossom Festival: Schedule of Events
- Opening Ceremony: Wednesday, March 20, 2024
The peak bloom should be occurring between March 17th and March 20th!
For those among you who won’t be able to see the extravaganza in person, allow me to present my homage to Cherry Blossom Seasons Past (along with a little bit of back story):
In the summer of 2006, I was offered one of those once-in-a-lifetime career opportunities that came with a monumental drawback: if I accepted the position, a significant promotion, I would have to relocate to Washington D.C. The cost of living in that area is brutal, so the raise in pay alone was not a realistic enticement. What drew me, ultimately, was the potential: the potential for further advancement late in my government career (a fabulous way to increase the size of a Civil Service pension), and the potential for a bit of excitement, not just in terms of the job, but in terms of the place I’d be living. My agency’s offices were in the heart of downtown, a short walk from the National Mall, right in the belly of the beast. As an avid photographer with a peculiar fondness for monumental architecture, I just knew I was going to have a grand time in that place.
Flowers and gardens have always been another favorite subject, so that first spring, after having survived my first slushy, miserable, mid-Atlantic winter, I was seriously looking forward to my first Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival, an annual event that takes place in the area around the Tidal Basin, where there are thousands of cherry trees, some as much as a hundred years old. I kept a close eye on the weather, and on the “Peak of Bloom” reports featured on the local news and in the Washington Post. On the chosen day, I went out on my lunch hour, and joined the crowd that was surging along Independence Avenue, everyone headed west. I was honestly a little bit shocked at the sheer size of that crowd! Past the Washington Monument, and off toward the Jefferson Memorial, there were people EVERYWHERE, and since I didn’t know the lay of the land all that well (not that first year), I was at the mercy of the herd. Everybody had a camera, and every other vehicle on the road was another tour bus filled with gawkers. Overwhelming? Yeah, maybe a little, but I was determined to get pictures of my own, so I kept walking until I found a perspective that pleased me.
I probably took 50 pictures on that little outing, but this one (above), of the Washington Monument rising above the blue water of the lagoon, edged by a row of whitish/pinkish trees? That was easily my favorite. I was really quite proud of that shot, despite that fact that you’ll see variations of the exact same image in every collection of D.C. cherry blossom photos that has ever been published or displayed.
Over the course of the next eight years, until my retirement in 2015, I managed to hit the Cherry Blossoms six times, altogether, and each time I made that lunch hour trek to the Tidal Basin, I incorporated lessons learned on previous expeditions. I knew the best angles, the best vantage points, the best stands of trees, and the best times of day. I’d come to accept the crowds as part of the ambiance, and in the end, I was pretty darned comfortable out there.
The Cherry Blossom Festival is not a static event. “Peak of Bloom” is a somewhat ephemeral concept, and it’s fleeting, even in the good years, when the sun is out, and the weather is fine. Unfortunately, that’s not always the way it plays out, because the Washington region is prone to blustery storms. Heavy rain and wind at the wrong moment can literally ruin the whole business, turning a gorgeous display of blooms that stretches on for miles into a sodden carpet of petals smashed underfoot, with none left on the trees. That’s why “Carpe flore!” should be the motto of every would-be cherry blossom photographer. Never wait for the peak. Get what you can get, the minute you can get it, and get out there more than once, as many times as it takes.
Every serious photographer has their specialties, but I’m here to tell you that this subject matter calls for your whole spectrum. Wide shots, close-ups, with and without the monuments, with and without the people. Shoot the flower buds when they first emerge, shoot them again when they’re in full florescence, and if you can swing it, one last time when they start to drop, and you have pink petals falling around you like rain…
Click any photo in the slide show to expand the images to full screen, with captions:
(Unless otherwise noted, all of the images in these posts are my original work, and are protected by copyright. They may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.)
READ MORE LIKE THIS:
This is an interactive Table of Contents. Click the pictures to open the pages.
Washington D.C. for Photographers
Each weekend I’d focus on a different monument, and I’d shoot them from every conceivable angle, before, during, and after the golden hour of the sunrise. Why the weekend? Because, grasshopper, on weekend mornings, there are no commuters, so there is no traffic, no parked cars, no people in the way of your photo shoot!
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The slightly elevated position of the Lincoln Memorial gives photographers a clear line of sight from every vantage point, with a multitude of options for interesting compositions. But if you want the very best light, and the smallest crowds, you're going to have to get out there at sunrise!
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As a subject for photographers, the Jefferson has it all: columns and curves, sculpture, carved inscriptions, a dome! The Tidal Basin serves as a reflecting pool, and, for a couple of weeks every spring, the whole business is surrounded by flowering cherry trees.
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Shoot the flower buds when they first emerge, shoot them again when they're in full florescence, and if you can swing it, one last time when they start to drop, and you have pink petals falling around you like rain...
<<CLICK to Read More!>>
There's nothing like a good road trip. Whether you're flying solo or with your family, on a motorcycle or in an RV, across your state or across the country, the important thing is that you're out there, away from your town, your work, your routine, meeting new people, seeing new sights, building the best kind of memories while living your life to the fullest.
Are you a veteran road tripper who loves grand vistas, or someone who's never done it, but would love to try? Either way, you should consider making the Southwestern U.S. the scene of your own next adventure.
A few years ago I wrote a book about road trips in Arizona and New Mexico that's a lot like this website, packed with interesting information, and illustrated with beautiful photographs. Check it out! You can find it on Amazon, and at all other major booksellers.
great Job as usual. Glad to have spoken to you a bit ago.
Thanks, Al! And yes, it’s good to keep in touch.