ANGELA B. PAN

But of course, Memorial Day weekend is to honor those who have died in active military service.

On my way to Washington DC to photograph Rolling Thunder, I stopped by Arlington National Cemetery. I was riding the metro so it was just a quick stop off at Rosslyn Metro station and then a scooter ride to the cemetery. I didn’t expect to make this stop but I’m glad I did. I had never seen “Flags In“.

I think one of the most aesthetically pleasing parts about the Arlington National is the rows and rows of the perfectly lined white headstone. The patterns created can be hypnotizing. So with the American flags right next to them, it adds a little bit of color and it is so symbolic. Seeing so many American flags in a row is emotional. I wish I could have spent just a little more time photographing them but hopefully, I’ll plan my time better and try again next year.

This image was taken around 10:30a. The sun was definitely out so while walking around so I was purposely looking for a light/shadow composition. I was thinking it would be really cool to see some flags in the shadow but then have some emerging into the light. I stood underneath a large tree to capture it and I love the way it highlights that fourth flag in from the side. To get that really compressed look, I used my ultra zoom lens and got down real close to the ground. Almost eye level with the flags.

My camera setting for this image is F9 at 1/250th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

If you remember Memorial Day weekend 2018, I went on the Old Rag Hike trail in the Shenandoah Mountains with my cousins. Well, a few weeks before Memorial Day weekend this year, I was trying to come up with a plan and asked everyone again if they wanted to go on another hike. Luckily, most were free and we ended up going on a hike that none of us had ever been before, Hawksbill Summit Trail.

It was a short stroll compared to Old Rag, but the elevation on the hike was no joke. In about 3/4th of a mile, you climb an elevation of 672 feet. So pretty much going straight uphill the entire way. I’m not exactly sure how long it took us but I want to say less than an hour. Once you get to the top, it’s totally worth it.

Luckily we started the day early by starting the hike at 9 am. There weren’t many other people on the trail yet and the trees covered the sun for most of the way which probably made the whole experience that much easier. By the time we reached the summit a few clouds had rolled in so I asked my cousin, Mona to sit on some rocks and pose for me. I loved how the jagged rocks were sticking out of the mountain. It was a little iffy actually getting her to that spot though.

You may have caught my other cousin, Karen on the summit too in last week’s post. LOL.

Overall, I would do this hike again if I were looking for a quick hike in the Shenandoah Mountains. It was strenuous enough to get a good sweat in, but it didn’t take all day which was nice.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm

Now that I’m feeling a little better, the blogs can go on as normal 🙂 Thank you for all your kind messages. They really made me feel better quicker.

I had been holding out on all the images I captured during Memorial Day weekend because I really wanted to be more thoughtful with those blog posts. So here it goes…

This image was captured the Thursday before the weekend had even started and it was totally unplanned. We got really heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon that seemed to have come out of nowhere and then all of a sudden, we lost power. With no power, Andrew and I were just bored, staring at each other so we decided that we may as well as go out and take pictures. Well, I was taking pictures while Andrew got some fresh air.

The US Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) is the closest landmark to our house. When we arrived, there were 3 tour buses full of people standing around and taking pictures. I figured with so many people around the memorial, it would probably be best for us to walk over to the Netherlands Carillion which has a fantastic view of the DC skyline and wait out the buses for a bit. Hopefully, by the time we’re done, all the buses will be gone.

My wish came true!

We walked back to Iwo Jima and no one was there. We had the whole memorial to ourselves. I was so excited, I started snapping away. Eventually, I made my way over to some trees and were looking for some framing compositions when I saw this man come. He must have just gotten off of work, it was around 5:30p when I captured this and if I had to guess, he probably didn’t have any power either. I just love the way he was standing there and soaking it all in, I had to capture it.

My camera settings for this image is F13 at 1/500th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

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I’m so sorry to say that with the unexpected emergency, I won’t be able to lead the photo walk this Saturday. I am so upset because I was really looking forward to it but Focus on the Story was able to get Jarob Ortiz to fill in for me. I know it will be a great time. Just in case you missed it, click here for all the details.

#WordlessWednesday