ANGELA B. PAN

Home from Aruba and I had a great time. I mean I really, really enjoyed my visit there. Not only is the weather amazing (consistently 85 degrees, no humidity, and there’s always a slight breeze) but island itself is absolutely beautiful. The people are very nice and accommodating and one of the best parts- no mosquitos! I could totally see myself going back again.

We spent most of our days by the water. Either at the beach or our hotel’s pool. Both were super relaxing and so much fun considering I went to the Caribbean island with 7 girlfriends. Everyday was a new adventure and tons of laughs. This image was captured on one our beach days at Eagle Beach. We asked our taxi driver to take us to the famous Divi Divi tree and ended up here. I was a little disappointed because the tree was taped off and there would have been no way of capturing the tree without it.

So we ended up just flying the drone instead. To be honest, it was a little scary. With the constant breeze, the drone was a little shaky in the air. Even when the drone was supposed to be still, it was constantly rocking back and forth with the wind. It was especially scary when the drone would fly way off into the deep waters. Not only was my drone was shaking, my hands were shaking too. LOL.

But thankfully my friend, Hannah, brought and blew up this watermelon floaty. It made for such a cute prop for a photoshoot. I asked my friend, Ariana to lay in it and just wait for a little while so I could compose my image. I love the way it turned out. I feel like it totally describes a beachy-island vibe.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/8000th of a second ISO 200 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

So the 4th was awesome. It was one of the best fireworks displays I had seen in a long time. It was hot and humid but not humid enough where it effected the sparkles like it had in the years past.

I rode the metro to the mall and made my way over to the Lincoln Memorial. I was flying solo this year since Andrew had better plans of bbq and fireworks at home and it seemed like all my photo friends had their own ideas of where to shoot the fireworks from. I’ve been wanting to shoot in front of the Lincoln Memorial for so long so that I finally took the opportunity this year to do so. I arrived around 615p and the Lincoln Memorial steps were already packed! I didn’t even bother. It seemed like everybody was so squished up and it was already way too hot without all that body heat around me so I looked over to the Reflecting Pool to look for some open spots. I think being by myself was an advantage because I was able to squeeze in, dead center of the Reflecting Pool. It was awesome! There was only one row of people in front of me and that was it.

I sat there for almost 3 hours, reading on my kindle app and playing some phone games. Its funny though, I stood up to get my camera ready at around 9p. The fireworks were supposed to be going off at 9:09p. And even though I had been waiting for those fireworks for sooo long, it still surprised me when the first one went off. I’m pretty sure I screamed so loud that the people around me heard me yelp and jump a little bit. A little embarrassing, but whatevs. The show was one that would be hard to forget! I’m not usually one to say anything but I was ohhh-ing and awe-ing the whole time.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1 second ISO 160 shot Bulb with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

Clear your calendars for July 18th. Come join me, Geoff Livingston and Focus on the Story for an evening with the Washington Monuments. Geoff and I actually met at the second photo walk I hosted for the Focus on the Story International Photo Festival earlier this summer and I was super excited when he asked me to help him host this event. It will be a great evening talking about long exposure, composition techniques as well as street photography tips at night.  But I think the most interesting part is the fact that there will be three different instructors with three completely different take on things. No matter what, I’m sure you’ll go home with a slightly different perceptive at photographing night images.

And in case you want to get to know us a little better, heres a little ten minute video of Geoff and I talking about the Monuments at Night workshop, Snap DC, etc.  Seats are limited so sign up today! Click here for the link.  Hope to see you there! It will definietly be a good time and don’t forget your tripod!

So as an example of the type of images you could capture at this event, here’s an image I took at the end of 2016. I remember I was walking back to my car when I captured it. I was out shooting sunset by the reflecting pool but still had my camera out. Thank goodness I also had my tripod as well or else I would not have been able to capture these cool car trails driving by on Independence Ave. I think it brings so much life to the image. I also love that light that’s shining above the Jefferson Memorial. Something that would be hard to see without the long exposure.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 2.5 seconds and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm

Happy Independence Day, America! Hope everyone has a happy and safe evening tonight. I look forward to capturing some more firework images somewhere in the National Mall. Not sure where yet but either way it will be a good time. I always find photographing the fireworks super exciting. I feel like it’s similar to photographing lightning. You never really know what you are getting until you pop your memory card into your computer. Most of the time its way better than you imagined 🙂

If you have plans for photographing the fireworks, check out this youtube video I created a few years ago. Even though the video is a little older, the information is still valid. It’s all my tips, tricks and camera settings in order to capture the bursts. Hope you’re able to capture some great ones!

This image was taken 3 years ago close to the Memorial Bridge in Arlington, VA. It is definietly one of my favorite views of the monuments and Andrew and I have sort of figured out a system for photographing the fireworks from here. It’s a long story but Andrew’s least favorite holiday of the year is the 4th because in the years past I made him sit outside with me, in the heat and humidity while we wait for the fireworks. He misses out on all the bbqs and other things so when the 4th comes around he kind of rolls his eyes at the whole thing. So we figured out that he could just drop me off at wherever I want to go shoot from, close to the time when the fireworks are suppose to go off and he will just drive home to the air conditioning while I just metro my way home. It’s works out for both of us! LOL.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1 second ISO 160 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

This image is nuts. I can’t even believe I captured it because it’s really not supposed to look like this at all. This has got to be the worst flooding that I have EVER seen at the Tidal Basin and I’ve seen it flooded a number of times before. For example, here and here and even here.

The sidewalks were totally not walkable at all. I didn’t have my rain boots on this day but that would not have mattered. At some points I think the water came up to my knees. At that point I would have needed waders. Which is a funny story because I actually have a pair. Don’t ask me how I was given a pair… just trust me in knowing that I look super cool in them.

In order to captured this, I walked along the grass the entire time. It was pretty sad to see so many cherry blossom trees just wading in the water. At some points I would even see ducks swim by in places that was supposed to be a sidewalk. It was almost like I was walking through a really weird dream.

The only good side to this is that the reflections were unbelievable. The water was only moving when ducks would swim by but otherwise it was like glass. The sunrise was way better than expected so I was super happy to be able to capture it all in the water and make it look even more dramatic with the reflections.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/500th of a second at ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens. I noticed that a lot of the images I captured this day were in the shadows because I was walking around in the trees so much (with no tripod) so I had to bump up my ISO to compensate.

A little while ago, my friend, Bryon from Utah came and visited Washington. I know him through the Arcanum and have spent quiet a few months talking through email. So when he came to visit we set up a little photowalk session with my other friend from the Arcanum, Larry.

We started at the Reflecting Pool, then the to Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens, WWII Memorial, and eventually left at the Tidal Basin. It was a long photowalk but so much fun getting to know Bryon. We talked about everything from Salt Lake City to his initial impressions of Washington DC. It’s so funny because he said that before his first ever trip to the district, he thought that it would just be a concrete jungle. Now that he has visited a few times he knows now that ‘there are so many trees you can barely see the other side of the street’. I thought that was such a compliment.

I love how our city is more than just buildings. It’s beautiful with it’s own little spots of nature.

This was taken at Constitution Gardens. I don’t think a lot of people know about it but it’s a great place to just sit and relax. While walking around the pond, all three of us noticed the amazing light that was hitting the Washington Monument. It was probably a good hour after the sun had actually risen. I immediately busted out with my wide angle lens and got down as low as I could to the water without touching it. OMG I love it when the light can just change everything. Change your view on what you’re looking at and also change how you feel. Not that I wasn’t already happy but seeing that light made me super excited.

The settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/500th of a second ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle.