ANGELA B. PAN

While in Aruba, we stayed at the Renaissance Resort and Casino. I’d recommend it if you really want to go to Flamingo Beach and stay in Oranjestad. I liked it because the location was really convient to a lot of shopping, restaurants and bars. It made life so much easier when you could just walk across the street and get the best dutch pancakes on the island.

This image was taken on our first morning in Oranjestad, just like this one. Apparently Sue and I had a great photowalk because I got so many images that I am happy with including this one. This building is right by our hotel. We could actually see it from our balcony everyday. If I remember correctly, it was a church. But I just loved the vibrant yellow color with the black trimming on the windows. It made it a very unique looking building. The red sign was just the focal pointed need to make this even more interesting. It took a couple of frames for me to get it just right but I love the way it turned out.

I hope you’re liking these Aruba images because I still have a ton more to go through. I’ve literally just scratched the surface. I’ve been pretty busy lately working on a couple of projects here and there but hopefully I’ll have some time to work on those images soon as well as an Aruba vlog! I can’t wait to check out the gopro footage of when we went snorkeling in the ocean 🙂

One last reminder, if you’re not busy tonight, come join me, my friends Geoff and Focus on the Story International Photo Festival for an Evening with the Monuments. Click here for the details.

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/1000th of a second at ISO 320 with my 70-200mm lens.

I remember exactly how this moment happened. My friend Sue and I spent our first morning in Oranjestad walking around the city to explore. We’re both earlier risers so we were doing it to kill time until the rest of our friends woke up so we could all go to the beach together.

Walking around the capital city made me realize just how peaceful, colorful and safe Aruba really is. We were walking around so early in the morning that none of the stores had opened and we looked like the only tourist around. No one bothered us or even said a word. I loved how there were so many locals hanging around just sitting on the benches, soaking in the sun. The only place that was open was The Pastechi House which had some amazingly fresh Pastechis. And when I say fresh, I mean they grew the spinach behind the store!

So after a quick breakfest, Sue and I continued to wonder. I had my 70-200mm lens on most of the time while I was shooting the colorful buildings when I saw this green one across the street from us. I was really drawn to it because I noticed how there were little plants growing out of the roof. I don’t think it was supposed to do that but I thought it made for an interesting play on color. I started photographing it when Sue told me there was someone over there waiting for me to finish taking pictures. I brought my camera down and waved my hand in the universal sign of “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, you may pass.” LOL. But as I was giving him the hand signal I thought about how great it would be to include him in this image. So here he is rushing by so I could continue taking pictures. But I really like how everything lined up. My favorite is the reflection in the car window. It’s so subtle but I think it really adds the image.

After he passed he continued to walk slowly on his way 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/1000th of a second at ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

About a week or two after Snap DC came out, I cut my hair short. It hasn’t been this short since high school. Andrew has never even seen my hair short before. I’ve always had it long, way past my shoulders, almost to the middle of my back. But I felt like I needed a drastic change. I don’t know, I felt like I was a point in my life where I needed to shake things up a bit and cutting my hair was the answer.

What I didn’t expect is how much I would look like my mom in the process. OMG it’s kinda scary. This picture looks EXACTLY like her except her hair is even shorter than mine. Either way, I’m still undecided about it. I definietly will keep it for the summer but after that, I may just grow it out long again. What do you think?

This image was taken on our last day in Aruba. My friends Sue, Neena and I were walking around Oranjestad trying to get last minute gifts for people back home when we came across this amazing yellow wall. I think it’s the side of someone’s house. Whatever the case is, I love how vibrant the color is. The palm tree made for a nice frame as well. Now that I think of it, my mom’s favorite color is yellow. LOLOL.

So shoutout to Sue for creating a picture that’s meant for my mom.

