botanical garden

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One of my favorite places to go to shoot in Northern Virginia is Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. I actually learned about it through Andrew. The first time we went here was on one our first dates. I still remember thinking it was weird that he took me here because he gets bad allergies in the spring time but he knew it was a place that I’d enjoy so I really appreciated that about him. Some of my favorite cherry blossom images that I’ve ever taken were taken from here. For example this one and this one. I just love the variety of flowers that you can see here.

So when I got the opportunity to pick a workshop location for a recent one-on-one teach that I did, Meadowlark was the first place that popped in my head. It is beautiful but still quiet enough where we’d be able to walk and talk about cameras and settings without disturbing many other people. The National Mall is a good place too, but it can get pretty crowded and parking isn’t always the best situation. So a great alternative is Meadowlark.

This image was taken from across the lake facing the Korean Bell Garden. I love how the branches create a cool frame around the pagoda. If I didn’t know any better than I would have assumed this was taken somewhere in Asia.

Just in case you’re in the area, the gates will open at 6a on Saturday May, 19th when they typically open at 10a. I bet this would look really nice in the early morning light. And if you’re interested in my workshops, click here for more information. They’re one-on-one so I can cater the information based on whatever you’d like to learn. Plus you don’t have to live in the DC metro area, we could go over everything through google hangouts or skype 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/1250th of a second at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm handheld.

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One of my best friends from college, Neena is amazing. She is always so fun to hangout with and definietly knows how to have a good time. One of the things that I appreciate the most about her is that when she hears a new song that she thinks I’ll like, she’ll texts me a link. But this girl somehow hears all the hot new jams before anyone I know. I love it. And she knows me and the kind of music I like so well. Usually when she texts me a song I get so excited and play it on repeat for a week straight.

So a couple of months ago, she texted me this song by Camila Cabello called ‘OMG’. From the first second I heard it, I loved it. I downloaded it immediately and it has been on my playlist ever since. Such a fun song to dance to! Plus I think that Camila looks so beautiful on the album cover. It’s such a simple image but I love everything about it. I remember looking at it and thinking it’d be cool to have an image like that.

Fast forward to this past weekend when Andrew and I were walking around Balboa Park in San Diego. It was my very first time visiting the park and was blown away by how big and beautiful it was. It was something I was not expecting at all. While walking to the botanical garden, I noticed the shadows these palm trees were casting onto the side of a building. I knew that this was my chance for my Camila Cabello album cover. LOL! Trying to recreate it from memory, this is what Andrew and I came up with. He shot the image but I told him exactly how to do it and frame it. I’m just glad it’s all in focus 🙂 LOL.

My camera settings for this image is F11 at 1/125th of a second and ISO 125 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

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I have to tell you something.

I have been working on 2018 Dynamic DC Calendar for the past few weeks and it’s going to be so awesome. I don’t know why but I’m so excited about this one. Next year’s calendar is going to be better than ever. Pre-sale announcement will be coming out soon. If you’re planning on getting one, I’d suggest to get it at that time. There is only a limited amount and they usually go pretty quickly. (Especially since my parents always order a whole bunch. Thanks mom and dad!!!) So be on the look out for that and make some space on your wall. It’s gonna be outstanding!

Unfortunately, this image is not in the calendar this year. I tried my best to get a variety of sunrise/sunset images but also colorful ones, night sky ones, etc. But maybe next year….

I love this fountain. It so beautiful and whenever I’m driving by or stopped to take pictures, there’s hardly anyone around. I have no idea why. It seems like such a cute little park with beautiful landscaping and flowers that everyone would want to hangout at. It sort of reminds me of being in France. Do you feel like that? Anyways, the sculptor who designed this is also known for designing the Statue of Liberty. Isn’t that so cool? I could definietly seem some similarities between the two. In case you were interested, the designer’s name is Fréderic Auguste Bartholdi. The fountain used to be in Philadelphia but I’m glad it found it’s way to DC’s US Botanical Garden.

The settings for this image is F/9 for 30 seconds at ISO 50. My favorite part of the image is seeing all the little swirls the water creates. It’s so interesting to follow the pattern all around the image.

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I made this picture last week in between creating this one and this one. There was about a 30 minute window from when the rainbow faded and when the sun was about to go down. At first I was thinking I should just go back to my car and sit in the air conditioning for a little while, then I stumbled upon some flowers and got all distracted. The flowers were right in front of the United States Botanical Gardens which is located very conveniently next to the US Capitol. At that time, it was already closed but it was nice being able to walk around the front area garden for a little while and capture some flowers and plants.

I was particularly drawn to this image. Straight out of the camera it had some beautiful tones that I knew I could bring out more in post processing. All I did was make the darks a little bit darker, I tried making the tips a little more yellow and put a little vignette around the image and called it a day. Pretty simple editing processes but I really like the result. I also love monotone green for some reason.  So if you’re interested in learning more about my post processing, you can check out this video tutorial here.

The water droplets add a little bit of extra texture that I enjoy as well. It was at this time that I decided that whenever it rains, I’m going to try to remember to bring my macro lens. It’s perfect for conditions like this and its been a while since I’ve actually used it. This particular image was taken with my 16-35mm wide angle. I envision a much more detailed image with the flowers and droplets in the future, just wait and see 🙂

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I had no idea it was suppose to storm on Saturday, but all of the sudden the clouds came rolling in. Good thing I didn’t have any plans for around sunset time so I was able to go out and shoot. It was a lucky surprise to see the rainbow, but I didn’t even see the beginning of the second rainbow until I brought the images up onto my computer. So cool to see what the camera picks up and not your eyes.