ANGELA B. PAN

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

There’s always room for firsts and I had my first podcast experience a few weeks ago. Thanks so much to Jason Flakes and Mary Bailey for having me on PhotoStank. I had so much talking about photography, Snap DC and so much more. To be honest, I didn’t want the conversation to end. I was having so much fun. If you’re interested, click here to listen to the episode.

And if you have time, check out the episode’s challenge. I think it’s an interesting one. Use the hashtag #photostankchallenge so I can be sure to see what you have come up with.

Today’s image was taken a couple of weekends ago in Lake Anna, Virginia. It had just stopped raining and was still a bit too cold to go out on the boat for some water fun so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to fly the drone! I love practicing flying as much as I can. I’m still a bit nervous at it but I know the more flying time I get, the better it will be.This birds eye view of the world is such an interesting perspective. And my favorite part of this image is the way that you can see the reflections of the clouds in the water. The trees weren’t looking too bad after the rain either 🙂 I think I’ll be flying my drone a lot more often in the summer. Sunflower fields here I come!

Speaking of flying, my friend Andy just came out with a video about flying drones. If you have one, you should definietly check out this video. I learned so much! Just wish it came out before the trip to Lake Anna so I could have applied some new knowledge I learned.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/220th of a second and ISO 100 on my DJI Mavic Pro.

I found the biggest difference between photographing the US Capitol and the other memorials like Lincoln Memorial or Jefferson Memorial during lightning was the fact that there was no real place to hide from the rain. At least when you visit the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial, you are able to hide under a bit of shelter and still be able to create images. At the US Capitol there is nothing like that so you’re basically out in the open, hoping your camera gear doesn’t get soaked.

That was the case for this image. I actually had a huge rain droplet in the middle of my lens and didn’t even notice until a couple of frames after this image. Its ok though because I cropped the image to the most interesting part of the image anyways. I’m just glad I caught it when I did. Every time the lighting would strike, it turned the skies crazy purple. I love how the relationship between the lightning and the US Capitol dome. The lighting bolt is twisting and turning in all kinds of ways when the US Capitol is so straight and architectural. I think my favorite part of the image is the fact that the lights are still on in the dome. It some how gives it even more life.

I’m really looking forward to photographing more lightning this summer, especially since sunrise is so early now, I’ve noticed that I’ve been shooting a lot more sunsets and night images than sunrises. LOL. I woke up yesterday to capture the sunrise and it was totally washed out with rain. I should have just stayed in bed…

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/15th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens on a tripod.

This past weekend was absolutely amazing for so many reasons. But most of all it was for the photowalk that happened Saturday at the Tidal Basin. Thank you so much to IGDC for hosting. I had the time of my life! Thank you to my friends who came out but also the new ones I met that evening. The weather was cloudy, the water levels were extremely high (the highest I’ve ever seen), but it seemed like everyone came out with amazing pictures. So before I share some of my own, I wanted to highlight some of my favorites from the walk. If you’d like to see more of what everyone created, check out #igdcsnapdc on instagram.

There were so many great images to choose from but here are a few of my favorites:

The beginning of our walk started at the Jefferson Memorial and we were greeted by prom! I love the way you captured this, @ciarasandborg

@pootie_ting, the framing in this is incredible!

@jane_connors, I’m so glad you captured the heron under the cherry blossom trees. This turned out fantastic!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi_5HH_Al5y/?taken-by=jane_connors

So many birds! But I love how they are framing the Jefferson Memorial. Stunning capture, @virginia.cheng

LOL talk about perfect timing, @mica4life. This makes me smile 🙂

The sky turned moody very quickly after sunset. This is so great, @dcrooks_us

And after the photowalk officially ended, the Washington Monument decided to light up the sky. This is AH-MAZING @zackowicz

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjAmY4sAh1S/?taken-by=zackowicz

Thanks again for those who walked! I appreciate you spending your Saturday evening with me. I hope you had a great time but most importantly felt inspired to take more pictures around the National Mall.

Snap DC is officially released on Amazon. If you haven’t already, check it out. It’s available in paperback or kindle and I hope you love it!

I have to admit that I have been keeping a secret from you. It wasn’t intentional, it just happened. But on August 8, 2017 (yes, I marked it in my calendar), I decided that I was going to write a book. Not a coffee table book or a picture book in any kind of way. I wanted this book to be useful and informative. I decided that I was going to write a book based on all the messages and emails that I receive with questions like where to go shoot in Washington, where should I park if I’m going to the Lincoln Memorial, when is the best time to go and photograph the US Capitol?

It’s finally done and it is called, Snap D.C. You can’t see me, but I have the biggest smile on my face right now. Trust me.

In reality, I feel like its our book. You were the inspiration behind the book and it was written with you in mind. Whether you are a Washington DC local or just visiting for the weekend, I didn’t hold anything back. I even have my camera settings and drawn out maps to help you even futher. Basically all the knowledge and experience I have gathered in the past couple of years of shooting in our nation’s capital all in one book for you to have. This book isn’t just for DSLR shooters either. You can use it as an aid for your mobile cameras as well.

The book will be released on Amazon as a paperback or kindle version on May 20th. Click here to signup for release updates, extras and you will even get a see a preview of the first chapter.

I can’t wait for you to read it! I really hope you feel inspired and motivated to get out there and shoot! Photographing Washington has brought me so much happiness and I want to pass that along to you. AHHHH!!!! SMILEY FACEEEEEEEEE