Don’t forget, a week from today I’ll be cohosting a photo workshop with my friends, Geoff Livingston Photography and Focus on the Story International Photo Festival on night photography. We’ll be walking the National Mall and talking about long exposure, street photography at night and so much more! Its going to be a really fun event with a lot more photo instruction than the regular photowalks we’ve been doing this summer. Plus there will be 3 instructors instead of one. So if you’re interested, check out all the info here.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/1000th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Before I left to Aruba, I mentioned the fact that I was really looking forward to seeing the flamingos on Flamingo Beach. And I’m so glad we had the opportunity to see them. To be honest, they were a little smaller than I thought they would be and there wasn’t as many but that didn’t stop me from following them around everywhere to capture their every move. LOL.

They were so fun to watch. Their little habits like stomping on the ground to get food and even biting themselves even while walking was so interesting to see. I think the funniest part was when they would get in the outdoor shower and wait for someone to pull the chain down so they can get fresh water. These flamingos are definietly not wild. There was even a little gum ball machine that had flamingo food that you could pay and feed them, but I was not trying to do that. I think that would be getting a little too close to the birds. My friend was trying to pose for a picture with one and she probably got a little too close. The flamingo actually bit her! She laughed about it while she was backing away and said that it felt like a little pinch but nuh-uh. No way would you ever find me that close to a bird. Even if they’re pretty and pink. Birds are birds. 

You can see in the background there are a few rain clouds. It did rain for a bit while we were in Aruba. It went away in about 20 minutes but it gave us a nice break from the constant sun. I think it worked out well though because I love the tones that it created in this image. 

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/6400th of a second ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens. PS you’re going to be seeing a lot of the 70-200mm in my Aruba images. It had way too much fun with that lens. 

Home from Aruba and I had a great time. I mean I really, really enjoyed my visit there. Not only is the weather amazing (consistently 85 degrees, no humidity, and there’s always a slight breeze) but island itself is absolutely beautiful. The people are very nice and accommodating and one of the best parts- no mosquitos! I could totally see myself going back again.

We spent most of our days by the water. Either at the beach or our hotel’s pool. Both were super relaxing and so much fun considering I went to the Caribbean island with 7 girlfriends. Everyday was a new adventure and tons of laughs. This image was captured on one our beach days at Eagle Beach. We asked our taxi driver to take us to the famous Divi Divi tree and ended up here. I was a little disappointed because the tree was taped off and there would have been no way of capturing the tree without it.

So we ended up just flying the drone instead. To be honest, it was a little scary. With the constant breeze, the drone was a little shaky in the air. Even when the drone was supposed to be still, it was constantly rocking back and forth with the wind. It was especially scary when the drone would fly way off into the deep waters. Not only was my drone was shaking, my hands were shaking too. LOL.

But thankfully my friend, Hannah, brought and blew up this watermelon floaty. It made for such a cute prop for a photoshoot. I asked my friend, Ariana to lay in it and just wait for a little while so I could compose my image. I love the way it turned out. I feel like it totally describes a beachy-island vibe.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/8000th of a second ISO 200 with my DJI Mavic Pro.

As you’re reading this, I’m on a plane to Aruba with my closest girlfriends! I can not waitttt to do nothing but lay out on the beach and get a tan. But you know that will only last for 30 minutes before I bust out with the GoPro! or even my drone.

I’m also really looking forward to seeing the flamingos! If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ll know how I feel about birds. But I feel like flamingos are kinda different. First of all, they’re pink <3 Plus I feel like they’re so slow moving that if they wanted to attack you, you have time to run away and I can’t imagine those stick legs being that fast. Which leads to my question… do flamingos fly? Either way, I love the combo of pink feathers with blue water. But I may be sticking with my new 70-200mm to capture it all. Can’t get too close now. LOL.

This image was taken earlier this year in San Diego. I thought it was appropriate since theres an airplane flying over palm trees. I captured it one day after Andrew and I left the Little Italy farmer’s market and needed to go somewhere to walk off all the food we just ate. We ended up by the marina. I think my favorite part about this image is the big open space on top. It make everything seem so small, especially the palm trees. There was only a quick moment to capture it and I’m glad I was able to pull it off 🙂

So if you’ve been to Aruba, let me know what’s fun. Places to go or places to eat.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/1000th of a second ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm zoom lens.