Easter Sunrise in Washington

* Summer sunburst: Full Forecast | March recap: A month of melting *

The sun peeks over the Jefferson Memorial at 7:17am on Easter Sunday morning. I used an external flash to illuminate the blossoms in the foreground while the sun provided plenty of glow to the rest of the scene.

It was 6:10 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning and I was crawling toward the Tidal Basin in a blossom-related traffic jam. I was hoping to do a sunrise photo shoot, but I also had to be back for an Easter service at 8:00am to watch my kid sing in the choir. With sunrise at 6:48 a.m., there was not much time to photograph.

Keep reading to see more photos of the sunrise with the cherry blossoms....

The Tidal Basin at 6:50am, two minutes after sunrise.

As I approached the Lincoln Memorial, the police had blocked the road. I followed traffic to the Jefferson Memorial and discovered the road to the Tidal Basin was open from that direction. I quickly parked near where I wanted to photograph and set up my tripod just in time to capture the colors of dawn at 6:22 a.m.

I worked down the western side of the Tidal Basin, moving my camera and tripod a few trees at a time. I took my last photo at 7:20 a.m. and was fortunate to make a quick exit out of D.C. I went home and found that my family had already left for church. I quickly changed and was at church by 8:05 a.m. Five minutes late to church, not too bad considering the early morning adventure.

The horizon glows at dawn, 6:22 a.m.

The Washington Monument with cherry blossoms at 7:20 a.m.