ANGELA B. PAN

Salk Institute is one of those mind blowing places that you can’t believe is real. The most unbelievable part about it is that it’s a part of the University of California San Diego campus and that scientist can actually get work done in this beautiful place.

This was my second time visiting Salk. The first time was last year, but I knew I had to go back for this year’s trip. However, the main goal of this visit was to capture it differently than last year. I started off with my wide angle that provided me with some really cool views but spent most of the time with my 70-200mm. This allowed me to compress much of the building to provide the unique views that I was looking for.

Even though it seems like a really quiet place, there are people all around. Maybe because sunset was around 5p when working hours typically ends and people were leaving to go home, but there were people walking around at almost any given moment. It could also have been that I was there at sunset and other people wanted to get that golden hour glow on the buildings but I was definietly not alone.

The unfortunate part is that you’re not allowed to walk up the stairs. I totally understand why but I would have loved to capture someone standing at one of these stair landings. The best I could do was capture a fellow photographer at the very bottom of the steps. Either way, I love the way that it turned out. The pattern, the line, the shapes just fascinate me. I could seriously spend a whole week here and not get bored.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/80th sec at ISO 1250 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom handheld.

So weird that it’s Wednesday, right? I feel like long holidays always throw off my sense of days. Not that I’m complaining at all. I love them. I got to spend time with family and friends and there’s nothing better than that!

Saturday we had a lot of rain. It rained all day and was super gloomy. So in my head that meant that Sunday would have a good sunrise. Even though I was still in my ‘long holiday mode’, I still managed to wake up in time to catch the sunrise from the Lincoln Memorial. I was super lucky too. The sky only had a little hint of pink for a minute and then it was gone. The rest of the sunrise was cloudy and gloomy. But you know what’s funny? Around this time of year, I always see young people hanging out on the steps of the Lincoln. I can only assume that they just started collage and it’s the first time that they have complete freedom. So they stay up all night, doing who knows what, and then thinks its a great idea to watch the sunrise over the reflecting pool. They’re never rowdy or disruptive, but you can definietly tell that they’re struggling to stay awake. LOL. I’m sure I did similar things when I was in college. But hey, at least they’re taking the time to appreciate the new day 🙂 Which they’re probably going to just sleep through anyways. You can see what I mean on the bottom left, next to the column. You may not have noticed it, but there’s someone laying down there “appreciating the new day”.

My camera settings for this image was F13 at 8 seconds ISO 200 on a tripod. Luckily, this early in the morning, no one cares about about your tripod.

You know, sometimes waking up for sunrise can be really tiring. Am I right?

Somehow I forgot about how little sleep I get, especially after the spring equinox, and I just keep going and going. It’s hard for me to remember to slow down sometimes. Well, I definietly felt the effects of that last week. I had woken up for sunrise 3 days in a row. I think out of all the days, 1 of them was really worth it. The day that I took this image at the Reflecting Pool right in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I was super excited to see that little bit of purple pop out of the deep blue sky. But by the end of the third day, I was EXHAUSTED. So, I’m really proud to say that on Saturday, April 22nd I slept in until 10a!!! That’s crazy! I don’t think I’ve slept that much in 10 years. I don’t know what got into me but it felt soooo good.

Ever since I got real serious about photography and ever since I’ve been waking up for sunrise, my natural body clock will wake me up about an hour after sunrise. That’s usually about 7 or 8a depending on what season we’re talking about. The most annoying part is that once I am up, I can’t fall back to sleep. If you had known me when I was in college, I would of thought that was the craziest, most ridiculous thing ever and it would never happen to me.  I purposely made it so I had all afternoon/night classes and I’d sleep in for as long as I’d want. Usually that mean waking up at 11a or 12p. To think about how much I used to sleep in really makes me jealous, but its all good. It’s all a part of growing up right? Becoming a real adult? or something like that.