Cherry Blossom Photo Shoot on the Hill Behind My House With. Fujifilm X-T50

It's rare for all the stars to align – no rain, good weather during peak cherry blossom season, and it also being a holiday for me, a working professional. Today was exactly one of those lucky days, and since heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow, I'm taking out my Fujifilm X-T50 paired with the XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR lens. There's a cute-sized cherry blossom tree at the apartment entrance. It seems to have been planted only a few years ago, but in about ten years, it might become a fairly lush landmark of the apartment complex. I thought about going to Bulgwangcheon, but it's crowded, and the cherry blossoms don't seem plump enough to create a "Sakura Drop" spectacle. I figured I'd only see people, not the magnificent sight of petals falling like rain, so I decided to head to my secret cherry blossom spot, the hill behind my house. Whether it's luck or something else, the hill behind my house is an extension of the Bukhansan Dulle-gil trail in Eunpyeong-gu. It's an excellent trekking course, but I don't go up in winter because it's too cold, and I don't go up in summer because it's too hot, so I'm not enjoying the luxury right in front of me. The cherry blossoms along the path leading up are also quite a sight to behold. The fully bloomed cherry blossom clusters, just before they fall, are quite rich and full. The cherry blossoms near the apartments halfway up the path are also quite impressive. Once the "Sakura Drop" begins, cherry blossoms will swirl from both sides of the ascending road, creating a magnificent spectacle. By the way, the neighborhood itself, where you go up, doesn't even have a special name, but it has a charming, trendy retro vibe. A rooftop room beneath cherry blossoms? If the jeonse (lump-sum deposit) for that rooftop room were a bit cheaper, I'd love to rent it as a workspace or something similar. I'm so envious that cherry blossoms are exploding right behind the house like that. Eunpyeong-gu has also become a neighborhood with quite a lot of cherry blossoms sometime ago. At the entrance to the Dulle-gil trail, there's a cozy, quiet gazebo and a large cherry blossom tree in bloom. I've been meaning to enjoy the cherry blossoms here with a can of beer every year, and it feels like it's been almost 10 years since I first thought of it. The cherry blossoms viewed from here are quite a spectacular sight when captured with a camera. Of course, that's only when the weather cooperates. I once heard that you're getting old when you start taking pictures of flowers, so I generally don't photograph them. The exception, however, is cherry blossoms, which I make sure to photograph every spring. Among Fujifilm's film simulations, VELVIA produces excellent colors for photographing flowers. While it differs somewhat from Canon's vibrant and crisp colors, the overall color rendition is quite impressive, just with a different feel. Moreover, with the XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR lens, the entire zoom range shoots like a prime lens. With DSLRs, a misfocused F2.8 shot often looked out of focus, but with mirrorless cameras, which don't require focus adjustment, the subject is captured with razor-sharp precision, and the background is nicely blurred. Seeing that there are still buds remaining, it seems a proper "Sakura Drop" will take another 2-3 days. However, with heavy rain forecast overnight, all the petals might fall before I get to see that magnificent sight. The cherry blossoms surround the gazebo like a roof, creating a truly atmospheric scene. Sitting under the gazebo, you can see this view, and I really wish I had a few skewers and a glass of low-alcohol cheongju. A few residents came up for a stroll and to enjoy the view, but I only saw about 2-3 people in 30 minutes. Bulgwangcheon is becoming such a popular spot that it's overflowing with people, so I much prefer a quiet place like this where I can enjoy the scenery. Next to the gazebo, there's a path leading up to the Dulle-gil trail, and when the cherry blossoms here are in full bloom, they create a tunnel-like effect. If you look at the photo of the Dulle-gil entrance above, you might wonder if it's that impressive, but looking up at the sky reveals this kind of view. It's quite mesmerizing. Cherry blossoms shaped like this look beautiful when photographed. Usually, cherry blossoms grow along the branches like this, but sometimes you find clusters of them at the tips of branches, as seen in the photo above. When I set the F-value between 5 and 6 and zoomed in fully, the background distinction wasn't clear, so I boldly set it to F2.8. Oh, wow... this lens is truly amazing. The cherry blossoms are captured sharply with clear distinction between foreground and background. I'm still in the process of understanding the characteristics of Fujifilm lenses and bodies; in some conditions, the photos turn out very hazy, while in others, they show sharpness and detail comparable to a full-frame camera. The variability is quite significant, so I need to study it more. When I took the picture, they definitely seemed white, but looking at the photo, they have a slight pinkish hue. The cherry blossom tree was quite large, and I occasionally saw new cherry blossoms sprouting from various spots on its trunk. I believe these young cherry blossoms will provide an even more abundant spectacle next year.