Shooting Kanda River’s Blossoms with a Fuji 35mm f/1.4 Prime

Kanda River flowing under cherry blossoms

I photographed the Kanda River cherry blossoms again in 2020. That year I had planned to photograph some new places. But due to the pandemic, that didn’t happen. It was a disastrous flower photography season. At least I had something close to home to fall back on.

people walking on path next to Kanda River cherry blossoms

In retrospect, I was lucky. Traveling far by train wasn’t an option for obvious reasons. The further you go, the greater the chance of contracting the disease. That left me with local places. And that meant the Kanda River, which flowed past Takaido Station.

Cherry blossoms over concrete walls of Kanda River

After returning from work that day, I had lunch and worked on this blog. Then I grabbed my camera and headed to the river. I enjoyed my time there. The flowers were in full bloom and looked great. It was a pity the weather was overcast. The flowers would have looked better under a blue sky. Still, they were good enough.

cherry blossom covered path

A different shooting experience with a prime lens

This time, I did something different. I used a prime lens, the Fujifilm XF 35 mm f/1.4 R lens. That was something I’d never done before. It proved to be a good choice as it was so small and light, I could shoot one-handed. It was a good break from using the heavy 16-55 mm.

bicyclist on path under cherry blossoms

I zoomed with my feet, not spending time fiddling with the zoom ring. That actually saved me some time. All in all, it was a different shooting experience.

man jogging under cherry blossoms

An unusually empty Kanda River

I have to say that there were very few people along the river. A few people in suits were making their way home, and a few joggers were running. But, there were almost no mothers with kids, older people, or school children along the paths as in previous years. I’m assuming, but I’ll say coronavirus was the reason. It kept people indoors.

Kanda River cherry blossom covered path

The trees in 2022

Just to let you know, I republished these photos in July 2022. If you could see the trees now, they would look different. I heard that some disease got into them, and many of their branches were lopped off. They won’t be at their best again for a few years at least.

Kanda River cherry blossom photo gear

  • Camera body: Fujifilm X-T2
  • Fujifilm Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR

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