ANGELA B. PAN

Honesty hour…

Lately I’ve been thinking about my style of photography. I think I’m most known for sunrise at the Washington DC monuments, but I want to be more than just that. I want to become a more well rounded photographer that can photograph much more than empty, open spaces. I want expand and push my creativity. I’ve started to photograph more street, lifestyle, and portrait work but haven’t really said anything about. I haven’t really said anything about it because it’s not what I’m known for. And is it really even that good? I dunno, but I am enjoying it and when it comes down to it, that’s all that really matters, right?

So this is an example of the type of work that I’m leaning more towards. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my landscapes and sunrises but I’m expanding. This was taken memorial day weekend on the Old Rag trailhead in the Shenandoah Mountains. Typically I would have waited to bring out my camera until we got to the summit of the mountain and photographed the landscape but this time I wanted to capture the experience of what it was like to get to the top. This image is of my cousin, Mona, my sister-in-law, Audrey, Andrew and another hiker who just happened to be standing at the right spot at the right time. For me, it perfectly describes what it’s like. Cautious getting to the top while climbing over big ass boulders with amazing views along the way. My favorite part of the image is Mona’s body position and the way she’s getting around the rocks.

I have many more images that I took while on this hike. I’ve already sprinked a few here and there and theres more to come. So let me know what you think of these. I’d love to know!

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/1000th of a second and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.

Like I said last week, the hike up old rag was strenuous. It was hot, humid and I was sweating all over the place. In total it took us about 6 hours to complete. You know you’re on top of the mountain when you have these huge rocks you have to climb. I had no idea that it would require so much upper body strength. Shout out to my cousin, Brian who I’ve been working out with 3-4 times a week. I feel like all that working out prepared me for this hike and this hike only. LOL. I had done the trail before but always needed assistance climbing up the rocks. This time I didn’t need any! I came home with a lot of bruises, but at least I didn’t need anyone’s hand to help pull me up 🙂

We were super lucky though. Right when we were done with the rock climbing part and we were about to reach the part where you just walk down the mountain, it started pouring. Like lightning, thunder, soaking wet! I can not imagine what it was like for the people who had to rock climb in all that rain because it was intense! But for us walking down it felt so good. I feel like it relieved us of the heat, all the steaminess of our sweat and humidity went away and it just felt so refreshing. Luckily, I packed a rain sleeve for my camera so all my electronics in my backpack was safe. I didn’t even think to bring one for myself. As long as my camera was ok, I’ll be ok.

We ended up walking a good 3-4 miles in non-stop rain. It wasn’t too bad but neither one of us wanted to stop for a break so it went by super quickly.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/50th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.

Speaking of a lot of images, over Memorial Day weekend my cousins, Andrew and I went on a hike in the Shenandoah Mountains. It was amazing. Andrew and I had done the Old Rag hike twice already but it’s been a couple of years. I kinda forgot what it was like.

This time it was hot and super humid. *note to self, don’t wear grey shirts when going on a hike. You’ll get very visible sweat stains and it’s not cute.*

I don’t remember it being as strenuous as it was but the views are hard to beat. I took so many pictures during the hike that it’s going to be a while before I’ll be able to get through them all. I did post a few on my instagram stories a couple of days ago and this one was one of my favorites. We were on top of the mountain when there was a place where you could either climb down these huge boulders, gently and safely ORRRRR jump like this guy did. I chose the first option but while I was waiting for everyone else to cross, I saw this guy with his running start. I was able to get into position quick enough to capture his leap. I love it because it sort of looks like he’s walking on an invisible tight rope. I checked my camera to see if I got the shot, looked up and he was gone. He must have been running to his friends or something because it was literally dust behind him. I wanted to get his email address so I could send him the whole series of jump, but oh well. Maybe next time.

In order to capture the jump, I had to put my camera on burst mode. My camera settings for this image was F5.0 at 1/800th of a second and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm.

Before leaving on this trip, there were a list of things that I definietly wanted to do while in San Diego (minus photography – that’s a given matter what). Fish tacos, carne asada fries, and a dog beach. Good list, huh? Well, the first two things were scratched off the list the moment we arrived in California but being here for 2 weeks, I was like ‘oh we have time to go to the dog beach. We have can go whenever.’

Now that it is Monday and our last week here, I’m so glad we accidentally stumbled on to the dog beach at Ocean Beach. I took this image as soon as we parked the car and I stepped out. I thought it was so cool to see the palm trees look so small but the people who were walking along the trail look so big. It’s a pretty cool play on perspective and I think the connection between the adult and child is really sweet. As soon as I captured this moment, it reminded me of Max Wanger. He does a lot with couples and huge skies. This image for example.

Anyways, if you find yourself with a dog in San Diego, check out the dog beach at OB. Frankie loved it! At first he didn’t really know what was going on. I don’t think he’s been to a beach that big before. But once he started sniffing a few dog butts, he was in puppy heaven! A good time for dogs and dog parents all at once 🙂

Oh and if you’re not following Frankie on instagram, you should. He’s been posting pics of his California vacation too.

My camera settings for this image F4.0 at 1/800th of a second and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Ok so I couldn’t say that White Sands National Monument in New Mexico was my favorite place I traveled to this past year because I LOVEDDDD Colorado. Colorado as a whole is amazing. I felt like every turn we made was something even more beautiful on the other side. I’m pretty sure I said “wow” about a million times. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to spend more time there in 2018. Theres something about those snow capped mountains that gets me so excited.

And among all the beautiful places in the Centennial state is Rocky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately there were parts of the park that was closed due to snow while we were there but still really enjoyed the park in general. That’s just another reason to go back right? This was image was taken on our first sunset there. We arrived to our walk early which meant we were able to take our time and take in beautiful views like this.

But it can be difficult at times finding balance. Photographers, let me know if you feel this way too. Usually when I’m out I feel some sort of pressure to find the right composition with the right lighting and to keep it moving so I don’t always end up with the same shots. But with all of that going on in your head, when do you find the time to just stop and enjoy the sunset? I’ve even heard of photographers saying that the only way they could really enjoy the sunset is just leaving the camera at home. I don’t agree. I think having your camera enhances the experience but there does need to be some sort of balance.

If you want to see more from our adventure, watch this youtube video. Shoutout to cheetos for being so delicious 🙂

My camera settings for this image is f/9 at 1/640th of a second at ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Reflections day 4. Man, this is gettin’ easy.
Check out day 1, 2, and 3

I took this image earlier this summer at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It was an early morning hike around Bear Lake and the water was so still. It was literally like a mirror when I saw it and immediately knew exactly how I wanted to capture it. I knew that I wanted it to look as if it were printed on a piece of paper and you folded it in half, you would see the exact same thing on either side. Kinda of like what you used to do with paint and paper as a little kid but with nothing else seen especially in the corners. I don’t know why but I was paying particular attention to the corners when I was capturing this. I didn’t want to give it any kind of location context.

A majority of the time, I’d probably want something in the foreground or something to divide it up, but not for this particular image. I wanted it to keep it as simple as possible and just enjoy the beauty of nature. Man, can you imagine what this place looks like now? It’d be so cool if the leaves changed color with this reflection. Praise hands emoji!

After I photographed this image, we ended up hiking around to this side of the lake but it was so difficult. The water levels were really high, there was still some snow on the ground (which you can see little bits of), and it was super muddy. Let’s just say the hike didn’t last too much longer after that. I’m really hoping to go back to Colorado in 2018. I seriously fell in love.

The camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/250th of a second ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.