ANGELA B. PAN

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge started construction in the Summer of 2017. Every time I visited the Navy Yard or even the Tidal Basin, I was eagerly waiting for the completion of the bridge. From afar, it looked really cool with the arches and I loved how there was going to be a pedestrian walkway to allow people to walk or bike from DC to Prince George’s County, Maryland. You know me, if there’s a new vantage point in the city, I’m excited to go check it out.

So in December, my friend Makeeya, asked If I wanted to meet up for an early morning walk around the Navy Yard and then eventually walk across the bridge. I had no idea that the bridge was even open for pedestrians so I was all for it.

Walking across the bridge was beautiful. I loved seeing the arches

Once I got close and I was really fascinated by the reflections I saw in the barriers between traffic and the pedestrian walkway.

It’s very evident that there is still construction going on on the bridge. There are cranes and construction vehicles surrounding the bridge but open traffic.

Once we got off the bridge, we ended up walking along the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Price George’s County, MD. I feel like views from this trail will be beautiful in the spring or fall of the Navy Yard.

View of the US Capitol from the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail

And to complete the circle, we went onto the 11st Street Bridge to go back to where we had originally started our photo walk. It was a great time to be out and see the city transform before our eyes. I can’t wait until Fall 2021 when the bridge is supposed to be complete and I can photograph it without all the cranes or construction around it!

This past weekend was an unusual one. If you have been in the Washington DC area then you know that it pretty much skipped fall weather and went straight from summer to winter. We may have had a week or so of ‘warm’ weather but it didn’t last too long. So when I saw that Saturday was raining all day but Sunday was going to be a little foggy with the high in the 50’s, I knew I had to take advantage.

My original Sunday plans were canceled so Andrew and I were left with a whole afternoon to ourselves. That’s when we decided to take Frankie to the US National Arboretum. Neither Andrew or Frankie had ever been there so I thought it would be a great place to just get out of the house. That and the fact that a lot of it is paved and Frankie wouldn’t get too wet walking around was a huge plus.

Typically when the three of us are out together, I’m busy taking pictures while Andrew and Frankie are checking out the scene. When we arrived at the National Capitol Columns, I was happy to see the yellow shrubs in front of the columns. It was a great pop of color in an otherwise gloomy day but it needed something. Frankie obviously! LOL.

I called Andrew over and asked him to stand a little bit inside of the bushes and lift Frankie up above his head. I had no idea how it was going to turn out but I love it. LOL. It definietly has some Lion King vibes to it. Thankfully Frankie’s so great that he’s not even phased by all our weird ideas.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/1600th sec at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was amazing. Probably one of the best in a while because of all these beautiful people in this image. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the IGDC Anacostia Photo Walk this past weekend. I had a blast and hope you did too.

In case you missed it, my friend, Austin organized this really cool photo walk around his neighborhood, Anacostia. Prior to the walk I had not spent much time there and I’m so grateful for this opportunity to change that. I’m honored that Austin even asked me to be a part of it as I tried my best to give photos tips along the way. Anacostia is way more beautiful and interesting than I originally thought. One of the best parts was listening to his friend, John speak. He grew up in the area and knows so much about the history. Just listening to him speak so passionately about the culture and history was fascinating.

Obviously, I had to highlight some of the amazing creatives that were on the walk with us. Here are just a few of the awesomeness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpunfMZB9F9/

Proud to say I was standing next to Anu while she was taking this. LOL. I was totally in my own world when she stopped to capture this. Love how it came out.

A very common sight to see on our photowalks but loved the candidness of it and the beautiful tree at the Frederick Douglass House.

Beautiful framing of the clouds by this lighthouse in Anacostia.

Love this view from the Frederick Douglass house!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpuw1JpBo5X/

The photowalk just happened to land on the perfect weekend for fall foliage. This image is so fun and I love all the color.

Finally here’s an image of Austin and I. LOL I love it, Andy!

Thanks again to Austin for organizing it and for being a friend, IGDC for the amazing community that you are and John for all your knowledge. If you weren’t able to make the photo walk, I highly encourage you to check out Anacostia for yourself. You may be surprised!