ANGELA B. PAN

Out with Andy and our Sunday sunrise morning friends, we made our way from the Washington Monument to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We were all capturing images of the reflection of the building and the Washington Monument, but I ended up capturing a few images from this angle. I liked how the NMAAHC looked like it was slicing up the Washington Monument. I think it made for a unique point of view. But I thought it was missing just one element. So I asked Andy to walk along the path.

Adding a human element there makes this much more interesting because it’s a total play on scale. From this point of view, he looks as tall as the trees and street lights. Everything is almost at the same exact level. Plus I think his reflection in this one came out pretty interesting too.

My camera settings for this image are F16 at 1/200th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm zoom lens.

If you know me, you know I love a good rooftop. So when I got invited to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s rooftop, I was like “What?? They have a rooftop?”

Obviously I had to accept the invitation and see it for myself. I had no idea what to expect when I went to the museum. If I’m going to be 100% honest, it was actually my first time in that museum. I have been to EVERY other museum on the mall except for this one. I have no idea why I’ve never been, it’s just one of those things unexplainable things in life I guess.

So as soon as I stepped foot on the rooftop, I was amazed. It was perfect timing for a beautiful sunset and I couldn’t believe the view. I mean how cool is it to see the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture so close but at an elevated view? I love all the hard edges along with soft curves in this image. I would have never expected this. To the left was another very cool view of the Washington Monument.

Turns out, the American History museum just opened up the rooftop this past March for events. So if you’re getting married anytime soon, may I suggest this rooftop. It is STUNNING. #eventsatamericanhistory

My camera settings for this image are F9 at 1/40th second and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

Happy  Independence day! Hope you all have a great 4th of July full of fun, family and fireworks 🙂

This image was taken last year before the National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened. It was amazing! My friend, Jim (who I used to intern for at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum) and I were the only ones inside the fence taking pictures. So I’m pretty sure that means we’ll be the only two people EVER with an image like this. With no one in the shot with 4th of July fireworks with the museum and Washington Monument standing side-by-side. Pretty awesome, huh? But I do remember how gloomy and cloudy the day was. The whole day called for rain and we got little pockets here and there. I remember thinking that they may totally call off the fireworks since the clouds were so dark and heavy. Luckily, they went off as planned. But unfortunately again, we weren’t able to see the ones that went really high in the sky. We could only hear them. The clouds were so dark that you couldn’t even see the color in them from the firecrackers. We could only see some of the lower hanging ones. Oh well. I still think this turned out pretty amazingly. But a cool effect that happened from all that rain that I didn’t expect were the reflections in the walkways. I purposely got down lower so I could really highlight the reflectiveness of the ground.

I’ll be out taking fireworks images again this year at the National Mall. I’m really looking forward to it. Its like 20 minutes of pure excitement. So if you need any tips on how to shoot fireworks, check out this video I created 4 years ago. All the rules still apply:

Happy shooting and be safe!

Even though The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the newest museum in the National Mall and Washington DC area, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. I’ve only been inside once but I’ve admired it from the outside numerous times. It’s so exciting to have this new space because there are so many new angles to explore. Like this one made possible by the enormous and beautiful reflecting windows that surround the museum.

Now that summer time is on us, I also think it’d be interesting to see what people do with the fireworks in this space. I was lucky enough to have special access to shoot the Independence Day fireworks on the grounds last year but it was sort of a bust. All day it had been rainy with super low clouds so it was sort of difficult to see the fireworks. And it was crazy because the fireworks that were super high in the sky were only heard, not seen. So this year I think it’d be interesting to see if fireworks would be able to reflect off the windows or even some of the outdoor features surrounding the museum. Weather permitting of course.

The camera settings for this image was F7.1 at 1/30th of a second at ISO 400. I shot this at sunset while being smushed up against the windows. A high ISO was needed to be sure everything stayed sharp and in focus. It was only afterwards, in post processing, where I thought this image would look even cooler in black and white. I think it really brings out the the drama and makes the angles look even sharper.

Can’t wait to go inside the museum again to capture the ‘cleansing fountain’. The first time I was there, it wasn’t up and running.

Looks like an almighty sword glowing in the sky, doesn’t it? This is my favorite part of always watching your back. The sunset action was happening in front of me at the Lincoln Memorial but a quick glance over my shoulder to the World War II memorial and I saw this! The sun was setting just at the right angle to change the white monument into gold. You can even see a little bit of the National Museum of African American History and Culture getting a bit of the sun sparkle too 🙂 It makes me smile to see the reflection in the reflecting pool water catch some of the sun’s glow.

My camera settings for this image is f5.6 at 8 seconds ISO 200. I really wanted a long exposure to blur out the fast moving clouds but also bring out the glow colors even more. To do this, I used my neutral density Ice Filter. I think I should be sponsored by them because I’m always talking about these filters and how amazing they are. *shoutout to Ice* Shooting with neutral density filters can be a little difficult if you’ve never used it before. My biggest tip would be to set your camera on manual focus, focus on your subject, and then put on the filter. Make sure you have the composition you want because once you put the filter on, it will be very difficult to see what you’re looking at. It gets super dark. If you leave your camera on auto focus, it will just keep on trying to focus on something and won’t allow you to take the picture. So remember just to keep your camera on manual and it will be all good. The neutral density filter also helped on making the edges super dark and contrasty which also helped in making the Washington Monument really pop out.

Finally we got snow! After a super mild winter, I thought we weren’t going to get snow at all this year. The other day I said we were expecting at least 5″ but I think it only came out to be 2″. Then it turned into sleet. Man was it sleeting! That was definietly the worst part. It felt like mini ice cubes were attacking your face. At some points during the morning walk, I had to turn around and walk backwards. It was too much to handle. Then it made everything turn in to slush. Oh well. It was good while it lasted.

I shot this with my friend, Navin. Turns out the metro didn’t close down but they were just on a delayed schedule. Even still, I’m so happy I was able to get out there and shoot. I would of been so sad to have missed the opportunity. This time I took the Federal Triangle stop which is something I’ve never done before. Usually I’ll take Smithsonian or Foggy Bottom but I was feeling kinda adventurous 🙂 I’m glad I did because it forced me to walk a different way than I usually would have to the Washington Monument which then made me see it in a totally different way. If you’re interested, I was standing sort of close the National Museum of African American History and Culture but on the bottom of the hill. I love how the snow simplifies everything and it really just reduces the image down to the trees and the monument. The smaller trees in the background, close to the monument are cherry blossom trees. I also thought it was kind of cool how the flags perfectly align inside the two tree trunks.

I’m glad it snowed but I’d like to get on with spring now, please?