Next CMPG Outing-Cherry Blossom's in DC

Details:

Each year, thousands of Japanese cherry trees bloom around the tidal basin and DC. The sight and beauty of those is quite unique. The peak bloom is predicted to be from April 8th to 12th this year. This is an early morning event as it gets busy very quickly around the Tidal Basin and parking becomes nonexistent later in the day. An arrival before sunrise is best. Sunrise will be right around 6.35am.

Dates for outings:

Thursday 10th of April (as posted earlier by John Maloney)

Saturday 12th of April

Meeting Location:

Meet at the Route 100 Park & Ride at 5am for both days and plan to leave no later than 5.15am (on Thursday John will leave by 5.15 - don't get left behind). Since I live close to DC, I will meet the group downtown at the tidal basin . Early in the morning, there is parking in the lots of the park service and along Ohio Drive (as indicated on the map). I will meet with the group on the inlet bridge at 6am (as indicated by the red arrow on the map). I will start walking along the tidal basin away from the Jefferson Memorial about 1/3 up the path. This will be a good position to have the sun rise behind the Jefferson Memorial.  From there, once the sun is up, we can explore some of the monuments, take Macro images of the blooms etc. 

One tip, bring a flashlight, flash or head lamp and try some light painting before sunrise by artificially illuminating the blooms against the dark sky. Don't forget your tripod for the early morning shots.

Second part of outing: Saturday 12th of April meet at 12 noon at the National Arboretum main parking lot (visit http://www.usna.usda.gov/Information/directions.html for directions). 

The National Arboretum has several blooming Japanese cherry trees and countless other flora that are ideal for photography. This is for the not so early risers and those still up for some more shooting. At this later time there will likely be no parking around the tidal basin, plus there will be lots and lots of people which make it less pleasurable to photograph the cherry blossoms. So, the Arboretum will be a good alternative to still see those beautiful trees.

For those that are there in the early morning, you can either stay at the tidal basin or follow me up to the Arboretum.

For more info contact: CMPG Outing Coordinator Kirsten Messmer