ANGELA B. PAN

Thank you all so much for your amazing feedback on Snap DC. I think I check amazon almost everyday just to read the reviews. They make me so happy and I’m so glad everyone is getting so much value out of the book. If you haven’t already, sign up for Snap DC’s newsletter list. I just updated it so that you’ll receive a free photo itinerary for a 1, 3 or 5 day trip to Washington DC. It really is the perfect supplement to the book and it was so much fun to create.

Obviously, the Jefferson memorial and the tidal basin are in the book. Lately, the tidal basin has been my go to place to go shoot. I love the reflections but there’s always something interesting to photograph there. If you look close enough at this image, you can see the bus loads of people visiting the memorial. This was taken around sunset so the memorial is packed with tourists. In the book, I discuss my favorite places to photograph at the tidal basin including the spot where I was standing to take this image. Andrew and I were the only ones there and to be honest, I probably got the better image of the memorial than anyone who was that close to it.

So to find out all the knowledge I have accumulated throughout my years of photographing the Mall and surrounding areas of Washington DC and check out the book and don’t forget to download the itineraries! I’m pretty sure the most frequently asked question I get on social media is, “did I move to the Mall?” The answer is no, but it would be so much easier if I did 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/250th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

I’ve consistently been writing this blog for years. I love doing it but from time to time I feel like I’ve run out of things to say and I’ll start making things up. LOL.  I figured that’s not the right way to do it.  So I’m hoping I could get your feedback. I figured I could get a list going and it would help me create more content of things you would like to see.

If you have just 10 minutes, I’d really appreciate if you could drop me a line and help me answer some of these questions:

What brought you to this blog in the first place? How did you find me?
Are you a photographer? Tell me about your photo background. Or are you a travel kinda person and just here for the images? If so, tell me about your travels!
Is there anything that I can help you with? Whether it’s improving your photography, finding places in Washington DC to photograph, etc?
What keeps you coming back to the blog?

Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide me. Feel free to send me an email: [email protected] or hit me up on any of my social medias: @abpanphoto or anything! I’m pretty much everywhere.

As for this image, I took it a couple of months ago with my friend, Christa. I remember it being a really cold evening but that didn’t stop us from photographing the sunset. As soon as I stepped out on this terrace, I fell in love with the location. It’s just such a unique point of view of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial. I honestly never realized how close Regan National Airport is to the National Mall. So awesome!

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 0.4 seconds at ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

We have been getting some crazy rain in the Washington DC area. The past week has been especially hard on Frankie who doesn’t like getting wet at all. He immediately wants to run back into the house at any signs of rain.

But with all this rain, I knew the Tidal Basin would not be doing so well. Even with a normal amount of rain it gets bad, but this has been exceptional. Earlier this week I decided to go check it out. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as this day but it was still crazy to see. As soon as I walked up to this bench, I had an idea for a selfie. I wanted to sit on top of the bench to try to create a sort of pyramid between me and the two monuments. But it didn’t quite work out like I had planned.

Like I said before, I’ll be shooting with my Canon for the next few days. It’s been so long that I’ve even held it that I kinda forgot how to use it. So I set the camera up on a tripod and was hoping to set it on a 10 second timer to execute my vision. I didn’t think to bring my remote and I could only find the 2 second timer. I even tried googling it real quick but found no answers to where I could find a 10 second timer. So two second timer it was.

Man 2 seconds is FAST! Here are more attempts. I think it’s pretty funny but still would have rather have found the 10 second timer. What’s even better is that I have at least 10 more of these “images” on my memory card. After a while I just had to give up. LOL

After a while I thought if I put my camera to the side then I could be a little closer and make it, but that didn’t work either. LOL. Oh well.

My camera settings for these images are F5.0 at 1/4th of a second ISO 400 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 17-40mm wide angle lens.

If you’re bored at home with nothing to do on a rainy day, try one of these:

1. bake chocolate chip cookies for your husband
2. research potential travel locations
3. watch old episodes of the Amazing Race
4. organize your closet
5. shop for a new fall wardrobe because you now have space
6. have your friends come over to your house so you don’t have to go anywhere
7. go to your favorite photo location and wait inside your car so you know exactly when the rain stops so you can maximize your time outside
8. eat an acai bowl with your friend for a “coffee” date

What a coincidence! That is exactly what I did this past weekend while it was pouring rain outside. LOL. I also did other things but you get the point because this past weekend and even yesterday was pouring rain! It’s been kinda crazy.

So we’ll be getting a few more days of rain this week but I just felt like going through some of my older images to find the happiness that comes from the rain, a rainbow! I remember being so excited when I saw this one. I saw it from pretty far and immediately screamed, “Rainbow!” I mean doesn’t everyone do that when they see a one? No matter how old you are, you always have a smile on your face when you’re looking at one.

Let me know what are some of your favorite rainy day activities are.

My camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/100th of a second at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

PS If you’re planning your next trip to Washington DC, be sure to check out Snap DC. Its a fun read and I’ve even named some of my personal favorite rainbow locations to photograph around the city.

Clear your calendars for July 18th. Come join me, Geoff Livingston and Focus on the Story for an evening with the Washington Monuments. Geoff and I actually met at the second photo walk I hosted for the Focus on the Story International Photo Festival earlier this summer and I was super excited when he asked me to help him host this event. It will be a great evening talking about long exposure, composition techniques as well as street photography tips at night.  But I think the most interesting part is the fact that there will be three different instructors with three completely different take on things. No matter what, I’m sure you’ll go home with a slightly different perceptive at photographing night images.

And in case you want to get to know us a little better, heres a little ten minute video of Geoff and I talking about the Monuments at Night workshop, Snap DC, etc.  Seats are limited so sign up today! Click here for the link.  Hope to see you there! It will definietly be a good time and don’t forget your tripod!

So as an example of the type of images you could capture at this event, here’s an image I took at the end of 2016. I remember I was walking back to my car when I captured it. I was out shooting sunset by the reflecting pool but still had my camera out. Thank goodness I also had my tripod as well or else I would not have been able to capture these cool car trails driving by on Independence Ave. I think it brings so much life to the image. I also love that light that’s shining above the Jefferson Memorial. Something that would be hard to see without the long exposure.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 2.5 seconds and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm