I know this tree so well at this point: I’ve passed it most days for almost thirty years.
Magnolias have about the most interesting looking blooms and a fantastic structure to them when they go off in the spring. As a result they’re really hard to frame for a photograph.
Go wide and get the whole sprawling tree in the shot and the distinctive shape of the blooms is hard to make out. One macro-close bloom and the size and structure of the bloom becomes much less interesting while they’re still closed and even when they open. (Lots of other flowers have interior structures and patterns that are fascinating up close, but not so much magnolias.
Try to isolate some portion of the tree and mostly it feels arbitrary. I’ve done my best here by using one wing of the building I work in plus a volunteer robin who decided to join the shot.
Magnolias to me signal the end of spring’s beginning. The earliest phase is snow drops, crocuses and then daffodils. When the magnolias bloom, you know it’s about a week or two before the trees begin to fringe with green leaves, the tulips flower, and the suffering of people with pollen allergies goes off in earnest.