You’ve heard me tout my love for autumn, and I’ve found a new passion for visiting national parks in the icy winter.  But I also love spring.  I guess I just love all seasons… except perhaps summer..  I like to be different, right?  Liking summer is too cliche.

I’m just kidding… I like summer, too 🙂

Spring is special, though.  Like fall, it’s transient and ephemeral.  Change embodied in drier days and budding blooms.  After a winter like we’ve had this year, I’m more anxious than usual for the sunshine and warmth.

And spring is the time of year when everything is still green from the winter’s rains, dappled in sunshine to bring out the richest of colors.  Sprinkle some yellows and blues and pinks, and a photographer has a whole palette with which to work!

The annual blooming of the sakura is even more short-lived; they’re only around for a few brief weeks, and at their peak for perhaps one.  These fleeting blossoms are revered in Japan and are symbolic in Buddhism for the transience of life.  Even the samurai find it a great honor to be struck down in their prime protecting their country and emperor – much as a cherry blossom falls unwilted.

We are very fortunate to have an entire park full of these beautiful pink trees, right here at home.  It is primarily for this reason we chose autumn over spring for our visit to Japan.  And even though the park is swarming with photographers – dense with tripods and white lenses, spring dresses and canines – I can’t help but swing by each year to catch a glimpse of these bunched blossoms.

I find it a special challenge to see if I can do something new.  I don’t want the same pictures I take every year or the same pictures everyone else takes.

I used some of the techniques I played with in Boardman last year for something more abstract.

And I tried something new yet similar.  What do you think?

Happy spring!

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