I know I've said it before, but I absolutely love photographing in the Seattle area. I don't know why it strikes me so, but I really like that city. Very cool place.
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to go back to Seattle for a work conference, and as luck would have it, the cherry trees at the University of Washington were in full bloom during that time. Located in an area known as "the Quad" on U-Dub's campus (what the cool kids call Univ. of Washington), these trees are truly special, and photographing them just after sunrise was amazing. It was an otherwise cloudy morning, but for a period of about 10 minutes the clouds opened up and gave myself, and the 8 or so other photographers working the area, a real show. I'm sure all the students hustling through the area on their way to class were wondering what us "old folks" were so excited about. 🙂
The trees, which are estimated to be about 80 years old and even have their own Twitter account, are surrounded by some of the really nice architecture found at the University of Washington campus, making for lots of great photo opportunities. If you're ever in the area around the March timeframe, I highly recommend swinging by, and even without the blooms, the campus is still worth a visit as it is quite beautiful. Just stop by the information station on Pend Oreille Road Northwest to grab a visitor parking pass and specific directions on where to go.
Want to see more of these awesome cherry trees and learn a little bit of their history? Check out this video the University of Washington recently posted about them.
–Dan Thompson
Trackbacks/Pingbacks