Happy happy Monday, my friends! It’s a GORGEOUS spring day outside- all the trees in northern Virginia are in bloom, and I’m having to exercise serious restraint not to run around singing at the top of my lungs. I mean, I do that pretty much all the time in my own house, but it’s doing so outside that I try to avoid.

So two years ago, I shot down by the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, and swore I would never ever ever do it again- we were there on the Saturday of the Cherry Blossoms Festival, and as much as I love people, it was completely overwhelming. There must have been 25-50,000 people there, and getting any sort of clear photographs was out of the question. So I said I’d never shoot during the cherry blossoms again, at least not at the Tidal Basin.

Which goes to prove that the most stubborn of us have to eat their words sometimes! The cherry blossoms were at peak bloom this past weekend, and I shot down at the Tidal Basin on both Friday and Saturday mornings. And though it was a bit crazy with all the tourists we had to dodge, it was SO worth it. See what I mean??

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past week!

• Fresh flowers make a house feel more like a home. Seriously- if fresh tulips are available at Whole Foods, I’m going to buy them. They brighten up a room so much!
• Ballerinas + cherry blossoms = heaven. HEA. VEN. See below :).
• Know what’s not heaven? DC traffic. I arrived for my ballerina shoot with Jane a full 40 minutes before we were due to meet, and spent 30 minutes circling around Constitution Ave. looking for a spot. I finally gave up, headed to the Tidal Basin, found a spot, and then caught a cab over to meet Jane. Gah! Next time, remind me to just take the metro next time!
• I think Instagram might be taking over my life, and we may need to take a break for a hot sec. We were at Wegmans this past Saturday and I picked out a pretty little cookie from their bakery, and know how I chose which one I wanted? By color, according to which one would look the most cohesive with my Insta feed. WHO DOES THAT?
• And then, I saved that cookie until Sunday, because the natural light had already faded by the time we got home on Saturday night. Again, who does that??

Oh! And photographer friends: in case you haven’t already purchased Justin & Mary’s Lighting Guide, YOU NEED TO. I was lucky enough to be one of a few who got to read the guide before it went on sale, and it’s so, so good. I’ve learned from J&M more times than I can count and had (foolishly) assumed I probably knew everything they teach about lighting. I was so wrong! The guide is a wealth of information about the metrics, science, and practical application of lighting, from the most simple to the more mature. I can’t wait to put into practice everything I’m learning as I read through the Lighting Guide!

Do yourself a favor and hop over HERE and grab your copy- you will be SO glad you did!