ANGELA B. PAN

Over the weekend I had the incredible privilege of visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture before it has even opened!!! It opens this weekend so if you get the chance to go, you should totally do it! Start from the very bottom and go up. The bottom floor is about slavery and as you work your way up, the floors move through time all the way to modern day African Americans. It’s so fascinating to see the progression through various objects and stories. Believe me, you’ll love it!

One last thing about the fireworks last night. The rain sucked. It had been raining on and off all afternoon and it almost made it not worth it. Jim and I were ready and waiting at NMAAHC by 7p when the fireworks didn’t start til 9:09p. It was obvious others felt the same way because there were not nearly as many people on the Mall as there usually is. I’d guess at least half of what it was last year. So we were standing in the rain for over an hour before it stopped. It turned out ok because it left a nice reflective glow on the sidewalks but the automatic sprinklers that turned 9:00p was an unexpected surprise. But with the low hanging clouds, it was difficult to see the really big, tall fireworks from where we were standing. We could hear the sounds and see the colors in the sky but just couldn’t see them. At least they added this special glow to the sky.

So unbelievably thrilled the fireworks show still went on last night. I had the amazing opportunity to go behind the fence and shoot at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It’s not even opened! My friend Jim, who’s the photographer at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History got access and invited me to go along with him.

What’s crazy is that this shot may never come again. This year we were allowed to go behind the fence but next year it will be open to the public. That means there would be people all crowded around in this shot. Its still so cool to think that this could be the only one like this!! *mind blown*

I’ll be posting more similar to these, so be on the look out 🙂 Thanks again, Jim. You rock!

I’ve been to the National Portrait Gallery a few times. Its one of my favorites. Every time I go, I see something cool and I see something new. This past weekend I went with the instagram group, Walk with Locals and saw a whole new floor that I never knew existed. My mind was kinda blown.

I loved the series of images in the very back of this shot. A photographer took 30 years worth of images of these 4 sisters. So beautiful to see them grow and change. I wish I remembered to write down his name. I would of loved to look him up. I guess that’s an excuse to go back soon 🙂