Cherry Blooms at the University of Washington

coscorrosa · April 12, 2009

There is a courtyard at the University of Washington campus in Seattle filled with blooming cherry trees in Spring (and even more people). It's difficult to get any wide angle shots without people in them. These are from two trips last week after work, I couldn't narrow them down, so there's 15 of them.

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

#9:

#10:

#11:

#12:

#13:

#14:

#15:

Awais Yaqub · April 12, 2009

Wow ! best stuff i could ever see before going to bed

clap

dseidman · April 12, 2009

Very nice! You must have been there really early to avoid the crowds. I couldn't get anything decent at the time I was there. Far too many people...

bryanj87 · April 12, 2009

Nicely done, good job not getting any people! #5, 8, 11 & 12 are my picks.

coscorrosa · April 12, 2009

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Wow ! best stuff i could ever see before going to bed clap

Thanks Awais - didn't mean to put you to sleep

More than the photos of the blooming cherry trees, I appreciate their seasonal symbolism - they signify that Winter is gone and Spring is here - finally!

coscorrosa · April 13, 2009

dseidman wrote:

Very nice! You must have been there really early to avoid the crowds. I couldn't get anything decent at the time I was there. Far too many people...

Thanks!

These were actually taken late afternoon/evening. The first set was from 4-5:30 PM - it was sunny, there was still a lot of people. Good time for macros, close ups, etc (like shots 7-11, 14-15). But the people got in the way most of the time, so I figured I go back later in the week, later in the day, when it was rainy or wet. So the second set was from 6-7:30PM or so (after it had rained on and off during the day), still some people, but not nearly as much. Most of the photos on here are from that second day. So I think that's the key, go early or late, and hope the ground and/or air is wet.

riddim_maker · April 13, 2009

Now, this is an excellent example of completely exploring a subject.
Great series!

:ivar

squirl033 · April 13, 2009

nice... in a couple of weeks, it'll look like it snowed there, once those blossome drop! love #5... the light on the tops of the towers is wonderful!

dseidman · April 13, 2009

Here's a shot one of my friends took of the quad while heading to class last week:

http://imgur.com/KDQHO.jpg

Is that not ridiculous? That's pretty much the way it looked when I was there on the weekend. I didn't even bother taking more than a few macro shots because there were people everywhere. I guess I'll have to go there when it's too wet for people to be sitting around everywhere on the grass.

annnna8888 · April 13, 2009

Cherry blossoms are one of the loveliest signs of spring!

Beautiful photos.

My favorites are 4, 5, 8, 11, but the absolute best of these for me - in terms of color and drama - is #5. I would try to bring out a bit more detail and brightness from the cherry tree and see if the balance is still ok. Overdoing it would obviously result in an unnatural-looking scene.

After I'm done with a work project this week, I'll have a bit more of free time to look for blossoming trees myself. Can't wait!

Ana

schmoo · April 13, 2009

Wow! Ron Coscorrosa's take on something as mundane as a tree on campus is certainly worth waiting for when spring hits!

I know that once the petals start falling everything is a mess, so it looks like you caught it right at their peak when everything is still fluffy and... over the ground.

The shot of the ray of light on the peaked building is just

coscorrosa · April 14, 2009

riddim_maker wrote:

Now, this is an excellent example of completely exploring a subject.
Great series! :ivar :ivar

Thanks Russ, one of the advantages of there being a lot of people is it forces you to try and find compositions without them

coscorrosa · April 14, 2009

dseidman wrote:

Here's a shot one of my friends took of the quad while heading to class last week:

http://imgur.com/KDQHO.jpg

Is that not ridiculous? That's pretty much the way it looked when I was there on the weekend. I didn't even bother taking more than a few macro shots because there were people everywhere. I guess I'll have to go there when it's too wet for people to be sitting around everywhere on the grass.

Wow! If there was that many people when I was there, I would have just left, screw the macro shots. I don't have the patience for that. Reminds me of when I was at Picture Lake at Mt. Baker on a Sunday during peak fall color. I was ready to use my tripod as a weapon, throw several people into the lake, and never photograph again

(I took a day off work on a weekday a few days later and it was perfect - there's a lesson there somewhere, I think it's this: don't go to work. Or something).

There was probably an order of magnitude less people when I was there, but all it takes is one to get in your frame. My guess is just after dawn with wet grass or rain on a weekday would be your best bet.

coscorrosa · April 14, 2009

annnna8888 wrote:

Cherry blossoms are one of the loveliest signs of spring! Beautiful photos. My favorites are 4, 5, 8, 11, but the absolute best of these for me - in terms of color and drama - is #5. I would try to bring out a bit more detail and brightness from the cherry tree and see if the balance is still ok. Overdoing it would obviously result in an unnatural-looking scene.

After I'm done with a work project this week, I'll have a bit more of free time to look for blossoming trees myself. Can't wait!

Ana

Looking forward to your shots!

Agreed on #5, here's the re-worked version with slightly brighter blossoms and trunk:

Original:

Incidentally, this is an HDR shot (the only one of the series). Not so much for the dynamic range, but that there was a person walking through the frame and my Photoshop skills couldn't get rid of them, combining it with a longer exposure made the person disappear. By the time they were through the frame the peak light had passed.

coscorrosa · April 14, 2009

schmoo wrote:

Wow! Ron Coscorrosa's take on something as mundane as a tree on campus is certainly worth waiting for when spring hits!

I know that once the petals start falling everything is a mess, so it looks like you caught it right at their peak when everything is still fluffy and... over the ground.

The shot of the ray of light on the peaked building is just

Thanks schmoo! The light on that building was like reminds me of the alpenglow on Mt. Rainier. I have to confess that on #10 I cheated and arranged the flowers

I'm lucky that we actually have seasons up here, by the time I get sick of one, the other one starts up. We should have some tulips in the next four weeks which to me are the highlight of spring.

dseidman · April 14, 2009

Yeah, people are often frustrating. Here's a tutorial I came across a while back and I might just have to use it if I give the Quad another try.

http://www.jnack.com/adobe/photoshop/fountain/

It's a lot more work though...

Cherry Blooms at the University of Washington

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