My Favorite Washington DC Images of 2018

1
1.1.19
All photos available for print and licensing >

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2019! WOW. Not to total ignore 2019 but everytime I think 2019, I can’t help but think 2020 is just around the corner and that is just bananas to me. Like can you imagine people saying that they were born in 2020? The number is just crazy to me. P.S. Where are the flying cars at?

Anyways…

Much like my top travel images of 2018, I like to reminisce and look back on my favorite images from Washington DC from the past year. It makes me feel so fortunate to live in the Nation’s Capital. I love being able to hop in my car and within minutes be among some of the most recognizable and loved landmarks in the world. I feel extremely blessed and look forward to another year of capturing more images.

Click on each image to read the original blog post but I’ll try to add some additional light on these images now that I’ve sat on them for a while. In no particular order except chronological, here are my favorite images of 2018.

fog, tidal basin, winter, weather, umbrella, stranger, candid, washington dc, national mall, moody, cherry blossom trees, trunk, photowalk,

This day was definietly a highlight of the winter season. I remember we had some crazy foggy mornings but on this particular day, the fog happened in the middle of the day. Oh yea, it was raining too. Luckily, it was on a Sunday and I didn’t have much else going on. So what better way than to walk around the National Mall than with my friend, Birch. I still love how everything lines up in this image, even the little reflection you see in the puddle behind the lady is so interesting to see.

Snow Day, washington dc, us capitol, reflection, Rayburn House Office Building, House of representatives, government, spring, snow, white, trees, taxi, cab

But this day! This day was the second official day of spring and the first real day of snow we had all season. Everything about this image was total luck. The fact that I even found this puddle outside of  the Rayburn House Office Building was amazing but the red taxi that drove by was pure genius. I love that pop of color. It’s almost as if I did it in photoshop but no. This is barely edited. I think my one of my favorite parts about this image is still being able to see the snowfall in the sky and the puddle. Crossing my fingers for more snow to come!

Ball for the Mall 2018, national mall, trust for the national mall, event, charity, madison dr, 12th street, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History,

On April 26th, we celebrated the National Mall at the Ball for the Mall. A charity event to raise money for the National Mall that was actually held on the National Mall. (How many times can I actually say National Mall in one sentence?) The whole evening was so magical and I had the best time ever. This image was taken right before speeches were about to end and dinner was about to be served. I asked Andrew if we could sneak back into the main reception area to take a few pictures of my images that were displayed all around the event. The band noticed what we were doing and suggested that I hold a guitar while posing for pictures. LOL. It wasn’t something I’d normally do but since I had a few drinks in me, I was ready to rock out. LOL. The Ball for the Mall was a blast and a huge success. I just wish it were everynight. I had so, so much fun.

George Mason Memorial, washington dc, magnolias, spring, cherry blossoms, yellow, flowers, garden, national mall, composition, snapdc

Because of all the warm weather we received in the winter, I think we had an especially colorful spring. No, this isn’t the typical cherry blossom image but you can see some in the background of this image. I think the reason why this image stands out in my mind as opposed to other cherry blossom images I captured in the spring was because of how much yellow I was able to fill the frame with. And yellow makes me happy. It’s also my mom’s favorite color so there’s that too. Cue the Coldplay 

GW Parkway, Washington DC, arlington, virginia, va, willow trees, national mall, snapdc, washington monument, navy merchant marine memorial, lady bird johnson park, george washington parkway, trail, columbia island

I know it may sound weird, but this was taken on the very first time I went to photograph the Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial in Arlington, Va. It’s funny because you don’t even see it in this image but you would think that out of all the years I’ve been taking pictures in the city that I have been there like 20 times already, but no. I visited the very first time in May when the red tulips were in full bloom. My favorite part of this image is the top. I love looking at all the leaves and the light hitting them. The light was amazing. And you know me, just standing under a willow tree like a photo creeper. Just kidding. I’m pretty sure I was in my own little world and I was capturing this scene anyways but didn’t even realize that a bicycle was about to ride past. That was a total accident but worked out well. I even liked how he’s blurred too.

And for one of my biggest accomplishments to date, Snap DC! Holy Cow I still can’t believe I wrote a book. To be honest, I keep a copy of mine own in a drawer right by my desk and use it as a reference all the time. LOL is that weird to say considering I wrote it? I don’t know. But I use it to pretty often and every time I look at it, I still can’t believe I wrote it. Earlier in the year I gave a book talk to a local photography club and told them a few stories here and there about some of my favorite images from the book. The response was amazing and it made me want to do more book talks in the future. So if you know of a group of people who would be interested in learning more about photographing the different sites in Washington DC, let me know! I love spreading the knowledge 🙂

And to be honest, I secretly love that when you type Snap DC into Amazon, Snap DC Angela shows up as a suggested search. <3 <3 <3 blushing<3 <3 <3
One more thing, huge thank you to everyone who has left me an amazon review. WOW I can’t express how much that means to me.

