DC Sakura Matsuri 2013: Tidal Basin Morning

So, the last of the cherry blossoms are dropping their petals, and the primary colors are turning from pink and white to green, after a seemingly endless Winter. Here are photos I took during my walk from the Tidal Basin to the DC Sakura Matsuri (street festival) on Saturday.
I’ll have photos from the matsuri itself in a later post.

Enjoy!

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As promised, more cherry blossoms…

Here we go, a batch from Tuesday evening (the only time I can get down there is around 5:30. Dang job!). I got some pretty neat pictures of the blossoms, and especially pictures of people enjoying them! I also got some eerie effects by photographing cherry trees at night, lit by streetlights!

So, here are some more, and even more to come later! Enjoy!

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Evening on the Potomac

Just a few scenes from Washington DC, near the Tidal Basin and along the Potomac River, near sunset Friday night. The cherry trees are just barely beginning to open, especially the “weeping sakura”, the willow-like species from Japan. The main trees, the Yoshino, will be in full bloom in a couple of days, now that our cold weather has (finally!) moved on, allowing the warm Spring air to coax the blossoms out. I will have some photos from the peak in a couple of days.

Until then, here are a few to enjoy!

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DC Kite Festival

This past Saturday, as part of the DC Cherry Blossom Festival, they held a kite-flying festival on the grounds of the Washington Monument and on the National Mall. The day was perfect for kite flying, plenty of breezes in the morning, cool but not cold, with just enough puffy clouds in a crystal blue sky to make the kites stand out. I got some great photos of the kites and the flyers (there was as much color on the ground from people’s coats as there was in the sky) of all ages. I also managed to find a couple of early cherry blossoms, on three trees that just couldn’t wait to bloom. Most of the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin have yet to bloom, but they’re in the late stages of budding, so the coming weeks should have an explosion of petals!

Here are some of the photos, I’ll have them all on a photo page soon. Enjoy!

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Two girls in their Springtime finest!
Two girls in their Springtime finest!
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Sign: "Wings Over Washington Kite Club"
Wings Over Washington!

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handfull of cherry blossoms on a few branches
桜を見た! A few lonely little cherry blossoms peeking out of their buds early, getting the jump on their cousins (and getting a couple of early photographers, too!)
Cherry blossoms and branches against cloudless blue sky
THERE you are! Another tree with a few handfuls of cherry blossoms

Pictures from the Washington Cherry Blossom Street Festival

Here are some pictures to give a feel for the kinds of things that went on at the annual Washington DC Cherry Blossom Street Festival (a “sakura matsuri”, “桜祭り” in Japanese). Continue reading “Pictures from the Washington Cherry Blossom Street Festival”

Cherry Blossom time in DC!

It’s that time of year again, when the cherry blossom trees are in bloom! This year kind of snuck up on everyone, since it’s been so warm, the trees bloomed a bit earlier than usual. I managed to get down there this past weekend and got hundreds of pictures. I’ll be posting the best of them in a gallery in a day or so, but here’s one that I really like. I hope you all like it, too!