ANGELA B. PAN

This was taken the same morning as this image just about 30 minutes earlier. It’s a weird perspective in two different ways. 1 because this image is facing west. For some reason, this sunrise had all the color in the opposite direction and hardly anything facing east. You could imagine my surprise when I actually saw it. It was totally unexpected but very much welcomed. 2 because I knew I wanted to try to get the reflection of the colors in from the reflecting pool but there would have been no way I would have been able to get to the other side of the reflecting pool without the colors fading. So I decided that the edge of the reflecting pool was good enough. Personally, I don’t like it when I see other photographers stick their tripods in the reflecting pool to take pictures. I don’t know why but I just find it disrespectful. So this was a handheld shot to make it look like my tripod was in the water. LOL. Don’t worry, no tripods went swimming to capture this image! It stayed safely in the middle of the sidewalk so that no one could push it in. And by no one, I mean me.

But overall I love the way it turned out, especially the side of the steps where it sort of looks like a semi-circle in the reflection. Such an interesting pattern but one I’ve never noticed before and don’t know if I really would have if it weren’t for this angle.

Lesson learned here. Always look behind you when taking pictures. You could be missing out on some fantastic color and would have never known it!

The camera settings for this image is F/8 at 1/60th of a second and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Speaking of fall colors still hanging around! Heart eye emoji! (P.S. Is it weird that I say what the emoji is instead of actually using the emoji? HAHA) One of my favorite places to go to for fall colors in Washington DC area is the Tidal Basin. I don’t know if many people know it but the cherry blossom trees are gorgeous in the autumn season. We were so lucky to have gone at the right time on this particular morning. The tree colors were poppin but the sun hitting the leaves made them look like they were glowing this amazing gold color. I’d say this was probably 30-45 minutes after the sunrise.

At first I thought this season wasn’t going to be great for fall foliage. I had heard somewhere that we didn’t get as much rain as we usually do so that was going to somehow negatively affect the leaf colors. That was definietly wrong. I think all it really did was delay it for a couple of weeks because they are out in full force right now. You can even see the trees on the opposite side of the Tidal Basin and so many of them were this beautiful red color. We didn’t walk that way but I’m sure they’re just as beautiful as the yellow tree I was standing under. So if you’re in the DC area, I’d highly suggest checking them out soon before they all go away.

Shout out to Brandon, his cousin, and Jarrett for the early sunrise shoot. It was a fun morning walking around the National Mall with you guys! A morning filled with photos, camera talk and colorful leaves- what could be better?

My camera settings for this image is F/11 at 1/320th of a second and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm lens.

I be dronin’. LOL.

We had gorgeous weather here in Virginia over the Thanksgiving weekend. What could be better than spending that time outdoors? So Andrew and I decided to grab the drone and practice flying. Checking out the maps, we decided to go to Reston. I was looking forward to capturing some lake images but once I got to our location, it was the trees that really caught my attention. I can not believe that it is almost December and the trees are still this colorful and hanging on. It seems kinda late doesn’t it?

Either way, I loved the way my very first drone image turned out. It’s actually a small piece of a larger image but that word “slow” really caught my attention. With some fancy cropping and rotating, I came up with this.

Practicing my flying skills is always a good thing, but I also need to practice my composition skills with the new point of view. It’s a totally new way to see the world and I need to know when to fly up higher or get down low and when there’s too much in the frame. I think that was my problem when I viewed the images on my computer. There’s just too much going on and you have no idea what to focus on.

Regardless, I’m loving my mavic. Every opportunity I get, I want to fly. I was even showing Andrew how to fly too. He didn’t take any pics but I bet if he did, it would some how turn out blurry. He’s just that good. LOL

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/100th of a second and ISO 100 with my DJI Mavic Pro. Now that I think of it, I need to update my gear page with my new flying camera 🙂

I’m not sure what has gotten into me lately, but I’ve been waking up so early. Like way before my alarm goes off to wake me up for sunrise, even early enough where I could scramble myself some eggs for breakfest and still be on time to watch the sun. Oh man. That’s early! It’s like I’m jet lagged…

But what else is there to do at 5 o’clock in the morning but go out and take pics, right?

Luckily we’ve been having some awesome sunrises around the Washington DC area. This particular morning wasn’t as colorful as I usually hope for but it was so moody. I’ll take it!

It rained over night and the steps to the United States Capitol was so reflective. You know me, I love a good puddle when I see one. So I was playing around with different angles and perspectives when I finally came across this one. Holy cow, I love how the trees look as big as the Capitol Building. One of my favorite things to do is to get down low and make whatever is in the foreground look bigger than what’s in the background. Its sort of a eye-mind trick thing but I think it looks super cool. And for some reason my eye keeps going down to the reflection and staring at the Statue of Freedom lookin’ like a squiggly line. It’s so interesting how that came out.

Don’t get me wrong though, I am not complaining about waking up early. I’m complaining about being super sleepy by 8pm every night. #grandmastatus So expect to see way more sunrise images from me soon 🙂 I’ve got a few lined up.

My camera settings for this image is F22 at 0.6 seconds and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Last but definietly not least, I’m grateful for all of you. You all have made it possible for me to do what I love every single day. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not grateful for it. And it blows my mind that you actually take the time out to read my blog and view my pictures everyday. I’m just a girl with a camera. Seriously, THANK YOU!

I took this image in 2012. I remember it very clearly because it was one of the first times I had ever done a long exposure like this. I remember coming home and being so proud that it actually worked. How have times changed. Now I’m taking long exposures every other day. HAHA

My camera settings for this image is F11 at 1/6 seconds and ISO 100 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105mm lens.

Above is an image of a recent project that I had been working on for a private home. The final result is a 44×86″ double framed print. The white frame is meant to look like a regular mat and it will prevent any curling or anything in the future since the print is so large. So cool, right? Unfortunately, like many other projects that I work on, I did not get to see the final product in person. But I did get to see the print before it got framed and it looked excellent. It got installed last weekend and I’m grateful for the family who purchased this to send me a picture.

So out of appreciation of you all, I’d like to offer a discount code for black friday on all my prints. Click the link here and use the discount code: “HappyHolidays” at checkout.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all your kind comments, support and love. They mean the world to me.

It’s what we’ve been waiting for all year! Happy Thanksgiving! This song will be playing on repeat today to celebrate the holiday. And it is also day 4 to of this week long series of gratitude on the blog which is going to be for my family.

I know I don’t talk about them much on my blog. Mostly because they aren’t usually with me while I’m taking pics or something like that but I know in my heart that they are always there for me no matter what. When I initially told my parents that I wanted to quit my job and become a full time artist, there was definietly a lot of concerns and discussions. They were not thrilled at my decision but they also knew that if I put my mind to something, I’m going to do it. No matter what they thought.

Now, my family are some of the most supportive people I have in my corner. Whether it’s my mom forwarding all my newsletters to her friends, my dad always asking me how photo is going and giving me suggestions, or even my cousins liking my pictures every time I post them on social media, I know they are super proud of me and I’m so extremely grateful for them.

This image that I chose to be today’s photo is a little different for a Thanksgiving post, I know. It’s from Artechouse’s newest exhibit called, Kingdom of Colors. If you haven’t already, you gotta check out this space. This part was my favorite out of the whole experience. Watching the smoke or water or whatever it was coming down and falling on to the flowers. It was just so beautiful. And totally reminded me of my mom who was the one who taught me to appreciate flowers in the first place, so I thought this would be perfect for her.

The camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/25th of a second and ISO 1250 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!