I mentioned two weeks ago that I'd post some cherry-blossom pictures from last year, as we await this year's season, and so today I begin. To help get me in the mood, I'll start with a picture from my balcony of the trees across the river, and then two from ground level. These were taken on April 7th last year.

I'm not very confident of their color balance — they seem to have a redish tint to me — but the sun was heading down, so perhaps it's deserved.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 29mm — ¹/250 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — full exif
Looking Down

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200mm — ¹/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Looking Across

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200mm — ¹/320 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Looking Up

I like these because they show the fluffy, cloud-like nature of some kinds of cherry trees at full bloom, but they're not really very good. They're not pictures to hang on the wall or even on your desktop, so I'll include another photo I took the same day, at Daigo Temple. It's as typical of a cherry-blossom picture as you can get, but pretty nevertheless. Below the picture you'll find six different versions suitable for use as a desktop background, should you feel so inclined.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170mm — ¹/125 sec, f/11, ISO 100 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Standard Cherry-Blossom Shot

Desktop-Background Versions:
Standard: 1024×768  ·  1440×1081  ·  1600×1201     Widescreen:  1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600