One of the largest tourist attractions in Washington DC is the annual bloom of the Cherry Blossom trees. For those who don't know, beginning in the early 1900's Japan gave the United States several thousand Japanese Cherry Trees. Every year, there is a two-week Cherry Blossom festival to commemorate the bloom. This year, the bloom was a couple weeks late due to the extra cold winter in the area.
This year's peak bloom was three days ago and I made my annual sunset trip to the Tidal Basin in hopes of getting some nice photos. The blossoms can be very fragile and weather can have a big impact on them. Despite the fact that I was limited on time, I considered myself fortunate as the weather cooperated and we got to see a nice sunrise.
When doing photos like this, partial clouds are ideal. This gives the sunlight something to bounce off of and create some nice colors. If there was just a clear blue sky, the photos wouldn't be nearly as interesting.