I’m sure most of us are happy to see the month of March quickly fade away in the rearview mirror. Hail springtime! Finally we can do some serious outside photography again without the fingers and toes going numb.
The cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin have been delayed by a week or so and now will occur in early April. As of this writing, peak might be April 8-12, but watch the news carefully as the dates could change. My advice is to get there very early in the morning, (like around 5:30am) and certainly bring a flash and tripod. IMO, the first light is best. Pick a non-windy, non-weekend day if possible. See last month’s message for more information. If the weather doesn’t spoil the party, this is the best show in town this month and it’s free. April is also a good time for tulips. The Franciscan Monastery in northeast DC comes highly recommended with a beautiful garden and interesting architecture. Also check out what’s in bloom at the US National Arboretum (northeast DC); and see Burnside Farms in Haymarket, VA for a local tulip farm.
If you haven’t heard the news, camera chain Calumet unexpectedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on March 13 for its US stores. Two remaining popular local brick and mortar stores in Northern Virginia are PhotoCraft (Burke) and Ace Photo (Ashburn). Check them out if you are feeling the loss of Calumet. Whenever possible, support your nearby stores since its good for everybody including our local economy. In many cases these stores will match valid low internet pricing. If you are looking for very decent prints at a great price, try Costco. In the past many of my images were printed there and I was always very satisfied with the quality. Upload the images, and pick up the prints in an hour.
The field trip on Saturday, April 5 will be to the historic waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore known as the Inner Harbor and the adjacent Fell’s Point area. Expect to see old colorful buildings, wall murals, the Baltimore skyline, tall ships, interesting shops, cafés, and people plus more. More information is available on the NVPS website and the Fotofax newsletter. Be sure to contact Chuck or Tom to sign up.
If you are interested in taking a workshop to extend your skills, look first in Fotofax under “Workshop Offerings”. Many or our judges and speakers who provide photo tours and workshops are listed there along with links to their websites. It is a good place to start.
Also, mark your calendars; the date has been set for the End-Of-Year Banquet for Friday evening, June 6 at the Best Western Tysons Westpark hotel. More details will be announced soon.
Final thoughts
Enjoy the month of April and I hope you all have the time and inspiration to take many great pictures this month!