ANGELA B. PAN

A little break from all the pink spring flowers for some yellow ones. I captured this image behind the George Mason Memorial. It’s a little hidden gem that’s so close to the Tidal Basin but I don’t know how many people actually know about it. It’s kind of an empty space and I believe there’s still construction going on in the very center of the memorial. Regardless, it’s a great way to escape the crowds of the Tidal Basin but still capture some beautiful flowers.

What originally caught my attention about this space were all the beautiful magnolia trees. You can see them sort of in the center layer at the edges of this image. But once I actually started composing, I liked the yellow flowers more. They were just so beautiful and whimsical. I love how there are even more yellow flowers in the center layer, in between the magnolia trees.

The whole time I was editing this image, I was thinking of my mom. Her favorite color is yellow and she loves gardening. She doesn’t grow flowers or anything but she has a full fledge garden in her backyard of all kinds of fruits and vegetables for the spring/summer. In fact, she’s had a garden in every house that we’ve lived in and I have so many memories with her in those gardens. Whether it’s picking the fruit and vegetables that I wanted to eat or her making me pull weeds and laying out the soil because I was eating her fruits and vegetables and I had to contribute in some way. We’ve spent a lot of time outdoors together and that may be one of the reasons why I love being outside so much. Interesting that I never put those two things together before…

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/250th of a second at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.

I’m happy to report that the Magnolia trees have been saved! The snow that we had last week didn’t seem to phase them much. I captured this image Friday morning behind the Smithsonian Castle at the Enid A Haupt Garden. I arrived a little bit after sunrise so I could get that beautiful early morning glow happening on the flowers. It was like walking in paradise. The birds were chirping, the wind was soft but nothing beats that early morning light.

In order to capture this image, I had to be patient. For some reason there were not a lot of people walking by or in the gardens. I stood there for a good 10 minutes before I even saw anyone else but I already had this vision in my head so I had to wait. There I was, standing in the trees looking like a flower monkey. LOL. Standing with my camera close to my face. I left my ear phones at home so I was blasting music by Drake from my phone in my pocket. This guy must have liked Drake too because he crept up behind me and scared the living sh*t out of me. I turned around and gave him a half smile and half ‘what are you doing?’ face. He just smiled back and went on his way shooting.

Obviously I had to stare him down for a little bit. LOL. And then I saw him walking to the the spot that I was waiting for someone to walk past. So I took advantage of the opportunity and finally captured the image I was looking for. Thank you fellow photographer so being so still.

My camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/125th of a second at ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens handheld.

From what I heard last week, today has been the day I’ve been waiting for all winter. If all goes well and all the wind and cold air that we had over the weekend didn’t effect anything then the Magnolias will start to peak today. Cash me ousside.

My favorite Magnolia trees are the ones at the Enid A Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall, but you can really find them all over the city. This image was taken at the George Mason Memorial facing the Washington Monument adjacent to the Tidal Basin. To be honest, spring time is really the only time that I spend time at this memorial. It’s a pretty small memorial compared to the others but the landscaping around it is fantastic. Its a great place to just sit on the bench and listen to the birds chirp.

So I’m really looking forward to spending more time here as spring goes on. Actually, that’s an understatement. I think the word really is anxious. I’m really anxious to spend more outside in general. I still have the list I created last year of all the places that I want to photograph. Like spending more time at Dumberton Oaks, the National Arboretum, Enid A Haupt Garden, so many! OMG I can’t wait. So see ya later cold weather. Time to go. Make way for the cherry blossoms. What’s up with March being so cold? 

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/60th of a second and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens handheld.

You wouldn’t have to have followed my blog for long to know that flowers make me so happy. Every time I look at them, I just want to smile. So it made me so sad to hear that we were going to have a cold front and all these saucer magnolias were going to go away. They were barely around for a week. I’m grateful that I was able to enjoy them at least once this year. I love the mood the pedals all over the park bench and grass is providing. Sort of sad but still amazingly beautiful that I had to photograph it.

The cherry blossoms are a different story though. They may not even get the chance to bloom! Thanks to winter storm Stella we’re expecting 5+ inches and the cherry blossoms are not happy about it. I really really look forward to the blooms at the tidal basin each year so I guess it’s not happening this time around. I feel bad for anyone who has made special travel plans just to see them.

I’m trying to look on the bright side though. This whole winter I was asking for at least one good snow storm and we’re finally getting it. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to the city since the metro will be closed but I still plan on going out and shooting tomorrow morning. I’ll probably walk around my neighborhood with my camera and see if i can capture some flowers with snow. I want to go out early so I can capture some of that fresh, untouched snow. And of course, snow is always better when you have Frankenstein around 🙂

And yes, my dog has an instagram account. If you want to follow him it’s instagram.com/frankensteinwoopan. Hes the cutest.

I just saw that Capital Weather Gang has predicted an even earlier peak bloom date for the cherry blossoms this year. It’s a little nuts that they will be peaking in less than two weeks! This makes me very, very excited. I’ve already been seeing some flowers blooming around the city while driving around. You can’t tell but I have the biggest smile on my face right now 😀

If you’re interested, I created a cherry blossom guide last year. Click here to see it.  All the rules still apply. Hope to see some of you guys there 🙂

This image was taken last year behind the Smithsonian Castle. I feel like that little area of the city is my own secret garden. I can go there in the morning and there will hardly be anyone else there. They seriously have some of the most gorgeous blooms in the city. These pink magnolias trees are some of my favorites. They’re all lined up in against this path way that goes right down the middle of the garden and they are just so stunning when you see them in person. Its also very beautiful when all the petals have fallen on the ground. Seeing the ombre effects on the pedals all spread out, it’s like you’re walking on sunshine. Cue that beautiful 80s music video.

If you want to visit the Smithsonian Gardens you will also find much more behind the Castle than just the Magnolia trees. They have tulips, roses, and cherry blossom trees. Although my personal preference is to shoot the cherry blossom trees by the Tidal Basin and Washington Monument. I love photographing those flowers against memorials. Theres something about the dainty flowers against the marble stone that’s just so beautiful to me.

So excited for spring to be here and grateful for the warm winter we had so we can enjoy the flowers so much sooner 🙂

If I weren’t the one who was taking this picture, I’d be jealous of the woman walking through it. It looks like this magical place where magnolia flowers just follow you everywhere. Oh man, if only a place like that existed. I think I’d lay down and make a snow angel out of flower petals.