ANGELA B. PAN

Having fun in Palazzo Vecchio

PS. Oh, Hi new website!

We spent our last sunset in Europe at the Piazza Michelangelo. Thankfully we took a cab up there because I don’t think we would of found it just by map. Plus the steps to this piazza was pretty crazy. Coming down was fun and a little sad all at the same time.

It’s official! It’s been one year since I became a master at the Arcanum and started inviting friends into my cohort. There have been many things that have been said about the Arcanum like, “it’s changed my life” or “it’s such a great community” but the thing about it, is that it’s all totally true.

Last year, on July 7th I was really nervous. I really didn’t really know what I getting myself into but most of all, I was worried about my ability to lead and mentor 20 photographers. I mean, what do I really have to offer that they couldn’t learn anywhere else?

So I pushed my fears aside and slowly built up my cohort with 20 AMAZING landscape and nature photographers. And through this experience I’ve learned so much! I even feel a little guilty because my cohort has taught me sooo much about photography and friendship that it doesn’t even feel like a mentor/mentee relationship anymore. It really just feels like friends with common interests hanging out.

If you’ve been a long time follower of my blog, you may have noticed my photography style has changed a bit in the past year. In the very beginning of the blog I used to shoot and process exclusively HDR. Now with the Arcanum and specifically my cohort, I’ve pushed out of my own comfort zone to try new things in shooting, processing, and just the whole way I look at photography. And for that I’m extremely grateful for my cohort, Angelaville because I’m so much prouder of my work as of recent.

But it’s not just interacting with the members of Angelaville, it’s hanging out with the other masters and members of the Arcanum that makes this whole experience soooo much cooler. I’ve met some pretty awesome people and I’m confident that wherever I go in the world, I’ll have a friend to meet up with through the Arcanum.

So to say that the Arcanum is life changing is totally an understatement. It’s only been a year and I can’t even remember what I used to do before it came about. It’s totally rocked my photo world I can’t wait to see what the next year holds 🙂

It was a last minute decision to head to the memorials for the fireworks but it turned out so great. Love the fireworks in DC.

Taking a little break from the Europe pictures to wish you all a happy and safe Independence day.

This is one of those places that you gotta see to believe. I almost didn’t go because as soon as we stepped into the line there was a security guard standing outside that said that the chapel was going to close in 10 minutes. A lot of people left the line so Andrew and I decided to stay to see what would happen. Fortunately, so many people left that it made the line so much quicker and made for photographing the chapel so much easier because there weren’t as many people. Patience paid off in this situation 🙂