Creative Photography for Crowded Places

It's peak cherry blossom season, and that means the crowds are once again drawn to University of Washington's Quad, a large square lined with 90 year-old cherry blossom trees. The blossoms are abundant, the massive canopies stretching outward to envelope the space in beauty.

I followed the cloud forecasts to decide when to go. I wanted to go at sunset or sunrise. Sunrise would have been my preference to avoid the crowds, but sunrise looked overcast and plain for the next few days. So sunset it was. I arrived around 6 PM, and while I expected some people, I wasn't prepared for THIS many. I almost turned around and left, but I decided I was going to make the best of it, and figure out how to get great shots despite all the people. While including the crowds or people might be great for journalistic photographers or portraits, that's not what I was there for. Keep reading for my top tips for taking great photos despite the crowds.

Look Up

Compositions that include the tops of the trees are ideal for cropping out all the crowds. The patterns of gnarled old branches stretching through canopies filled with blossoms is a beautiful thing. The branches can make great leading lines.

And, luckily the Quad has not only these lovely trees, but also stunning architecture. This makes for great opportunities to use the cherry blossoms as a creative frame for the building facades. I found myself walking around looking for the right buildings and right angle to frame in a balanced and pleasing way.

Use A Long Lens

A telephoto is a must in these situations. I used my Sony 70-200 mm for most shots. A wide angle is going to include much more of the scene, making it more difficult to crop out the crowds. Telephoto lenses also make it easier to use some creative depth of field, blurring closer in blooms that function as a frame, and maintaining focus and the viewer's attention on the subject, such as the building and distant blooms. An f-stop of f/4 to f/8 can help create this effect.

For a lot of these shots, I hand held my camera and lens, using Shutter speed priority set to a shutter speed the reciprocal of the focal length (for focal length of 100 mm, at least 1/100 s or faster). I used a continuous drive mode at mid speed to take a few shots in a row. That way if there is any camera shake, I have a few to choose from. Shooting this way is helpful in crowds, as getting out a tripod is cumbersome and not really necessary.

Go Where the Light Is

I went to the Quad just before sunset. There were just a few clouds, so there was plenty of sunshine. But at this hour, the sun is nearing the horizon and creating some great golden hour lighting. Some parts of the Quad were in shadow, but others were lit up with that gorgeous golden light, illuminating the blooms and bringing out beautiful colors in the buildings. As the sun continued to dip down near the horizon, the few clouds left began to glow with color. I walked to where the light was, looking upward and watching for compositions.

This shot was looking directly towards the sun. By angling the camera and my position just right, the light shines through the gap in the branches. I then use a small aperture (f/16 or higher) to get this sunburst effect.

Be Patient

There were a few compositions I had in mind before I arrived, such as this door. I am obsessed with this little door. I love the golden glow of the light surrounded by the magical cherry blossom scene. What's in there? Is this where the cherry blossom fairies live? I am sure it is something much more ordinary, but my point is that it does create some intrigue in the image, and the path makes a great leading line right to it.

I set up my camera (a wide angle this time, Sony 16-35 mm). Crowds were less at this point, so it was more possible to achieve this shot. But still there were some people. Others taking photos, walking through, some resting on the nearby benches. I waited patiently for everyone to leave and took my shots.

Wait for the Crowds to Leave

This last shot was taken after most of the crowds had departed. Now is the time to break out the wide angle and take shots that encompass more of the space. Since by this time it's quite dark, I did use a tripod and longer exposures. Luckily there was little wind and I could afford these longer exposures without worrying about the flowers blurring.

Even with waiting, I still had to use generative remove in Lightroom to remove a few stubborn people that seemed determined to not leave the frame. Luckily generative remove does a great job and makes it easy to do something that was much more time consuming two years ago.

Overall, I'm really happy with my resulting images, despite the crowds. I'm glad I stuck with it instead of throwing in the towel. In the future, I would definitely still prefer a morning shoot if the cloud forecast looks good. I would also give a rainy day a try for the prospect of some nice reflection shots.

Whenever you make it there, keep these tips in mind and you can come away with some great compositions no matter how many people there are.