holidays

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Photographers are special people. We can have all the camera gear and equipment in the world, but it’s still not enough. Which can make it easy AND hard to shop for us for the holidays. Depending on the type of photographer you are shopping for, there can be an endless supply of gadgets and accessories that will make anyone smile.

So to make life a little easier, here are my top suggestions for holiday gifts for  your favorite photographer:

Camera Bags

One camera bag is not enough. I feel as though I need a variety of camera bags for a variety of situations. A leisurely stroll around the neighborhood will not require as much camera equipment as an epic day of travel or even studio work. To accommodate all my gear and equipment, diversity in camera bag size and storage is ideal.

Hex Ranger Black Camera Mini Sling

For a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood or going out to dinner with friends, this is my go-to bag. It’s small enough to fit just my camera and 1 lens so it makes it super easy and convenient to be on the go. What makes this bag different than other sling bags is that it’s specifically made for cameras so there’s padding inside and my camera is well protected.

Click here to see it on Amazon

Brevitē Jumper Photo Backpack

Great quality bag that allows you to carry multiple lenses at once plus it’s lightweight and comes in really nice colors. The tripod straps on the bottom of the bag are a great detail!

Click here to see it on Amazon

Ape Case Cubeze

On the totally opposite end, if you just want something even more portable, check out this Ape Case Cubeze. It inserts seamlessly into your backpack, purse, or whatever. I carried this around for years before purchasing a real photo backpack and never had any issues with my camera equipment.

Click here to see it on Amazon

Padded wrap

You know I like these when I have 2 or 3 of my own. I love that if I want to pack my camera or lens into my purse, I can just wrap these Tenba protective wraps around them and I feel very confident that my gear will be protected. They are great for quick on the go situations.

Click here to see it on Amazon 

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Last year was the first time I noticed holiday decorations at Dulles International Airport. It’s pretty cool because they light up the huge windows in the front with red, blue and green lights alternating. They can be seen from the interior and exterior, but I really enjoyed the interior because they also added Christmas trees on top of the doors. It made me smile while I was walking through, even if I was just there to photograph the decor and I wasn’t even traveling. LOL.

And yes, I had saved this image for a year just so I could share it when it was holiday-appropriate.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/30th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens.

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For me, Thanksgiving is really about family and friends being together and celebrating all the blessings we have in life. In no particular order here are a few things that I’m grateful for:

  • Family, friends, Andrew and Frankie
  • My health
  • My warm bed
  • The kindness of people I’ve never met before
  • The internet for connecting people all over the world.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful day however you are celebrating and I’m so grateful for you.
<3 Angela

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Taken at the same time as this image, I was really excited how this one turned out. It’s just the opposite side of the wall of the previous image with the sort of the same idea of a vanishing point. I love how everything lined up with this image. Even this guy’s outfit fits the scene so well with the little details of color in his backpack. I love how it’s all in the same color family with the street signs.

I think with these two images, I just got lucky with people who were passing by at the right time that just happen to match the scene. At times I have waited 5 to 10 minutes with the composition already in my mind for people to walk by who I thought would work for the image. If someone doesn’t come by in that time frame, I usually get impatient and walk away. So going to a place with a lot of people walking around is key but also having patience is a huge factor in taking these street images. This one happened instantly. There wasn’t much waiting at all for either image and I was so happy with the way they turned out.

I captured this image around the holidays and I was telling my friend, Birch that this image would have been perfect if a Santa was ringing his bell as he was walking down this sidewalk. One day we should make that happen. LOL. Anyone have a Santa Claus outfit? If so, we really need to get together soon.

Side note: I heard a really nice Santa costume is $5,000! That’s nuts! I can’t even imagine the dry cleaning cost after the season is over.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/320th of a second at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm ultra zoom.

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A little while ago I met up with my friend, Birch to check out the christmas wreaths at Union Station for sunrise. Although this isn’t the best sunrise spot, I thought it would be interesting to see all the holiday decorations and I love just visiting Union Station. Maybe because it’s so transit, the same reasons why I love airports so much. There’s just so much hustle and bustle going on that there’s never really a dull moment. Plus I love the Christmas wreaths they hang outside the station. With so much going on, people everywhere, cars honking horns,  the wreaths and their lights always bring a smile to my face.

So after walking around the inside and outside of the station, Birch and I decided to walk along side of the building to see if we could find anything interesting going on. I’ve always loved how all the red taxis line up on the side of the train station just waiting for passengers. I knew there had to be something interesting here, I just had to wait for it. Then this lady walked passed with her red hat. It was perfect. It even goes with the H&M sign on the side of the building. I figured this in itself was festive with the lights and red colors.

But of course, no visit is complete to Union Station now that Magnolia Bakery is open. I had to stop by and get some banana pudding before we left. If you haven’t already, you gotta try it. Andrew and I used to go all the time when we’re in New York, but now that it’s in Washington, we can enjoy it whenever 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/125th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

 

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Which ever holiday you celebrate, I hope you got to spend this past weekend with the ones you love the most.

My holiday celebrations started last Friday and has continued everyday since. It was so great to see so many family members and friends. But I’m not going to lie, it was a pretty hectic weekend with a lot of eating. Diet starts tomorrow! …. or January 2nd 🙂 And I can’t get this song out of my head. What is your favorite holiday song?

I took this image one morning earlier this month. I knew I had to have something prepared for this day on the blog and I wanted to photograph the US Capitol Christmas tree since I already had an image of the National Christmas Tree in front of the White House. Somehow I forgot my tripod so this is completely hand held. I was sitting along the edge of the reflecting pool and held my camera as close to the water as I could get without it getting wet. It was pretty nerve wracking given my previous experiences with water and cameras but I’m glad I was able to get it done. Soon after I captured this moment, all the lights turned off and you weren’t able to see the Christmas Tree at all. I am lucky I got this when I did.

The camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 0.4 seconds and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm. Pretty impressive for a 0.4 second hand held shot, right? I think so! LOL

Again, Happy Holidays to you! Now is the time to relax and just enjoy the winter season. Have you come up with your 2018 goals yet? I have a few in mind…