With a mostly free day and the potential for partly cloudy skies, I decided it might be a good day to go to the Univerisity of Washington and photograph the cherry blossoms in the Quad. Its been about 4 years since the last time I did. Unfortunately, this idea also occured to approximately 63% of the population of Seattle.
I spent a few hours watching the local traffic at KBFI (I can't resist), which yielded some decent shots of two 787's and other riff-raff. After that I headed up to the UW to the quad. I should have known how big the crowds would be based on the lack of parking. I ended up across the street from my old hang out and place of work, the building that formerly housed the "ACC", the Academic Computing Center. Oh the hours I wasted in there....
The crowds in the Quad were more than I have ever seen, despite the overcast skies. Everyone had a camera. The crowd, expectedly, was mostly Asian, but of nearly every country, not just Japanese. There were a number of wedding parties and people getting their photos taken by professionals, taking advantage of the free, amazing backdrop.
The cherries were nearly in full bloom and there was very little in the way of petal drop yet, though the impending rain tomorrow may hurt the flowers for next weekend.
Unfortunately it was nearly impossible to get a wide shot of any sort without a large number of people, however there were many opportunities for macro and telephoto shots.
The highlight of the day was visiting the Graduate Reading Room in Suzzalo Library. Despite attending the UW for 5 years, I never once set foot in that amazing room. "Room" is not an appropriate word. What is the word for a non-religious cathedral? That's essentially what it is. A massive central gothic nave. I think this might be the most beautiful space I've ever seen in Seattle. St. James Cathedral was the previous contender.
The overcast skies and crowds really deminish the photos, in my opinion, however it is a great place for portraits of family, friends and children. A lot of people had picnics under the gnarled branches despite the cold,
