I mentioned this tree in yesterday’s post. I had passed by this great big tree many times in the past but had never seen it at peak blossom. On April 25th, not only had it reached peak, but the sun was at just the right angle from which to capture it.
I started off photographing the cherry blossom tree from across the street as the sun dipped and cast long shadows on the grassy lawn. With the permission of one of the residents of the house, I then went about checking different compositions and settled on one other image (seen below on the website; click the link if viewing on Facebook/Twitter/email). I tried to emphasize the blossoms on this image and used the distortions of the wide angle lens to both narrow the trunk and elongate some of the nearby cherry blossoms.
The left side of the large white house in the first photo was my home from 1944 to 1949. Then, it was painted a sort of yellow with brown ornaments that appear to have not survived. There was a central walk from the front steps to the sidewalk, and the yard to the right side had a rather steep grassy slope rather than a wall. The cherry tree is new since then. I have many fond memories of that house, and I wonder if the object that I see below the glass on the left half of the front door is the same hand-cranked doorbell that was there at the time.