ANGELA B. PAN

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.

It seems like everyday this summer has either been super hot and humid or super rainy, right? There hasn’t really been an in between in a while. This image was actually taken on one of those rainy days. It rained the night before and it rained right after this image was captured so I was really surprised when color actually came through the clouds during this sunrise. And as a side note super lucky that I left the Reflecting Pool right before it started pouring. The whole morning was really dark so I love the way the pink and purple hues brought out the contrast.

Now that I have my 70-200mm, I’ve been challenging myself to keep the lens on my camera without switching to one of my defaults.  It’s actually a lot harder than it sounds but I think it’s really interesting how subjects that I photograph all the time seem so different. I’ve always talked about getting really low or getting high could help make things look different. Well, getting a new lens can do the exact same thing. I captured this image at focal length 112mm.

Besides the color and the reflection, my favorite part about this image are the ducks. I always get so happy to see them, especially in the summer time. There seems to be new baby ducks all the time. Of course they could be the same ducks that I’m seeing over and over again, but they’re just so tiny that I can’t even imagine being more than a few weeks old.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/60th of a second and ISO 1600 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm. The reason the ISO is up so high is because this image was captured handheld.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Taken on the same day as this image and this image, I figured a little #tbt would be fun.

It was the second day of spring and we got our first real snow all season. All the weather-people in the area were calling for 2-4 inches and I went to bed really excited expecting to wake up to snow. I got up, looked out the window and I remember being disappointed because there was nothing. Not even a drop. To be honest, I went back to sleep. HAHA. And the second time I woke up it was snowing! I was so excited, I immediately put on 3 layers of clothing and headed straight to the Metro. Luckily, I live walking distance to the metro cuz I rather do that then deal with the cars on the road. At least that way I can listen to some music and relax on my way into the city.

I spent most of the morning walking around the US Capitol. The original intention was to go looking for cherry blossoms but there was something about the white snow on the white building that really captured my attention. If you’re familiar with the US Capitol, then you’ll know that these are the steps that lead down to the visitor center. I love how the white snow simplified everything and all that you can see are the lines from the steps, trees and the person walking down with an umbrella. A pretty interesting composition that I am so glad I was able to capture.

My camera settings for this image is F11 at 1/320th of a second at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens. For those of you wondering, I had no issues with my camera in the snow. To be honest, I don’t even remember changing my batteries… which seems a bit odd. Especially for the A7II

Last week, I had THE best rooftop experiences O F M Y L I F E !

Thank you so much to Albert for inviting me to Rosslyn, Virginia where they were holding a cocktail reception celebrating Rosslyn’s newest development Central Place. Central place is a high-rise apartment building and its absolutely GORGEOUS. Inside and out. For the most part we were on the 6th floor lounge area enjoying the cocktails when around sunset Albert, Anna, Lindsey and I asked if we could be escorted upstairs to one of the top levels. This is the view from the 26th floor lounge. Yes! This apartment complex has 2 lounge areas, a pool with Miami FL vibes, and seems super dog friendly. All huge pluses for me.

My jaw dropped as soon as we went to the outdoor patio. Never in my LIFE have I seen a view with all four landmarks in one shot. It’s the Jefferson Memorial on the very right, the Lincoln, Washington Monument and then the Capitol in the back left side. It was absolutely breathtaking. I really just wanted to claim a little corner of that space and live there forever. I feel like I could watch this view from sunrise all the way to dawn.

Luckily we had some rain earlier in the day and the sun came out just in time to create these cotton candy skies. I’m pretty sure the camera gods knew I’d be taking pictures at the best view ever so I appreciate them looking out! Either way, I don’t think anyone could ever take a bad picture from this view point.

I’m also super happy that I had my 70-200mm with me. It was an amazing way to break in the new lens!

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/50th of a second ISO 400 on my Sony a7II handheld.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I am so grateful for the DC creative community. I’ve learned so, so much just by meeting up with various photographers and taking pictures with them. Just seeing how they work and how they “see” things inspires me to want to create more than just my typical sunrise shots. Whether it’s street, portraits, or whatever, I am grateful for everyone being so open and willing to share their ideas.

This is definietly the case with my friend, Birch. She has always been a photographer I admired on Instagram. Her point of view is so interesting but we hadn’t connected offline until the beginning of this year. Once we finally met, I feel like we became instant friends. Not only did she have a lot of the same ideas about creativity and photography as I do but we have a lot of the same interests besides art. So since our initial meeting, we’ve been getting together to take pictures quiet often. You can find us talking about the latest audiobooks we’ve been listening to, working out, or even bucket list travel destinations.

What I love most about her photography is how simple she makes everything. For the most part, she’s only carrying her 70-200mm whenever we go out shooting which is so different than me! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a photographer with a whole bunch of gear in her backpack but I’m usually with a wide angle lens and a zoom lens and that’s it. But with her 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens, she’s able to capture so many things that I usually would not even notice.

When we first met, I told her that I wanted to get a 100-400mm. I’ve tried it out since then and to be honest, it’s just kind of a big boy lens to be carrying around on casual photowalks. Maybe sometime in the future. But last week I purchased  the 70-200mm sony lens, inspired by Birch so that hopefully I can see things in a whole new way. Be prepared to see things a lot more close up. LOL.

This image of the row houses is also inspired by her. I loved the way she captured them in Capitol Hill so last time I was in Georgetown, I thought I’d try something similar . Thanks for being such an inspiration, Birch! If you haven’t already, definietly follow her on the gram 🙂

The settings for this image is F8 at 1/160th of a second ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm zoom.

I don’t even remember the last time I’ve visited the US Botanic Garden. I know it has to have been at least a couple years and the last couple times I was there, it was purely for the orchid exhibit. I did not go anywhere else or really explore the grounds.

Well last week I had a former photography student and now friend come visit from Sweden. He planned a trip to go to NYC and in the middle of his trip, decided to come down to Washington to see me and another friend he has living in this area, Andrés. It was so great to catch up with Patriq. We talked about everything from photography, American food to Ikea. PS in case you were wondering, swedish fish aren’t really from Sweden.

We met up around the US Capitol and then decided to poke our heads into the US Botanic Garden. For some reason, I had never been in this room and it seems like it’s the main room you go in as soon as you walk into the building. It’s breathtaking with all the plants and vegetation. My favorite part was the ability to walk up the stairs and get a high level view of the room. I found this spot but knew there had to be someone in it to make it complete. I just love the play in perspective with the huge leaf in the foreground and the little Patriq in the background. We were only in the garden for a little bit before we went to our next stop but I can’t wait to go back again. This place has so many great photo opportunities just waiting to happen!

The camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/80th of a second and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.