ANGELA B. PAN

This image is very different for me in two different ways.

1. It broke my instagram silence. Which I was not planning on doing for a while but it was such a good sunrise on Saturday that I couldn’t help myself.
2. Because its of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A place I haven’t photographed in YEARSSSS.

Let me explain. I think most of you found me because of my Vietnam Veterans images that went viral a couple years back. If you don’t know what I mean, you can see one here and the other one here. When that happened it was probably one of the most surreal moments in my life. I had no idea those images would be shared or even liked as much as it did. And I’m forever grateful for it. Those images really changed my photography career in the best ways possible.

And for a long time I had this fear in my head that I could never go back and take a better image than I had in 2012. 6 years later and I’m still not over it and I walk past the memorial almost on a weekly basis. Its kind of nuts the kind of tricks your brain can play on you.

So I finally did. I went down the the Vietnam Veterans memorial and tried to capture the sunrise as best as I could. It started off with me taking the same exact images I had before but then I started getting creative. I started thinking about all the things that I’ve learned about composition and my new favorite techniques to capture an unique cityscape. And I felt as excited and inspired as I ever have about photographing this beautiful memorial. I learned that I can’t let fear of not being good enough hold me down from doing what I love.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/160th of a second at ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens handheld.

I could of done this a Black Friday sale, but it didn’t feel right.

This is more than just a shopping holiday. This is a time for me to say thank you to all our veterans. You have given me so much. Even if I’ve never met you. You have given me freedom, safety, and a much better life than I could have ever dreamed of. There is no way that I could ever thank you enough for that. This is my little way of showing you that I appreciate your service. That I respect you. And that I’m grateful.

From now until Monday, November 14th, I’d like to give you 40% off of all my prints. I don’t think I’ve ever marked them down so much. But on top of that, I’d love to donate 10% of those proceeds to the Fisher House.

Use coupon code: “veterans“ at checkout.

After spending some time researching different charities, I found that Fisher House received top scores in actually donating and helping veterans AND their families. They’re also local, so that means a lot to me as well. To learn more about Fisher House, click here.

Here are a few examples of prints you can purchase:

Thank you again to all our veterans. I appreciate you on Veterans Day and everyday.
Angela

So many people run for shelter when the storm approaches. With a scene like this, it’s hard not to just sit and enjoy. I wasn’t the only one though. I was surprised that there were about 15 other people sitting at the WWII memorial with me, enjoying the weather.