ANGELA B. PAN

Typically when I go into the city, I like driving my car. It’s so much easier because I can come and go as I please and blast my music or podcast as loud as I want. LOL. Plus if I need to stop at the grocery store or something along the way, I can do that as I please.

I don’t find taking the metro as convenient. I’m dependent on their schedule and if there’s any kind of delay or back up, you’re pretty much stuck in the metro car for who knows how long. The only time you’ll really find me on the metro is if it’s snowing a lot or if there’s a big event in Washington DC and parking/traffic is a lot worse than usual.

So when I was planning my trip to Rolling Thunder, I knew I didn’t want to drive. The metro was going to be way more efficient. In order to get to the spot I wanted by the Lincoln Memorial, I got off at Foggy Bottom and walked down 23rd street.

It was pretty cool because along the way there were motorcycles EVERYWHERE. Along the street, on the sidewalks and even in the grass. This image was captured at the Pan American Health Organization building and it was covered by rows and rows of motorcycles. I liked this image in particular because of all the lines and shapes created by the architecture and even the little grass blades you see in the foreground, but I love the flowers in the background of the bikes. I feel like it adds just a little bit of color and femininity to the masculine chopper.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/80th sec and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

We’ve been having a lot of stormy weather lately in the Washington DC area. It seems like almost every day I’ve been getting warnings on my phone about rain or thunderstorms. I’m not complaining though because it feels great to break up some of the hot, humid summer days. But with all these rainy days, I’m always thinking about the water levels at the Tidal Basin and how bad the flood walls need to be repaired.

Even though I took this image last summer, it reminds me of what it’s probably been like at the Tidal Basin right now. It’s pretty ridiculous to see how much the Tidal Basin gets flooded, even on a day that doesn’t rain that much. To be honest, this particular day was the worst I’ve ever seen it. The sidewalks are flooded and it has become un-walkable. At some point, I had to walk up the slight hill, up to the sidewalk in order to get around trees and the flooding in order to walk along the Tidal Basin. It’s crazy!

If you’re are just as concerned as I am about your grandchildren seeing the Tidal Basin in all its beautiful glory, including the iconic cherry blossoms, please consider taking the pledge from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It’s a national treasure that needs to be preserved.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/250th sec at ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

I’ve said it before but one of my favorite museums in the National Mall is the Hirshhorn. It’s so unique and different from all the other museums. I mean, even looking at it from the outside you can tell it’s different. It’s a huge circular building with a big hole in the middle. It’s so cool.

I am so grateful that a couple of weeks ago I was invited to the sneak peek of the Rirkrit Tiravanija exhibit, Who’s Afraid of Red Yellow and Green. The best part was hearing from the artist himself.

The whole exhibition is sort of a mixed media of art. When you first enter the space, you’re surrounded by these projectors that I recognized from grade school. They’re reflecting images of protest against the Thai government and you’re encouraged, as the visitor, to grab a piece of black charcoal and help fill in the piece. By the end of the exhibition, they are assuming all the walls will just be blacked out. So it will be interesting to keep on visiting to check on the status of the walls.

If you visit anytime Thursday-Sunday, you will also be greeted by food from Beau Thai. I had the green curry and it was delicious and not too spicy. A little further into the next room will be documentaries of everyday life in Thailand.

The whole point of this exhibition is to break down barriers between the object and the specator. It’s fascinating how some food, art and an afternoon in the museum really makes you think about the media and how everything is perceived.

Go and let me know what you think! It’s open until July 24th.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/100th sec and ISO 1600 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Another one from Rolling Thunder this year. Does this guy look cool or what?

If you can look behind him, you can see just the tip of the Lincoln Memorial. I purposely was standing by the memorial and in front of the turn arrow on the road to try to get some cool angles, then this guy rolled by. I think there must have been a stop because he just paused and looked right at me. I had to capture the moment.

But I also like how when you look beyond the obvious focal point of the image, you can see what it’s really like at Rolling Thunder. Just lines of people everywhere watching the motorcycles roll by. It’s a little crazy how many people are at this event year after year.

With this year being the last Rolling Thunder event (but hopefully not), I really wanted to try to create some meaningful images. I’ll definitely be sharing more as time goes on but I was thinking about creating some ‘timeless’ images. Meaning if people didn’t know this was taken in 2019, you would have never known if this was the first ever Rolling Thunder or any other year. I love how there are no cell phones in the image or anything dating this image. An image that you can go back to and reflect what it’s like being in Washington DC on Memorial Day weekend.

My camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 200 with my 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Rolling Thunder! A highlight of the weekend for sure! And I definitely wanted to make sure I attended this year because I heard that this is probably the last year they’re going to have Rolling Thunder. It’s such a shame. I can’t remember a Memorial Day without hearing hundreds of motorcycles roaring down the highway. So if it’s true, I wanted to make this last one count.

I keep saying, “if” because I’m hoping there can be some kind of agreement or something made because I can’t imagine MDW without them!

Either way, I had to be down at the National Mall to photograph them. This year, was so special. There were non-stop motorcycles flying by the Lincoln Memorial for 2 straight hours. It was insane how many people there were. One of my favorite things about Rolling Thunder is just the energy of everyone there. Everyone standing by was there to honor our veterans and it was amazing. The sun was super hot and I have no idea how any of these leather wearing guys did it. Even more props to them.

So I started the morning at 23rd Street and just started wandering around for 2 hours. This image was captured toward the end of the ride but I just loved how all of the motorcycles are lined up on the curve. I was standing along the Arlington Memorial Bridge looking down on Ohio Drive. I never imagined them riding around there but I think this turned out super cool.

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/640th sec and ISO 320 with my  Sony A7II and 70-200mm ultra zoom lens.

I’m so sorry to say that with the unexpected emergency, I won’t be able to lead the photo walk this Saturday. I am so upset because I was really looking forward to it but Focus on the Story was able to get Jarob Ortiz to fill in for me. I know it will be a great time. Just in case you missed it, click here for all the details.