Reflecting Pool, washington dc, national mall, sunrise, pink, purple, ducks, washington monument, us capitol, summer, humid, hot, weather, reflection, wwii memorial, location, photo challenge

Back when I first got my 70-200mm for my Sony camera (I had one for my Canon but didn’t use it as much), I was excited to use it in all the places that I usually go to but wanted to see how the perspective changed. This was one of my first mornings with it and I was hooked. I had been able to capture the US Capitol from the reflecting pool before but this was something else. I love how you can even see the lights in the dome. I also really enjoy the blurred out ducks. This was the start of my crazy love relationship with the ultra zoom lens. Now I can’t leave home without it!

Fireworks, july 4th, independence day, washington dc, reflecting pool, national mall, camera settings, lincoln memorial, night, lights, point of view,

I make it an appoint to be in the Washington DC area for the 4th. I love capturing the fireworks from the memorials. There’s just something so iconic about it that I can’t get over. There was this one time where we tried to capture it in NY and it was probably one of the craziest, most confusing experiences that I’ve ever had. So I try my best to stay home for  Independence day. But this past year, I shot them from somewhere I had never been to photograph the fireworks before. This was taken right at the base of the reflecting pool, in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I used my 70-200mm to capture this image but I remember switching between that lens and my 16-35mm wide angle lens. I mostly kept to my 70-200mm because I was actually sitting in the second row while I captured this image. There was this girl who was laying flat on her stomach capturing the fireworks with her phone but I remember she had bent her legs and had her feet up in the air the whole time. I was worried that I was going to capture her feet in the shot with the wide angle lens, so that was the main reason for the 70-200mm. I had to be able to zoom past them. LOL.

I love how symmetrical this image is but I also think it’s really cool seeing all the lights in the background. That must be all the phones and cameras of the people sitting on the other side of the reflecting pool as me. I think anywhere you sit near the reflecting pool is going to be a great show.

washington dc, national mall, postcards, prints, gift stores, washington monument, trust for the national mall, eastern national, Pigment & Hue, postcards, prints, souvenir

Another huge accomplishment that I never thought would happen, I have postcards and prints selling at the bookstores all around the National Mall. It’s honestly a dream come true because I remember going to other National Parks and seeing photographer’s works featured there. I always wondered how they did it so now I can’t believe that I have my own. AND in the National Mall. It’s mind blowing. But funny thing about this image is that when posted this image on my social media platforms, half the comments were of congratulations and the other half asking me if I cut my hair. LOL. I had no idea my hair would cause such a conversation. But yes, in 2018, I also cut my hair shorter than it’s ever been in my adult life. Growing it back long in 2019! LOL.

I even have a youtube video! Click here to watch

Francis A Gregory Library, anacostia, library, architecture, washington dc, river, david adjaye, portrait, albert ting, pootie ting, alabama ave

This image is of my talented friend, Albert. He is a total photo inspiration to me. I love walking around with him and just finding secret spots like this. Everytime I met up, I always want to know about his photo inspiration or process. I think it’s good to have friends like that. It has definietly pushed me to try new and creative things.

washington dc, anacosita, photowalk, instagram, instameet, igdc, austin graff, fall, anacostia river,

Now this may seem hard to believe. When I think about it, I sometimes can’t believe the fact that 2018 was the first year that I started hosting photowalks. Crazy, right? I think I’ve attended so many in the past that I never thought about hosting one of my own. The first one was back in April when I hosted a photowalk with IGDC to promote Snap DC. Soon after that I hosted one with Focus on the Story for a sunrise photowalk around the monuments. And my last was in October where I hosted a photowalk in Anacostia with my friend Austin and IGDC (above). All three were so much fun and I plan on doing more in the future so be on the lookout for one coming soon 🙂

Birds of DC, national mall, washington dc, reflecting pool, lincoln memorial, black birds, washington monument, us capitol, early morning, sunrise, images, photos

If you know me, you know that my number one fear in life is birds. I have this paranoid feeling that they’re about to swoop down and lift me up from the ground or that they’re ready to fly straight into my face so being able to capture this image is still amazing to me. The only reason that this is in my favorites is because I can’t believe I was able to get the birds in focus. LOL

P.S. Doesn’t this image look like the birds are about ready to fly in your face? See what I mean? SCARY!

United States National Arboretum, northeast dc, washington dc, Capitol Columns, botanical gardens, fall, autumn, corinthian columns, anacostia river, new york avenue,

And what would a favorites list be if my favorite puppy wasn’t on the list? This was taken just in the past month at the National Arboretum. I told him as a puppy that if he were to be my dog that he’s going to have to get used to the camera.  As you can tell from this image, he is. I also think it’s funny that you can see Andrew holding him up too. Aww my little family <3

Looking back at all these images make me so happy. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed capturing them. Thank you all so much for taking the time to reminisce 2018 with me. 2019 is going to be even better! For realsies.

Just in case you were interested, here are my favorites from 2017 , 2016, 2015 was a 2 parter. Here’s part 1. Here’s part 2, and  2014