ANGELA B. PAN

This image was taken a couple years ago at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, California. If you know me at all, you know I love California. I love how laid back everything is, how healthy it is, and it’s just overall so beautiful. It’s always one of my favorite places to visit.

But I think next on my travel list would be Aruba! So random I know. Considering I’ve been to quite a few places in the Caribbean already and growing up you were always scared about the Aruba triangle. But I want to go and stay at the Renaissance Resort and Casino. Why so specific? Because this is the only place that I have seen that has wild FLAMINGOS on their property! Like you could be chillin on the beach and there would be a flamingo walking right past you. I’ve never seen them fly before either, so I think that’d be really cool to see. I don’t know recently I’ve had this obsession with wanting to see a flamingo in real life.

Look at this picture. This could be ME! Except I wouldn’t be laying down so casually. I’d probably be trying to feed or pet one of them. And then sticking a camera in their face. LOL.

If you’ve ever seen a flamingo in real life, let me know! What was it like? Where were you? Did you get to pet it? They seem delicate, are they? OR if you’ve ever stayed at the Renaissance Resort and Casino in Aruba, how’d you like it? I need to know!

For the Natural Bridges State Park image, my camera settings were 1.6 seconds at F/20 and ISO 100. This was probably taken around 2013 so I was still shooting with my Canon 5D mark II and I was using my 17-40mm wide angle lens.

I was talking to my friend, Sue the other day on the phone. We have a lot of the same interests. Cute animal videos, funny memes and travel – so we have a lot to talk about. LOL. We both have done a lot of traveling this year, both together and separately. So we were talking about our favorite places. Obviously, our cross country road trip came up a lot but one thing we both had in common was that we did a lot of traveling within the United States. The best part was that we both had gone to places that we have never been to before.

One of the top places on my list this year was Colorado. I’m not sure how many times I can say this, but I LOVED it. I am definietly going back. This image was taken while I was waiting for the sun to go down at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It sort of reminds me of the sheet music for a piano scale. (OMG I can’t believe I just said that. If my mom just read that last sentence, she’d be so proud of me right now. HAHAHA I haven’t touched a piano in like 20 years). The way that the trees on the left flow into the mountains and then right back into more trees. I find the rhythm in this image very interesting. I also really enjoy the subtle streaks in the water. It may take a second to notice but once I saw them, I keep on looking at them.

So cheers to Monday! Cheers to Travel! and Cheers to our next adventure together in Maine, Sue!

My camera settings for this image is 1/160th of a second at F/9 and ISO 125 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Happy Friday! Yay It’s here!

Lately I have not been getting excited for the weekend. Mostly because I have so much fun during the week that the weekend is kind of an afterthought to me. It is so weird. But it is true. I get excited for Mondays! But this weekend is an exception. I’m really looking forward to it.

Reason #1: It’s Frankenstein’s Birthday! My baby boy is going to be 8 years old. Seriously, where does the time go? I remember the day we brought him home. Currently, he is right next to me sleeping and snoring in his dog bed. But it is so cute! We plan on having a little birthday party for him on Sunday. Yes, we are those dog parents. But its our way of celebrating our favorite little pup. This was him two years ago.

Reason #2: I’m heading to Maine next week! I can’t wait. It will be my first time there and I’m guessing it’s going to be a great time. From what I hear, we should be visiting at the perfect time for fall foliage too. So if you’ve been to Bar Harbor or Acadia National park and have some good photo or food recommendations, let me know! I’ll make sure to add them on the to-do list.

Lobster Rolls, I’m comin’ for yaaaa!

So that means by the time I get back, DC weather needs to cool down. It’s been way too hot lately. Time for your leaves to start changing and your air to get crisper. I’ll be practicing in Maine but the real test will be when I get back home.  It’s FALL Y’ALL!

This image was taken in 2014 during the autumn season in Great Falls Park. The camera settings are 15 seconds F/22 ISO 50 shot on a tripod at sunset.

