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.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a proper Washington DC image. With all the fun traveling that I’ve been doing, I have backlogs of images that could last me for weeks! Super fun but I thought I’d switch it up a bit today.

This image was taken last Friday. Sunrise is early (5:55a to be exact) but for some reason it was not difficult for me to get to the United States Capitol 30 minutes prior. It has been awhile since I woke up that early, but I think I was just so excited to get and shoot that the early morning alarm did not even bother me.

The sunrise looked promising but ended up being too cloudy. So I walked around and found these awesome flower bushes. They’re actually across the lawn and a sidewalk away from the United States Capitol. Not as close as you may think but if you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that I love making foreground elements look as big as the background. So to capture this, my camera was in the bushes. I angled it up just so the flowers frame the dome and I love how it looks like they look like they’re about to engulf the building.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/200th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

On this particular morning, I heard my alarm go off twice before realizing why it was even going off in the first place. It had been a while since I made myself get up for sunrise. Mostly because I hadn’t been feeling well and I was using my sickness as an excuse. So once I started feeling better, I felt like I needed to get back out and take some pictures. Even if it wasn’t going to be the best sunrise, I just needed to have that time to get out in some fresh air and do something creative.

The forecast had called for cloudy skies. And it definietly was cloudy. So much so I could barely tell when the sun had actually risen. But it was ok because I hopped onto a scooter and scooted over to the Jefferson Memorial to capture some images. It was nice because I was there all by myself for most of the time. So I figured I would try something different.

I was standing in the portico and looked up. I love the how the wide angle lens was able to capture both the dome and portico ceiling and how the shapes sort of mimic each other. I think the columns in the center divided up the space very nicely.

By the way,  it looks like they’re about to start some major construction or clean up at the Jefferson Memorial. If you’ve been wanting to go, I’d go soon before another scaffolded memorial pops up in the skyline. With all the construction that’s been happening around the National Mall, I’m not surprised that the Jefferson Memorial is the next one to be restored.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/30th sec and ISO 1600 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

The other day I mentioned briefly that I was heading to Richmond, Virginia. Well that weekend was so crazy. Richmond has changed so much since I graduated college. Even VCU’s campus was barely recognizable in some parts. I had a really good time going back and looking forward to visiting more often.

This image was captured Sunday morning on our way to Belle Isle. For some reason, while I attended college in Richmond, we never made it over there. We had always intended to but I think I was just too busy partyin’ to really turn that plan into action. LOL. It was so cool though and way bigger than I thought it was going to be. We definietly did not have enough time to explore the entire island. This is the bridge you walk to get over it. From a distance, you can see that it’s a really wavy pedestrian bridge. But you’re actually suspended from a bridge meant for cars from the top. It wasn’t scary as I thought it would be. It was actual very stable and there wasn’t a lot of noise or anything like you’d expect.

Next time I go to Richmond, I definietly want to bring Frankie. I think he would really enjoy all thing to do and sniff around the James River. The city itself just seems very dog friendly 🙂 And we all know how much I love that.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/500th sec with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

Oh yea, and then there was that time Sue and I went to Spain. That was an amazing trip. It was my first time in Spain and I loved every minute of it. We were only in Barcelona and it was beautiful but I knew right from the beginning of planning the trip that I had to go to La Sagrada Familia. Just looking up images online, I was blown away. Seeing it in person, with all the detail was incredible. It’s one of those places that’s hard to describe because there are so many details to look at. The best was when the light came pouring into the stained glass windows and basically created a rainbows everywhere. If you ever find yourself anywhere close to Barcelona, you gotta check out La Sagrada Familia and the other buildings created by Gaudi. All of them are so unique and so interesting to look at.

So while we were in Barcelona, Sue, our friend Chonteau’ who was also in Spain with us made a pact to go back again once the completion of the La Sagrada Familia was complete. From that time we were there it was supposed to be 10 more years. So now technically 7 more years to go! LOL I wonder if I’ll still be blogging at that time. If I am, it would be so fun to look back on these images.

The funny part about it is that when we were making the pact, it was over bottle of wine on this rooftop bar we just randomly went to. We started pinkie promising our pact, but our waiter saw us and joined in on our pinkie promise. I know he didn’t know what we were promising to each other but it was funny because he wanted to get in on the action and turned our pinkie promise into a star.

My camera settings for this image is F5 at 1/6th of a sec at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

One of my new favorite places to hang out in Washington DC is the West End Neighborhood Library. Not because of the books, even though books are great, but it’s because of the stunning architecture. I mean those windows are amazing but I love the they are stacked one on top of each other. It’s so cool and makes for very interesting photographs. I especially like how you can see the reflection of the clouds in them. It’s a great reminder that you should always look up when walking around the city.

But you may also remember this library from a previous blog post because it’s actually attached to Bluestone Lane. It’s been a little more than a year since I first blogged about it but even the interior is of this place amazingly beautiful. Since my first visit in February 2018, I’ve had many brunch and lunch dates here and I still can’t get over it. What’s really cool is that these “V” columns continue into the library too.

So if you’re into these types of architectural images, definietly join me in Chicago in July this summer. We’re going to have a week packed full of cool buildings to photograph plus so much more. There may or may not be a baseball game in the mix too.  I also made this video talking more about what to expect while we’re there. So if you have any questions about anything, feel free send me a message whenever. It’s going to be such a good time! As a matter of fact, Andrew and I are planning a trip out there sometime soon to start scouting locations. Can’t wait! Pizza is callin’ my name! and yours too if you join 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/3200th sec at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.