ANGELA B. PAN

I’m still smiling ear to ear from yesterday’s sunrise.

IGDC held a cherry blossom sunrise walk at the Tidal Basin and it was so fun seeing so many friends at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial to start the brand new day. They partnered with the Trust for the National Mall and The National Trust to help spread the word about the Tidal Basin. Turns out the Tidal Basin is now a national treasure of the National Trust of Historical Preservation. YAY! But now that means that we all need to rally together to help preserve it. The National Mall Tidal Basin draws millions of visitors to the 107-acre site each year, but it is estimated that as much as $500 million in repairs and upgrades is needed.

As you may have seen in some of my previous images, the flooding can get real bad. Like here and here and it’s just getting worse as the days go on. This effects the cherry blossom trees as well as our ability to even walk around the Tidal Basin.

So if you love the National Mall as much as I do, please consider donating to help save the Tidal Basin so we can enjoy these beautiful blossoms for many more years to come. Click here for more information.

This image was taken during yesterday’s photowalk. It wasn’t a particularly colorful sunrise but it was calm. It made the water so still and reflective that it was almost like a mirror. I loved the way the ducks would cutting through the water but only had a quick second to be able to capture this image before they completely swam away.

Did you also notice the other two ducks in the background?

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/640th sec at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

I received some of the most exciting news ever right before I left for my trip to California. It’s so exciting that I still can’t believe it’s true.

I have 8×10″ prints and postcards selling in all 5 of the bookstores in the National Mall!!! AHHHH!

I’ve actually known about it for a while. Maybe since October 2017. But I did not know when it was actually going to happen. At first it was expected to come out in March but March came and gone and it wasn’t there yet. So the longer it got delayed, the more I questioned if it was actually going to happen.

So now that it’s August, I could not be more thrilled. As soon as I got word that they were in the stores, I jumped around the house for 2 hours. There’s no way to sit still after news like that. But by the time I found out they were in the stores, they had already been there for a week. Within that week, they had almost sold out of all the postcards and had already made an order to reprint them. Wow. Can someone seriously pinch me?

I asked my friend, Andy, to meet me at the National Mall to help me film my reaction. If you’re interested in watching, click here. He actually had no idea why we were there so it was fun seeing his reaction too!

If you’re ever in the National Mall, please check them out. Some of the proceeds of the prints and postcards go back to the National Mall to help preserve and maintain our beautiful monuments. A really amazing cause that’s a win-win for everyone!

Special thanks to the National Mall for using my images and for being so beautiful. And shoutout to Andy for being so awesome!

I try to go to events and things with no expectations. That way you won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t turn out the way you want. But I knew from the very beginning that Ball for the Mall was going to be an evening that would be hard to forget. In the end, Andrew and I had the best time ever.

I know my words won’t do it justice but the evening was magical. Andrew and I ubered to the Mall and as soon as we walked up to the tent, I saw one of my images greeting all the guests at the front door. If that was the only place my image was displayed, I would have been the happiest girl in the world. Before I could do anything else, I pulled out my phone so we could take pictures.

The event was held on 12th and Madison Dr, right in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The weather was absolutely perfect. I didn’t even need a jacket. Which was amazing because they also had an area blocked off for a special monument viewing station.

As Andrew describes it, the interior of the tents was as if it were a gallery showing of my work. There was a huge blown up piece behind the band, an ever bigger piece behind the bar and all throughout the dinner a slideshow of my work. Little signage and even printouts of my work made it feel even more special.

Obviously I had to take pictures of the delicious food we had. I really wish I had taken pictures of the appetizers that were being passed around. My favorite was this lobster bite drenched in butter. YUMMM.

In between speeches and dinner being served, I asked Andrew if we could sneak to the front of the venue to try to take some pictures of the displays without people around. Not sure how this even ended up happening but it is so awesome. LOL. The image behind me was definietly my favorite out of all the ones that were displayed.

Thank you so so much, Trust for the National Mall for an unbelievable evening. It’s something that I’m going to treasure for a long, long time. It was an absolute honor to be there and an even bigger honor to have had my work featured at such a spectacular event. Thank you xoxo

So yesterday was one of the best days ever! I’m still trying to comedown from the high.  Andrew and I attended the Ball for the Mall and it was the most beautiful, exciting, and inspiring evening ever. Thanks again to the Trust of the National Mall for the invitation and using my images throughout the entire event. Everything was absolutely incredible. Promise I’ll share some images from the evening soon. I’m still trying to gather all my thoughts about the night.

In the meaning time, here’s a pretty picture of the cherry blossoms 🙂 LOL. Like I said yesterday, I didn’t create too many images with the Jefferson Memorial and the cherry blossoms this year. I feel like it’s been done so many times that it’s difficult to make it different. So on that same day that I managed to shoot with very low battery, I grabbed this image. Initially it was the sun burst that caught my attention, but I’m a sucker for using the cherry trees to frame subjects. My favorite is the light that’s coming through the flowers. Doesn’t it make you feel all warm inside?

This is why we need to help preserve the National Mall and other national parks across the country. So that people can appreciate beautiful scenes like this forever and ever. Government funding only goes so far. We need additional resources that will help keep the cherry blossom trees healthy and all of our monuments and memorials safe and clean. The National Mall is a unique national park because it’s located within a city. We get so much foot traffic that eventually things are going to wear and tear. Please click here to find out how you can help.

My camera settings for this image is F22 at 1/100th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 27-70mm handheld. 

If you’ve signed up for my newsletter then you already know, but I have a super exciting announcement to make. I am this year’s Ball for the Mall’s official photographer! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I am so thrilled and so grateful. If you don’t know what the Ball for the Mall is, it’s a fundraising event that the Trust for the National Mall puts on every year to raise money for the National Mall. This year the tent is going up right in front of the Smithsonian museums. Being the official photographer does not mean I’m photographing the event. It just means that the Trust for the National Mall is featuring my images on all their materials for the event like the invitation, save the dates, etc. I’m honored to be helping with such a beautiful cause that’s so close to my heart. I’ve spent so much time at the Mall and it’s given me so much. I’m grateful to be able to give back. Plus I heard there’s going to be some super cool people like Wolf Blitzer emceeing the event. I am going to try to take a selfie!

I’ve never been before and I’m really looking forward to attending the event with Andrew later on this month. Now, to go ball gown shopping. AHHH!!!! 🙂 I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m so excited.

This image was taken on morning on a super cold winter morning at the National Mall (obviously). I love it because the sky reminds of tie-dye. I mean when you see a scene like this, how could you not fall in love with our national parks?

The settings for this image is F9 at 1/10th of a second at ISO 200 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 17-40mm wide angle lens. You know this is an older image when the Canon 5DmII is mentioned.