Cherry Blossom Photography at Constitution Gardens
My First Group Photo Walk. I joined the IMF-World Bank International Photographic Society (“IPS”) on a photo walk at Constitution Gardens. While Constitution Gardens doesn’t feature as many cherry blossoms as the Tidal Basins, it is much less crowded. Comparatively, it offers greater value.
Feel free to pair this blog with the song below. It’s a really chill r&b song.
Constitution Gardens. The photo walk at Constitution Gardens was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but, due to concerns about rain, was moved to Tuesday instead.
A professional photographer, Angela, guided the walk, joined by 5 IPS members.
Prime Lens Over Zoom Lens for Now. All of my photos were taken with my prime lens, 55mm f/1.8. I purposefully left my zoom lens at home.
Don’t get me wrong- my zoom lens is awesome. I am only temporarily staying away to learn composition and angles. A zoom lens is “poison” to a new photographer, as it compensates for lack of skills. Rather, a prime lens is much better for a beginner (trying to learn); it forces the photographer to create the shots.
“Photographing” the Sunset. I rarely get to photograph at sunset, as I refuse to go outside in the late afternoon.
After several failed attempts at a cliché sunset photo, I appreciated its difficulty and moved on.
Once we were done exploring the Gardens, we walked over to the National Mall.
End of the Photo Walk
Reflection 1: Street Photography. While still early into photography, I like street photography more than landscape.
Particularly, I am captured by people’s expressions and their ingenuity.
Street photography recognizes the story in everyone and every moment. For instance, this tourist with his suitcase. I’ve been this guy many times, post-mission, trying to quickly digest the country before heading to the airport.
And, unlike portrait photography, which is a bit more constructed, street photography captures candid moments, like this biker taking photos of the blossoms. That’s not all. It’s mind-blowing to realize that each person in this photo has a unique story. I’ll never get used to this truth, but use it to treat each individual with dignity and grace.
Street photography, however, has a downside (if you can call it that). Its emphasis on the moment shifts the focus away from the photographer’s skill to the model or object.
Reflection 2: Colors. I am really satisfied with my colors. It took some trial-and-error, but the process is getting easier. I want to accentuate the colors we see every day and find beauty in the familiar and obvious. Because, too often, we ignore the exquisiteness that surrounds us.
For example, check out the range of colors of the sky and the sunlight reflecting off the blossoms. These colors are breathtaking. Still, how often do people stop and appreciate them? Why can’t we appreciate the ordinary? When did we become so imperceptive?
This is the reason I favor street photography, which forces me to be “present.” The torrent of life frequently distracts us from “living in the moment.” We are often preoccupied with the past and the future, and forget the present.
By tweaking our perspective through a new lens (no pun intended), new light (this is a stretch), we can filter out (okay, sorry) the distractions, and see that every moment holds more information than we could ever hope to process (this is a stretch too). Too many moments go unnoticed, not realized. There is always a story to be told. We just need to learn how to frame (okay, I promise this is last) each moment, curate with deliberation, and approach life from different angles (I lied).
Reflection 3: My Photography Philosophy Going Forward. Following the walk, I got a glimpse of photography’s vast depth. In any case, as a beginner, I am prioritizing the fundamentals before worrying about developing a style. For now, I’ll experiment with different angles.
Conclusion. In the end, after aimlessly logging about 500 snaps (in 2 hours), my biggest takeaway is, you can only take so many unique shots of cherry blossoms. It’s truly a nightmare sliding through seemingly the same photo over and over again, five hundred times. So, five hundred nightmares. You live and learn- right? Next time, I’ll concentrate on shot selection.