Ok, please be honest with me on this one. What do you think about this picture? It is so different from what I usually capture but as soon as I saw the scene, I really liked it.

To be honest, it’s so different for me that I’m kinda hesitant on posting it. I get those fears like ‘what if people don’t like it’ or ‘what if people don’t like me because they don’t like it’. That last one doesn’t make sense but it’s actually something I think about. Crazy, huh?

I captured this while we were walking off the Brooklyn Bridge. When we first got onto the bridge, we stopped at this stand to get water. So when we got back down, I knew he was still going to be there but I didn’t expect this awesome frame and the glow from the carts to show up.

It sort of reminds me of that movie ‘Sleepers’. Do you remember that one? It’s wayyyy back in the day. 1996! With a young Brad Pitt and a cute Brad Renfro. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a little disturbing. Andrew and I were talking about it a while back and for some reason decided to watch it again right before our trip. The movie is based in Hells Kitchen, NYC and there was a hot dog stand involved. That’s all I’m going to say. So when I saw this scene in real life, it reminded me of the movie. I’m not even sure if I’d recommend the movie. It depends on how old you are… but it’s a good one.

The settings for this image is 1/5th of a second at F5.0 and ISO 250. To capture it all in focus, I used the banister as my tripod. Luckily the hot dog vender or customer were not moving very much 🙂

Last week, I was so honored to be invited by POD DC and Crimson Diner & Whiskey Bar to join them for an end of the summer rooftop celebration. The new hotel with accompanying diner is located right in Penn Quarter. They had a wonderful tasting menu including lobster rolls and a fun cocktail making class. I participated in both 🙂

And now that sunset is earlier and earlier in the day, we were up on the roof just in time to watch the sun go down and the dark sky light up. My favorite part of the view is being able to see the Friendship Archway at Chinatown with the Washington Monument all the way in the very back. So cool! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vantage point like this one.

My intention for this image was to capture some car light streaks going through the Friendship Archway. I did not have my tripod so I kinda of balanced my camera along the edge of the rooftop to capture this. The settings on my camera was F7.1 at 3.2 seconds and ISO 160 and I didn’t even need a wide angle. This was shot with my 28-70mm and was still able to capture it all. But I also have to credit my Sony A7II for this. It’s fantastic in low light situations and it was so easy to capture this.

Even on a Thursday night, there were still quite a few people walking around and enjoying the night. I wanted to make sure that it looked lively so I upped the saturation in the lighter parts of this image to make it look a little more vibrant and happening.

Now that I know about this place, I’d love to go back on a night with a really nice sunset. I think the images would turn out fantastic. Thanks again, POD DC. I had a blast!

If you’re in the Washington DC metro area, please let me know if it is just me or is it so hot outside? October is next week and it is still 90 degrees at 5p now? It feels like it is the hottest it’s been all summer. And it’s not even summer anymore. It’s FALL Y’ALL (I’m sorry, but I’m probably going to be saying ‘Fall Y’all’ at least 100x more times in the next month or two. Just a fair warning.)

PUMPKIN!

Anyways, this image was taken right before “summer” hit at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, Washington DC. I know you’re used to seeing huge monuments and big skies from me, but taking the time out to explore the other parts of the city has been a priority for me this year. I can’t even believe this was my first time visiting Dumbarton Oaks. It’s gorgeous! And I really fell in love with this little corner of the park. I’ve already set a reminder on my calendar to make sure I go back again in the middle of spring so I can capture some more flowers and blossoms. I’m thinking a good time to go would be after the cherry blossoms have peaked. They seem to be one of the first ones out every year.

But now that I think of it, I wonder what this garden would look like in the fall with the leaves changing. I’m sure it will be just as amazing as it was in spring. Can’t wait to visit again!

My camera settings for this image is 1/25th of a second F/10 with ISO 80.

So if you ARE in the DC area and you know of some cool places to go take pics, let me know. I love exploring new places and seeing new things.