ANGELA B. PAN

I was still on a photo high after the IGDC Anacostia Photowalk. The weather was beautiful, the leaves were colorful, and I did not want to stay home. So before we went out to eat pizza, I asked Andrew if he wanted to go out to take pictures. What I mean by us going out to take pictures is me taking pictures and he just follow me around while he’s looking at his phone. Thankfully, he’s a great husband and agreed to go.

I figured the National Cathedral would be a fun place to go. I love the architecture and wanted to see if the trees around the area were colorful. They were, but what caught my attention was the beautiful warm light of the sun setting on the building. I was on the side, minding my own business and finding cool lines when I saw this couple and photographer walking around too. I think they were taking engagement pictures or something but for some reason the photographer had them going inside the arches, into the dark shadows instead of photographing them in the warm sunlight. It was so odd.

I’m glad I was able to capture this one. This is one half of the couple but I love how her outfit matches perfectly with her surroundings. The shadow that’s casted on the building is of the photographer. I thought the two figures were pretty interesting so I snapped a few images and kept it moving. Photographing the National Cathedral at sunset satisfied my photo itch and the pizza was so good. Overall, a great day in the city 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1/320th sec at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm ultra zoom lens handheld.

Ok if you know me at all, you must be suprised. I’m surprised myself. There are SO many birds in this image and I am not the biggest fan of birds. To be more specific, birds are definietly my biggest fear. So that’s why I’m surprised I was even able to capture so many of them.

They aren’t the usual pigeons that you see on the mall either. They were these small black birds and they were all huddled up on the edge of the reflecting pool on the grass. So as people were walking by (mostly runners) they would all fly up in the air in unison, circle around the reflecting pool and then land back to where they were. The first time I witnessed it, I ducked behind my friend, Larry. After the second or third time it happened, I kinda figured out what was going on and patiently waited for it to happen again (still very close to Larry). Luckily, I already had my 70-200mm lens on so I was able to capture the moment quickly. When I looked back on the image I was so surprised that I was able to fill the entire frame with them. My favorite part is the slight glow on some of the birds wings.

Either way, I don’t think I’ll be turning into a bird photographer anytime soon 🙂 I’m lucky I was able to capture this.

And in case you missed it, I wrote a little camera review about my current camera, the A7II. I mention the lenses I use including the 70-200mm and why I love it so much. Click here if you’d like to take a look.

My camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1/2000th sec at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

Happy Veterans day! Living in the Washington DC area and photographing the monuments in the National Mall has definietly taught me to appreciate all the service and sacrifice veterans go through every single day. I could not be more thankful for my beautiful life right now and a large part has to do with them. Whether it’s from talking one-on-one with veterans, seeing all the trinkets left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day, or just seeing them ride at Rolling Thunder, I have a special place in my heart to all the men and women who have done so much for me and our country. I feel like the best way that I could possible honor them is by going through my images and collecting some of my favorite images of the war memorials. It’s my way of honoring such the brave men and women of our country.

The image above was taken in December 2012. I was lucky enough to have all the elements lined up: fog, holiday wreaths, amazing sunrise. I’m so honored that this image has been shared over 100,000 times and the reaction and messages I have received from it has been nothing short but amazing. Thank you so, so much.

In the beginning of 2012, I created this image on a cold winter morning in January. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the colors were in the sky and I’m so grateful to have been at the right place at the right time.

A unique look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I honestly think that it’s one of my favorites. I love the reflection of the sky and Washington Monument. My favorite is that little peak-a-boo elements of the trees in the background.

I’m sure you can tell by now that my favorite time to photograph the monuments is at sunrise. It’s just so quiet and peaceful. I’m usually the only one there and it allows me the time to really appreciate the monuments for all that they are. I love how the sun is peeking out over the WWII memorial.

Thank you today and everyday, Veterans. This is a small token of my forever appreciate to you.

You may or may not have noticed that I had a busy week last week trying to capture the fall colors. Is it me or did they just pop out of nowhere. Literally one day it was all green and the next was so amazingly beautiful everywhere you went. So I’ve been busy trying to capture them all before they all fell. It must be all my cherry blossom training that I knew I needed to take advantage of the colorful trees as much as I could or you never know. Especially with Washington DC weather, you never know. Here one day and the next will be incredibly rainy and windy and they’re all gone.

So last week my friend, Birch and I met up at the Tidal Basin. It was a super cloudy morning and there was no real sunrise. We actually ended up just walking back and forth waiting for some light to appear before we felt like we were really able to capture the leaves in all its colorful glory. Also, it was a great way for us to just catch up on life 🙂

I know this image is a little different for me but I love the way it turned out. It was inspired by an image that I have seen from Brandon Woelfel where he captured something similar but during the springtime with flowers instead of leaves. Small little details like this is something I would like to work on more in the future. Often times I think big and wide but there’s something so simple about this image that I just love. Plus I love all the layers of the yellow leaves too.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/80th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

Last week I just happened to run into my friend, Albert. He casually mentioned how he had the day off of work so I asked him if he wanted to join me on a little photowalk in Anacostia. I was preparing for our IGDC photo walk over the weekend so I thought it would be fun to do together. The little photowalk ended up being a photo adventure and the last stop was at the Francis A Gregory Library. I have heard about this library before but honestly, being there in person is nothing like the photos. It is breathtaking. The whole front facade is made up of diamond shaped reflective pieces. So the front of the building looks like a mirror with windows in between the diamond shapes and the interior of the building is wood paneling.

Albert and I spent some time taking pictures in the front and the interior of the building. All of that was so fun. But when we were leaving, I asked him if we could take more pictures of the reflections. He agreed but somehow we ended up walking around the side of the building and then eventually to the back. Both of our mouths dropped in amazement when we saw A WHOLE WALL OF REFLECTION and the best part about it was that there were fall colors on the trees so I feel like it made it even more special. It’s like a double whammy of color right in your face. It was so hard for me to contain my excitement. I’m pretty sure both of us said “Wow” at least 20 times. I immediately asked Albert to stand in the center and pose a little bit. If you ever need someone to give you some fierce posing, talk to my friend, Albert.

The settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/125th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was amazing. Probably one of the best in a while because of all these beautiful people in this image. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the IGDC Anacostia Photo Walk this past weekend. I had a blast and hope you did too.

In case you missed it, my friend, Austin organized this really cool photo walk around his neighborhood, Anacostia. Prior to the walk I had not spent much time there and I’m so grateful for this opportunity to change that. I’m honored that Austin even asked me to be a part of it as I tried my best to give photos tips along the way. Anacostia is way more beautiful and interesting than I originally thought. One of the best parts was listening to his friend, John speak. He grew up in the area and knows so much about the history. Just listening to him speak so passionately about the culture and history was fascinating.

Obviously, I had to highlight some of the amazing creatives that were on the walk with us. Here are just a few of the awesomeness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpunfMZB9F9/

Proud to say I was standing next to Anu while she was taking this. LOL. I was totally in my own world when she stopped to capture this. Love how it came out.

A very common sight to see on our photowalks but loved the candidness of it and the beautiful tree at the Frederick Douglass House.

Beautiful framing of the clouds by this lighthouse in Anacostia.

Love this view from the Frederick Douglass house!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpuw1JpBo5X/

The photowalk just happened to land on the perfect weekend for fall foliage. This image is so fun and I love all the color.

Finally here’s an image of Austin and I. LOL I love it, Andy!

Thanks again to Austin for organizing it and for being a friend, IGDC for the amazing community that you are and John for all your knowledge. If you weren’t able to make the photo walk, I highly encourage you to check out Anacostia for yourself. You may be surprised!