lights

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Taken at the same time I captured this image, this was one of the first I captured from that evening.

I love how the tree branches are framing the Washington Monument. It sort of gives the whole image a creepy feeling.

I’ve heard some people say that they don’t like photographing in the winter for the exact reason, but I think photographing the trees with bare branches gives it a totally different mood that can be beautiful as well. What do you think?

Obviously photographing it in spring or fall would give it more color, but you may not be able to see the framing because of all the leaves.

My camera settings for this image are F7.1 at 2 secs at ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens on a tripod.

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So the next morning, I obviously had to wake up to check on the fog again. 

Luckily, I got to the Tidal Basin early. The fog really seemed to have rolled in overnight and you could barely see the Washington Monument anymore. I love how even though its dark on top, the sunrise colors are still shining through. Or maybe that’s just the light pollution from the city. Either way, I love how it came out.

I’m also glad that I went early because they actually start turning off the Washington Monument lights about 30 minutes before sunrise too. As soon as they turn it off, it’s almost like a dark monster in the air. It’s hard to see and even harder to photograph.

My camera settings for this image are F4 at 1 sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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After a full day of rain, Andrew and I randomly decided to just go out to eat dinner. Weekdays we usually stay in and eat at home but Andrew got some good news so to celebrate, we went out. As he was finishing up some work, I was checking on the weather. I saw that we had a dense fog warning so I decided to bring my camera “just in case”.

Dinner was great. Dessert was even better. So after we were done, I suggested that we should go to the Mall to see what it looked like. I parked by the Monument and it was actually Andrew’s first time being so close. It was so weird because I had been there a million times. LOL.

Anyways, as we were walking back to the car and I decided to take one more look at the monument and I noticed that the fog and lights were creating this really cool shadow alongside the Washington Monument. I had to capture it. It was very cool to see.

My camera settings for this image are F4 at 1/30th sec and ISO 5000 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens.

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If you’re like me and drive on 66 past the Kennedy Center, you must have been wondering what they are building there? I feel like there have been a massive hole and cranes by the Kennedy Center for at least 2 years now, but never knew what it was.

I finally got my answer a couple of weeks ago when I was invited to visit the Reach at the Kennedy Center. I was so excited to hear that it’s an extension of the Kennedy Center that’s all about interaction and inspiring art. To be honest, it’s way cooler than I thought it would be.

Set to open this weekend, we got invited while the building was still getting its final touches. So despite the construction that was going on, I was still awestruck by the beauty. I loved how simple and clean the lines of the building were. It’s very minimalistic but with beautiful details just like the Kennedy Center.

Besides the architecture and beauty of the building, my favorite part was when we stumbled upon a class of dancers practicing ballet. If I remember correctly, these young adults were from New York and were there for a performance. I loved being able to peek at them from a window above. What an inspiring place for art.

Since I couldn’t decide which were my favorite images, I decided to include a couple more. I hope you enjoy and get a chance to visit the Reach this weekend!

My camera settings for the first image is F4 at 1/1250sec and ISO 640 and my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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Happy Independence Day and Happy Birthday America!

And #tbt to my favorite firework image I captured last year. Actually, it’s probably my favorite firework image I’ve ever created just because I’ve never seen anything like it. I love how everything is just so symmetrical. I was lucky to be able to squeeze my way to the front of the reflecting pool to capture this image.

Unfortunately, there may not be a view like this for a while since the firework location has changed this year. So if you’d like to see my tips and tricks on how to capture the fireworks and suggestions as to the best spot to capture them in Washington DC today, check out my guide here.

I’ll be out photographing the show this year, unless we get another one of those evening storms that we’ve been getting so much lately. Fingers crossed the weather works out.

My camera settings for this image is 5.6 at 1/10th of a second ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm lens.

Hope you have a fun and safe 4th of July 🙂

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This image was taken right before I captured this one. I was standing at same exact spot when I captured both images. So the image from last week was taken if you’re looking towards the right and this image was taken if you’re looking to the left.

At first it was all the light posts that caught my attention. I love how they were all lined up in a row and I was trying my hardest to try to capture them in the reflection of the building but it wasn’t until a crosswalk sign turned green where I was able to capture this. I love how everything just lines up in a row. I also love how everyone is wearing mostly black. It seemed to work perfectly for this image. Even that little bit of car you see driving across the street is black. Kinda like a “Walking Dead” type scene but not really.

Anyways, my weekend trip to Richmond was so fun. I went with my friend, Albert and it was great because we wanted to do all the same things. Basically just walk around and explore with our cameras. I’ll be sharing more about that trip soon but for now I feel like I’m still going through all these Chicago images. I have so much more that I still want to look through.

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/800th sec and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.