Sakura in SoCal

Nikolai

Today, Friday, Feb 24th, for the first time, Southern California officially celebrated "Cherry Blossom", aka Sakura. Cheeries were not in blossom yet, but the festivities happened anyway.
The event was held at the patio of the Ronald Reagan's Presidential Library (also his burial place).
The festival was kicked off by taiko drummers, followed by a few short speeches and the official opening. Then the audience was able to see some kendo and samurai warriors in action. It was closed with another performance of my taiko drumming friends.
After the show we went inside the library and visited recently opened Air Force One exhibition.

Here are a few excerpts:
"Sakura petals" (opening ceremony):


Taiko Drummers:


Kendo fighters:


Samurai fighters:


Cutting the target:


Air Force One:


The rest of the images is here:
http://nik.smugmug.com/Events/163110

Enjoy sakura shooting!

Awais Yaqub

Wow nice pictures

David_S85

Now that's a library! I had no idea one of the earlier AF1's was on display there. Great use of WA on that pic. Your 10-22?

I would have enjoyed the ceremony outside also. I might not have understood it, but it looks like quite a demonstration.

We happened to be driving through Dixon, IL a few days following Reagan's death. His boyhood home is there (in the background), and a statue that was turned into a makeshift memorial for about a week. It was a very somber and eerie scene. Lots of people milling about, and yet totally silent. Nik, I hope you don't mind me posting this in your thread.

Nikolai

Thank you, Awais!

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Wow nice pictures

Glad you liked them:-)

Cheers!

Nikolai

Thanks, David!
Thank you for stopping by!

David_S85 wrote:

Now that's a library! I had no idea one of the earlier AF1's was on display there. Great use of WA on that pic. Your 10-22?
[/qoute]
Yes, you're correct I was using my very own 10-22 for the interior shots. Outside I was using my boss's 100-400L.

David_S85 wrote:

I would have enjoyed the ceremony outside also. I might not have understood it, but it looks like quite a demonstration.

Well, most of it was in pure English, or at least translated to it. And you don't have to know Japanese to understand taiko drumming or kendo fighting:-)

David_S85 wrote:

We happened to be driving through Dixon, IL a few days following Reagan's death. His boyhood home is there (in the background), and a statue that was turned into a makeshift memorial for about a week. It was a very somber and eerie scene. Lots of people milling about, and yet totally silent. Nik, I hope you don't mind me posting this in your thread.

Nice shot. Surely I don't mind :-)

Cheers!