ANGELA B. PAN

Home from Austin, TX and I had a blast! I loved it and didn’t want to come home but since my friend, Sue just moved there, I’m sure there will be more visits in the near future. But more about that later.

The day before I left I went to the Smithsonian Gardens behind the Smithsonian Castle to go checkout the Saucer Magnolias. They were supposed to peak that weekend so I figured going there and checking out the scene would be a good idea. It was a windy morning but I’m glad my friend, Birch as able to meet up as well. We spent the morning catching up and it made the wind that much more bearable.

One thing I learned last year from photographing the garden is that there is this beautiful view of the Washington Monument. I don’t know why, but I never noticed it before. So when I went this year, I kept the mental note in my head and wanted to get some compositions with it in it.

I love the way this one turned out. I probably stood there for a good 10 minutes before I got the shot I wanted but this lady walking past with the grey coat was perfect. I wanted to create a lot of depth in this image so I kneeled down low to get a little bit of that fencing in the shot, then the plants in the center of the garden, the lady, the trees and then finally the Monument. All the colors and everything working so well together was just a happy accident. This definietly made me excited to shoot more flower images around the city!

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/200th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

Did you watch the vlog I uploaded last week of the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors exhibit? At the very end of the video, I was behind the Smithsonian Institution Building (otherwise known as the castle) in the Enid A. Haupt garden. This image depitcs what was distracting me from what I was talking about. I had walked over from the Hirshhorn Museum and I don’t know why but I’ve never seen this view before. Maybe it’s because the magnolia trees weren’t bloomed or I have never walked through that particular entrance before but it literally stopped me in my tracks. The mid day sun was hitting the monument so perfectly. The flowers were looking so pink and beautiful. It was the perfect morning to take a little bit of time and appreciate these beautiful flowers. It really feels like spring is in the air and it’s here so early in the year.

This makes me really look forward to the next couple of weeks in the city. Not only because the cherry blossoms are expected to peak soon but that means I’ll be seeing tons of photo friends. Old ones and new ones. Some that are local and some that are from out of town. It’s so great how everyone sort of comes out of hibernation and goes to the Tidal Basin to photograph the beautiful flowers. It’s like a high school reunion every year, except I didn’t actually go to high school with any of them. So, if you’re at the tidal basin and you see me, please come say hi. It’s always so fun meeting new people who have the same interests 🙂

Here’s to hoping we have beautiful sunrises and sunsets, moody mornings, calming afternoons and no wind! Wind is pretty much the death of the cherry blossom flowers.

I feel like if I ever had a book about my life, this would be the cover.