ANGELA B. PAN

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I think it’s because it’s getting to be the end of the summer but I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting a lot more questions about museums and things to do in the Washington DC area. I always have my usual suggestions like sunrise at the Lincoln Memorial or the Library of Congress for a great interior, but when people ask me about museums, I always have to mention the National Gallery of Art. Especially when photographers ask, I tell them they have to go to Multiverse.

It’s the tunnel that connects the East and West wings of the gallery, located on the very bottom level close to the gallery’s cafeteria and gift shop but it’s seriously the coolest tunnel ever. While riding along the moving walkways, the lights in the tunnel flicker on and off and create this really cool light show. In the past, I’ve always just done short, quick exposures for some reason but this time I wanted to focus on the longer exposure.

I just balanced my camera on the handrails and tried to keep it as steady as I could. This looks like some trippy experience straight out of That 70’s Show. I think the hand railing also adds an extra reflection that you can see coming out of the bottom right-hand corner that makes it look even more like you’re completely surrounded by light. Very cool.

So if you ever find yourself in the area, you gotta check out the Multiverse.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 2.5 sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens.

Taken a year ago on this day at the United States Capitol Building at sunrise.

I even remember capturing it. It was the day I was going to go to the Hamilton show at the Kennedy Center and I was pumped. I was so excited about the show just because I had heard so many great things about it. Let me tell you it met all my expectations. I even remember being the only person out capturing this sunrise (besides a few random joggers) so I was able to blast the show’s soundtrack from my iPhone. I forgot my headphones that day so you gotta do what you gotta do.

The sky literally exploded in front of my eyes and I was having so much fun capturing it. In order to get the most out of the reflection, I got down really close to the water. I love how you can see the little bubbles on top. I think it adds an interesting texture to the image.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/60th sec and ISO 320 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 17-40mm wide-angle lens.

This just makes me happy to look at. I love the cute Washington DC row houses all around the city. These particular cuties were taken near the H Street corridor in the Northeast. It was taken at the end of an already long day but there was something about these houses that made me want to capture them. I just remember walking up and down this block three times in order to properly capture it.

My favorite is just scanning the image to see the repetition everywhere but then noticing all the little details that make each house it’s own. For example, all the rooftops look the same, but if you look closely, the very top “ornaments” are all different colors. All the architecture may look the same but then you see how the colors of the home give each one a certain personality.

So which one would you live in? I think I’m more of a dark red or blue person.

Hope you all have a great Monday and week ahead 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/320th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

Taken around the same time I captured this image, I love the way this one turned out. It also goes great as a pair because I think it portrays what it’s been like in DC lately, H-O-T. Granted it’s not as hot as it was last week but it is definitely sundress or tank top season. OMG.

This image was taken around sunrise time. I was definitely getting the orange glow from the sun but boosted up the vibrancy a little bit in lightroom to show off the color a little more. After I saved the image in my “haven’t blogged yet” folder, I noticed it was sort of similar to this image I captured a few weeks ago at the McKee Beshers sunflower fields.

So I guess that means I have a “style” for when I’m feeling extra warm outside. They both give off that, “please provide me with some shade” feeling. LOL

My camera settings for the Capitol image is F8 at 1/1000th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

My camera setting for the sunflower image is F4 at 1/3200th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

From the top of the Altaire luxury apartments in Crystal City, Virginia. I still can’t get over this view.

Although the Lincoln Memorial isn’t as predominately seen from this viewpoint, it was still so cool to capture.  I think it’s because you see the memorial from the side, which isn’t seen as often but it is surrounded by so many trees. I really had to zoom in with my lens to capture this.

But it also raises the question, should landscape images be photographed in landscape mode? Meaning vertical or horizontal? I feel like the majority of images I capture are in the vertical orientation. Not for any reason other than I think the composition usually looks better that way. I sort of see it as a way of “naturally” cropping and zooming in to a subject. Yes, it is more phone-friendly as well because it takes up the screen but I know traditional photographers will always photograph in the horizontal.

A couple of years ago, my friend, Mike who at the time worked at Modern Luxury DC magazine, said that magazine editors prefer the vertical orientation as well since that’s how magazines are read. Ever since then I was trying to get into the habit and it kinda stuck.

Obviously, this image is horizontal, but I think it worked because my main focus was to show all the layers behind the Lincoln Memorial. I tried cropping it in vertical, but it just didn’t work.

So I guess I’m saying that the orientation depends on the image but in general, you will usually see my images vertical. What about you?

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/100th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and my kind friend, Larry let me use his 100-400mm lens for this shot.