ANGELA B. PAN

Virginia was issued the initial stay at home order on March 30th, 2020 due to the Coronavirus. It didn’t come as a surprise but it was still something that I had to mentally prepare for. Honestly, one of my first thoughts about it all was, “How am I going to go and take pictures?” Not only is photography fun for me, but it is my way of exploring places, finding stories, and expressing myself. In the past, the longest I had ever gone without taking pictures was a week. I already knew the stay at home order was going to be tough.

The world was a rapidly changing place and I was craving to capture it. Here’s are the images I created in the first two months:

Cherry Blossoms

Covid-19 really started being a concern in the Washington DC area just before the cherry blossom season. We had an unusually mild, dry winter that allowed the cherry blossoms to bloom a bit earlier in the year than they usually do. So I was excited to be able to visit the Tidal Basin with a bit less of a crowd since travel was in the process of slowing down and social distancing was starting to become a new term. I tried to go as much as I could until it started to get too crowded. When it got to be too much, I decided to just stay home and be happy with the images I was able to create. My logic was to take as many pictures as I could until it got to be unsafe and then spend quarantine editing them.

Weekdays at sunrise are really the best times to visit the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season, Coronavirus or not.

The last day I was at the Tidal Basin when it started to get a little too crowded

The cherry blossom trees are smaller at the Washington Monument, but still just as beautiful. I tried capturing a few images from there since it’s a larger area to roam.

Cherry blossom trees are seen from the George Mason Memorial

Mt Vernon Trail/Georgetown

That weekend, Andrew and I decided that we should try to get out “one last time” before we had to stay home. We decided that the Mount Vernon trail would be a good place to go and stretch our legs. Andrew walked Frankie on the trail which allowed me to take my camera and capture a few images as well.

Considering the stay at home order was placed the very next day, I’m so glad we did this. It was a foggy morning and the trail was not as crowded as it usually is. We parked our car at Gravelly Point and headed towards the Navy Merchant Marine Memorial.

At the cherry blossom peak bloom, but the pink flowers came out a little hazy in the fog.

(L) A quick stop in Georgetown along the Key Bridge. (R) Views of the Washington Memorials are seen all along the Mount Vernon Trail.

Vienna Metro

So this is where my real pandemic images begin. It had been about 1.5-2 weeks since our walk on the Mount Vernon trail and I was going crazy. I had never purposely taken such a long break from taking pictures, and it was not making me feel good. I was really craving creativity, seeing what this new world looked like, and just to walk around with my camera. So I started locally. I mean really local since I live within a few blocks from the metro. I figured with public transportation being at an all-time low, it was probably the safest and most isolated I would ever see it.

Click here to read more

Going through some old images, I found a couple of interesting images from my visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum back in 2017. Growing up in the Washington DC area, this museum was one of those that had a huge impact on me. I may have been too young, but I just remember being so scared of this museum. I think at that age, I probably did not know how to communicate what I was feeling and all those feelings just turned into fear. Ever since then, I sort of avoided the museum.

Fast forward to 2017 and growing up to be an adult, I can now appreciate the museum. If we’re just looking at it from an architectural standpoint, it is beautiful and so unique. My favorite are all the skylights in the entrance of the museum that lights up the main hallway.

From an educational standpoint, I think this museum does an amazing job of showing just how horrible this period of time was. There are so many images and artifacts that it’s difficult to leave the museum unscathed. So if you do plan on going, be warned that you won’t leave the same person.

My camera settings for this image are F6.3 at 1/500th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm.

Doesn’t it seem like the days are going by so quickly now a days? It seems like it was just yesterday that I was at the Holocaust Museum but it was actually 2 weeks ago. I guess what they say is true. Time flies when you’re having fun. And when I think of it even more, I can’t believe almost half the year is already gone! Nuts-o.

Anyways, this image was taken on that day we visited the Holocaust Museum. It was an architectural tour which I really enjoyed. It was just a whole new way of looking at the museum. So we got divided up into small groups and were lead around 4 different parts of the museum as we talked about how the architecture represented different parts of the Holocaust. This particular image was taken outside at the 14th street entrance. Even if you google mapped it, you can see there’s a slight curvature that comes out of the building. Although that’s very cool all on it’s own, I thought showing it in the window reflection was even cooler. A whole new way of looking at it. I can imagine this to be a neat way to frame things if the sky was really dramatic.

The lesson that I learned from this image is to take your time and really exam the space that you’re in. You’ll be surprised by what you may find. Thanks to my friend, Zack who helped me out with this. So in recent photoshoots, I’ve been really trying to practice that. Also practicing the art of being present. I’m really resisting the urge to look at my cell phone while I’m out shooting, especially if I’m out with other people. Being present and aware of your surroundings can only help improve your images and quality of life.

Obviously I had to go to the Natural History Museum in London to compare it to the one in DC. Overall impression, it was pretty cool. I’m not sure if it’s as big as the one in DC but there were a couple of differences that I enjoyed. For example, the main entrance was inspiring. The architecture, staircase, and dinosaur display was so cool. Is it weird that it reminded me of Harry Potter?