ANGELA B. PAN

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN 

It’s the last day of 2018 and I thought it would be fun to look back on the past year and relive some of my favorite travel moments from the year. It’s interesting because I do something similar to this every year and every year my favorite images are almost always different from others. I try not to let emotions play into the selection but it can be difficult. You’ll see what I mean 🙂

I had a fantastic year of travel and so blessed to be able to experience everything that I did. I’m lucky enough to have visited the Europe, Caribbean and of course different parts of America. So let me know what you think. Click on each image to read the original blog post:

One of my very first drone images from San Diego. Taken around this time last year, I loved being in Southern California in the winter time. I got my drone at the end of 2017 so I was just practicing flying when I took this image. I really didn’t think much of it until I saw that bird fly below close to the water. With the placement of where I’m sitting and that bird, I love how everything lines up. Definitely expect more drone images from me in 2019. I’m hooked!

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Happy Friday! I’m so excited for the weekend because Andrew, Frankie and I along with our cousins will be traveling to southern California to spend the first few days of the new year on the west coast. I am loving how this is becoming our annual tradition. As you may know, I love California. There’s just something about the atmosphere that is so chill and relaxing. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year. Plus it’s going to be considerably warmer there. *Praise hands emoji*

The first part of the trip will be spent in Joshua Tree National Park. We got this cute airbnb that has a really nice yard. I know Frankie will love it. Please let me know if you have been and have any recommendations for what to do there. It will be all of ours first time in the park and really looking forward to some fresh air.

The rest of the time will be spent in San Diego. I plan on capturing all the sunrises and sunsets I can but also catching up with friends that we haven’t seen in a year. Since our trip last year, I have definitely learned the types of images that I want to capture while in SoCal. I’m so looking forward to exploring even more.

Honestly, 2018 was one of the best years ever. Of course there were some lows but the highs were super high. Does that even make sense? LOL oh well, all that means is that I’m really looking forward to 2019 and all that it’s going to bring. I have blog posts scheduled to go out for while I’m gone but if you’d like to keep up with our adventures, definitely follow me on instagram. I’ll post a lot of stories on there and maybe some pics along the way 🙂

That’s me on the airplane flying away from the cold. LOL.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/30th sec and ISO 100 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Every year during this time of the year, I like to go back through my images that I’ve captured and pull them together for a ‘best of’ post. I capture so many images in a year that it can be a little difficult to narrow them down so I like to divide it them into two days, one for travel and one for just Washington DC images.

This image did not make the cut but it reminds me of one of the more memorable trips of the year. My trip to Aruba with all my girlfriends. It was so much fun to have that girl time and to spend a long weekend at the beach. I stayed in a room with my friend, Sue. It was perfect because we both just naturally wake up early and she is very patient with me when I want to stop a million times on the way to breakfast just to take pictures. She’s patient because she’s probably taking a million pictures too. LOL.

This image was taken on our last day. Sue and our friend, Neena woke up in the morning to get breakfast and do some last minute souvenir shopping for our loved ones back home. Andrew’s always the easiest person to shop for because he doesn’t necessarily want any of the touristy stuff you can get. I usually just go to a local grocery store or convenience store and buy a whole bunch of different snacks and treats that we don’t have back home but look interesting to try. We have a good time trying them together. So while I was waiting for Sue and Neena to shop, I saw this rooster just walking around. I loved the colors behind him so I took a quick shot before he ran away.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/500th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

Is it me or is today the hardest day to get anythingggg done. Holiday hangoverrrr. Last night we celebrated Christmas with Andrew’s family and it was so fun. I made christmas cookies. LOL. My family is celebrating this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing my nephews. I see them every week but still…

Hope you all got some fun photo goodies for the holidays.

This image was taken in the summertime. I remember capturing this particular sunrise so clearly because it was from one of those days that the Tidal Basin had been crazy flooded. But this day was probably the most water I had ever seen. My jaw dropped when I walked down there because it was above the park bench seats. It was so easy to capture reflections like this because there was just so much water. I have definietly made it a habit to wear rain boots whenever I visit the basin. Even if there hasn’t been any rain for days, you just never know now and it’s a sad.

My favorite part about this image is the cloud formations. I love the way it’s framing the Washington Monument and it looks so good in the water reflection. It makes me want to go back to that summer time weather. And don’t even get me started on those summertime colors. I love the transition from orange to blue.

Actually the last time I was at the Tidal Basin (earlier this month), the sidewalk was blocked off. There was no sign or postage saying why, so let’s hope something is actually being done about all this water and flooding. It can’t be good for the cherry blossoms.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/640th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Shout out to Oregon for this year’s US Capitol Christmas tree! It’s stunning!

This isn’t my first time capturing the US Capitol Christmas tree but as I was capturing it this year, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it is. Maybe I’m just older and feel like I appreciate the holidays more or something but I really enjoyed just walking around and finding the different angles.

A few weeks ago, I woke up for sunrise and made my way over to the US Capitol. I started off at the usual reflecting pool spot but saw a few other photographers there. For some reason something clicked in my head that I didn’t want to stay there and figured it would be better if I walked around a bit. I made my way all around the front of the Capitol. I was trying to find different angles but for some reason the tree itself was blocked off. I couldn’t get down to the grass where the tree was. The US Capitol police must block it off sometime in the middle of the night because I know I’ve been close to the tree before. Weird…

But I love the way this turned out. Mostly because I like the way the branches are just sticking out. I don’t know, I find it cute and it makes me smile. Hope this image makes you smile and brings you a little holiday cheer today. Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate. Wishing you all the best this holiday season.

I’ll be with family all day today and most looking forward to watching all my nieces and nephews open their christmas presents. It’s the best watching them so happy 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/640th sec at ISO 2500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

Last week I found myself at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Usually when I wake up for sunrise, I don’t have a real plan of where I’m going to go. I just go where the wind takes me but on this particular day as soon as I parked my car, I knew exactly where I was going. It was around this time 6 years ago when I captured this image of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I’ve always wanted to go back when the wreaths are laid and I knew that this was my chance.

Unfortunately, I did not get the same light as I did 6 years ago but the wreaths were beautiful. You can’t help but feel thankful for all the names on this wall and their sacrifice. Then it led me to think about our current military and how some of them aren’t able to be home for the holidays. Even some our neighbors who have to work around the clock, just to serve like doctors, nurses, even postal workers. Thank you all so much.

In order to capture this image differently, I tried a new perspective. I basically placed my camera on the ground and wanted to get a nice line of wreaths in the shot. I like the way that it turned out but I can’t help staring at the reflections of the trees behind them on the wall. I love how they look so small and I think this is a real interesting point of view.

I’m not sure how long these wreaths stay at the memorial or even Arlington Cemetery. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to photograph them again in more light.

Thanks again to all those who serve and happy holidays to everyone.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 0.3 sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom