ANGELA B. PAN

In a crazy turn of events, Andrew and I spent the weekend in Turks and Caicos. At first, I didn’t think we were going to make it considering I had emergency surgery two weeks ago but in the end, we made it happen! I tried my best to try to postpone the trip. Going through all the paperwork and things to get a date change but it just wasn’t working in our favor. So we decided to just take it slow and still go to the Caribbean island. Why waste the money we already put down for it?  The purpose of the trip was to celebrate a huge milestone for Andrew, so that is exactly what we did 🙂

It turned out to be an amazing trip. Yes, we took it slow. But that’s what a beach vacation is all about. At least for me. What better way to recover and just lay around all day than under a beach umbrella. But there were definitely times when we were walking around in the airport or on the beach where I just couldn’t go anymore. I had to sit down and take a break and Andrew was very patient with me.

Prior to leaving for the trip, I thought it would be fun to get a new toy. So I bought a PolarPro FiftyFifty Dome for my GoPro. I love the GoPro as an underwater camera and I wanted to step it up a notch and try out the dome. Since Andrew and I have been to Turks and Caicos a few times before, I knew there wasn’t going to be much to photograph above water. So I envisioned him doing a handstand in the water so I could really see what it was going to be like shooting above and below the water line.

Since the camera is so small, I thought it would be easier to just set it to timelapse and just concentrate on getting the composition right. My camera settings for this image is F2.8 at 1/1900sec and ISO 100 with my GoPro Hero Black 5

Home from Aruba and I had a great time. I mean I really, really enjoyed my visit there. Not only is the weather amazing (consistently 85 degrees, no humidity, and there’s always a slight breeze) but island itself is absolutely beautiful. The people are very nice and accommodating and one of the best parts- no mosquitos! I could totally see myself going back again.

We spent most of our days by the water. Either at the beach or our hotel’s pool. Both were super relaxing and so much fun considering I went to the Caribbean island with 7 girlfriends. Everyday was a new adventure and tons of laughs. This image was captured on one our beach days at Eagle Beach. We asked our taxi driver to take us to the famous Divi Divi tree and ended up here. I was a little disappointed because the tree was taped off and there would have been no way of capturing the tree without it.

So we ended up just flying the drone instead. To be honest, it was a little scary. With the constant breeze, the drone was a little shaky in the air. Even when the drone was supposed to be still, it was constantly rocking back and forth with the wind. It was especially scary when the drone would fly way off into the deep waters. Not only was my drone was shaking, my hands were shaking too. LOL.

But thankfully my friend, Hannah, brought and blew up this watermelon floaty. It made for such a cute prop for a photoshoot. I asked my friend, Ariana to lay in it and just wait for a little while so I could compose my image. I love the way it turned out. I feel like it totally describes a beachy-island vibe.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/8000th of a second ISO 200 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

I know I’ve been talking about New Mexico a lot but I just loved it. It was my first time ever in the state, we spent most of our time on our road trip in New Mexico and overall, it’s just awesome. And top of that list was definietly, 100% White Sands National Monument.

It was a lot smaller of a park and a lot quieter of a place in general. I never felt like it was too crowded or impossible to take images without anybody in it. It was just so chill. I love this image in particular because it’s just so simple and what it’s really like being there. It reminds me of just walking along the sand – never too hot and relaxing in between your toes.  The best was being able to walk around the entire park without any shoes on.  I feel like every national park should be like that (or is that the asian side of me wanting to take my shoes off everywhere?). It was very much like walking along a beach with no ocean.

Besides the natural beauty of it, my favorite part of the park was the sledding! When we were first coming in to the park, there were these other two girls who were walking out. They offered us their snow sleds and without hesistation, we took them. Sliding down these dunes was so much fun. A lot better than I thought it would be. I felt like I was in elementary school again and it was our first snow day of the year. You can actually get a pretty good speed on these dunes if you find the right one.

This image was taken bright and early in the morning, right when the park opened. Don’t try to come for sunrise, you will be disappointed.

One word: YESSSSSSSS