A quick morning trip to check out the Cherry Blossoms
The last few years I have tried to get over to Branch Brook Park as close to the peak Cherry Blossom Bloom as I can. 2021 was a rough one because police wouldn’t let anybody even stop their car but I have taken my best advantage the last 2 years to make up for it.
Branch Brook Park is a public park in Newark, NJ. It has a very nice walking path all the way around a lake with Cherry trees all over the place. Over 5,000 of them in 18 different varieties. Note that Washington D.C. has <4,000. Essex County claims it was the very first county park in the United States. It is open 24/7 so great for getting there anytime the light and clouds feel right. It is also on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
The Blooms
I primarily like capturing the full context of a scene, i.e. the landscape shots and they are spectacular to see at Branch Brook. With that said I also try to get a bit of detail. At this time of year that means blooms. My general philosophy with these is to use a macro lens so I can get nice and close. I want some parts of the flower to be sharp, usually the stigma as well as some of the anther (tips of stamen) Some petal edges are nice but not necessary. I then want softness, brightness, not a lot of contrast. Hopefully I have succeeded with these.
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The Landscape
There are nice paths that seem to mostly attract the selfie crowd but I prefer having the lake in most of my shots. This was especially true this year. Over the years there has been a problem with selfish selfie takers climbing trees and pulling blooms off so most areas are now kind of roped off, making them a bit less scenic for a photo.
With the lake I tend to use a neutral density filter forcing a longer shutter speed. This smooths the ripples on the water and, IMO makes the reflections better and I am a big fan of the reflections. The reflections, along with the fact that I use a wide angle lens for most of these keeps me from using a polarizing filter. Polarizing filters give very uneven blues in the sky over a wide angle.
Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart
From the East Side of the Lake
From the South Side of the Lake
That’s it for now. Hope you enjoy these photos.
