ANGELA B. PAN

Home from Vegas and I had the time of my life. Is it me or even if you’re not up all night partying and drinking, it’s still an exhausting place to be. LOL. There’s just so much to do and see that the sensory stimulation is on overdrive 24/7. Whatever the case is, I had a blast over the weekend. Like I said before, I was there for a wedding in the family and so most of my weekend was spent with them but I did manage to slip out for some time on my own and check out some of the sights that I’ve always wanted to go to.

For example, the Neon Museum. Talk about a cool place to visit! The best part was the short art talk provided by the museum as we walked around the grounds, they explained some of the more popular signs that are there. One interesting thing that I never thought about was the fact that Las Vegas is known for these neon signs, but they’re quickly becoming extinct as casinos and hotels are opting for LED signage. So this museum only has the potential to grow so much.

I think the next time I visit, I’ll go at night. Even though it was still cool to see in the daytime, I’m sure the night time experience would be so different. I heard that a lot of the signs actually light up. Unfortunately with all the activities already preplanned, I was only able to go during the day. This image is a selfie I managed to capture through a neon sign. I really like the way that it turned out and totally show off the “behind the scenes” of what it’s really like there.

My camera settings for this image is F14 at 1/80th sec and ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Shout out to Oregon for this year’s US Capitol Christmas tree! It’s stunning!

This isn’t my first time capturing the US Capitol Christmas tree but as I was capturing it this year, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it is. Maybe I’m just older and feel like I appreciate the holidays more or something but I really enjoyed just walking around and finding the different angles.

A few weeks ago, I woke up for sunrise and made my way over to the US Capitol. I started off at the usual reflecting pool spot but saw a few other photographers there. For some reason something clicked in my head that I didn’t want to stay there and figured it would be better if I walked around a bit. I made my way all around the front of the Capitol. I was trying to find different angles but for some reason the tree itself was blocked off. I couldn’t get down to the grass where the tree was. The US Capitol police must block it off sometime in the middle of the night because I know I’ve been close to the tree before. Weird…

But I love the way this turned out. Mostly because I like the way the branches are just sticking out. I don’t know, I find it cute and it makes me smile. Hope this image makes you smile and brings you a little holiday cheer today. Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate. Wishing you all the best this holiday season.

I’ll be with family all day today and most looking forward to watching all my nieces and nephews open their christmas presents. It’s the best watching them so happy 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/640th sec at ISO 2500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

#TBT to last week on the National Mall and how I snuck my way to the best spot to capture the Washington DC firework show. 

To be honest, I’ve didn’t envision this. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a fireworks image like this at the National Mall but it’s one of my favorites that I’ve ever taken. Luckily, I was so close to the reflecting pool that I was able to get this view point. It also helped that I was shooting with my 70-200mm and that this was taken at the very beginning of the show so there was no smoke or anything else to cloud the view of the Washington Monument. Just a very clean sky and an amazingly still day. It was kind of crazy though because I was so close to the reflecting pool that pieces of the firework shrapnel was falling on me. I didn’t even bother looking down to clean myself off because I was so focused on capturing light that there was no time.

This was my first time shooting the fireworks from here. So within that 30 minute window I had time to try different angles. Meaning I was standing up and sitting down throughout the entire show. I found out that sitting down was probably my best bet. I got some cool images of just the tip of the Monument but I think the advantage of being so close to the reflecting pool is the reflection. In the beginning I thought the fencing would get in the way, but I actually kind of like it now. It adds an extra element of line and reflection that isn’t usually seen unless it’s the 4th.

My camera settings for this image is 5.6 at 1/10th of a second ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

Taken around the same time as this image. I really love those moody, rainstorm clouds. I remember it had been raining on and off all day that day. This happened to be during one of those off periods. What had actually inspired me to take this image was that cartoon you see on the right hand side. In particular that one with the green background and cute little bunny screaming on it. I recognized those characters from our trip to Japan 2 years ago. I believe the cartoon is called ‘Line Town’ and I thought they were so kawaii. They even had their own store near Harajuku and I believe Andrew and I bought a couple of tshirts there for our nieces and nephews. I was so excited to see Line Town come to America that I had to take a cool reflection shot of it. Duhhh! I didn’t make it into the Times Square store but at least I’ll have more opportunities to go than I did when it was only in Japan.

So I started to set up my shot but then that guy who’s covering it saw me trying to look for my composition. I know I was taking taking my time but it may have been too long. Because when I first saw this scene, there was no one there! But that’s New York for you, there are people EVERYWHERE and at any given moment, one of them could walk right into you composition. Right when I was ready to click, there he was, in front of the green bunny. I could have waited to see if he would move but there were more people behind me on their way. Oh well. I still think it turned out pretty cool.

My settings for this image is F8 at 1/50th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens. At first I was surprised that the shutter speed was so fast at ISO 400 on such a gloomy day, but then I realized it’s times square. It’s always so bright there so you really don’t need a high ISO to shoot fast. LOL.

Going through some of my older images, I found this one. Man it’s been a long time since I’ve been to the United States Air Force Memorial. I think the last time I was there was almost 2 years ago when my friend, Navin and I were out capturing some lightning images. In my opinion it’s one of the harder monuments in the Washington DC area to photograph. I think I find it is so hard to capture because there isn’t a lot of space surrounding it. It’s hard to maneuver  your camera and tripod around in order to get the entire monument in one frame. The only way to capture was to I walk outside of the memorial grounds and stand on the sidewalk at Columbia Pike to get it all in one image. Obviously you can photograph it while in the grounds but it’s very difficult without cutting anything off.

My favorite part of the image is the light that’s hitting the bare trees. I think it looks really cool and interesting, especially the one on the right. I think it looks like it is made out of metal or something, right? Don’t get me wrong though. I still think that the United States Air Force Memorial is one of the coolest places to go to photograph a big sky. I love the hill the sits right outside of it. It’s a great place to sit with your camera and see interesting views of the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the US Capitol. The best time of day to shoot this memorial is probably sunset.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 2.5 seconds and ISO 500 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105mm. LOL that’s how you know this is an older image. I shot it with my Canon. Ahhh memories.

Its been a couple of years since it’s been built and guess what. I still haven’t been on the Capital Wheel. I should really put that on my to-do list. I bet the views from there are real nice. For some reason every time I’ve been to the National Harbor, it’s closed. But then again, I’m usually there just to eat and not really anything else. Have you had Grace’s Mandarin? OMG so good. LOL.

I captured this image about a year ago just by luck. I happened to be driving home from my friend’s house in Maryland and noticed how insanely foggy it was getting outside. But when I crossed over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, I noticed how the fog was effecting the colors of the ferris wheel. It was like something I had never seen before. It was sooo foggy that the fog was actually carrying the colors from the lights. I had to make a quick U-turn to check things out. Luckily I had my camera and tripod with me. Oh man, I would have been so upset if I didn’t. But as I got closer to the ferris wheel, the cooler it looked. The fog blocked everything else out and the only thing visible was the wheel. If I shot this without the fog, you would have probably seen so much many more lights from the National Harbor or even the roads leading up to it. I’m so grateful that I had my gear with me.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 0.8 seconds at ISO 125 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm camera.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Can you believe it’s already December 15th? Luckily I finished all my holiday shopping earlier this week. Thank you Amazon! I’ve never been so prepared 🙂