ANGELA B. PAN

You know what’s funny? As I was shooting this, I noticed I was the only one who was getting up close to the US Capitol building. There were quite a few tourists out there with me. I think a bus pulled up while I was there and so many of them were taking selfies in front of the Capitol. But no one would even get near the fountain. Weird, right? Maybe it was the Capitol police with their guns that looked so intimidating. Or maybe they were just not trying to get into my shot. Either way, I was all alone taking this picture. I’m not complaining though. It was really nice to be the only one. Who knows how many people got pictures of my back side though. HAHA.

On this evening, it looked like it was going to storm but I don’t think it actually did. The clouds were super dark. I couldn’t tell with my eyes if they were moving but once I slapped on the Ice Neutral density filter 10 stop, I could see that they were making this really cool effect. Like they were all racing out of the Capitol dome. I really liked it so I tried different angles and came out with this one. This one came out particularly awesome because you can see some reflection in the water and may I add the symmetry of the building’s architecture is probably the coolest part of the image.

For some reason seeing dark and moody images of the Capitol always reminds me of President Underwood. So now that House of Cards season 5 is officially back on Netflix, I think you know what Andrew and I will be doing on our flight back home from our trip. Oh man, can’t waitttt. This season is really going to be good!

Even though The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the newest museum in the National Mall and Washington DC area, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. I’ve only been inside once but I’ve admired it from the outside numerous times. It’s so exciting to have this new space because there are so many new angles to explore. Like this one made possible by the enormous and beautiful reflecting windows that surround the museum.

Now that summer time is on us, I also think it’d be interesting to see what people do with the fireworks in this space. I was lucky enough to have special access to shoot the Independence Day fireworks on the grounds last year but it was sort of a bust. All day it had been rainy with super low clouds so it was sort of difficult to see the fireworks. And it was crazy because the fireworks that were super high in the sky were only heard, not seen. So this year I think it’d be interesting to see if fireworks would be able to reflect off the windows or even some of the outdoor features surrounding the museum. Weather permitting of course.

The camera settings for this image was F7.1 at 1/30th of a second at ISO 400. I shot this at sunset while being smushed up against the windows. A high ISO was needed to be sure everything stayed sharp and in focus. It was only afterwards, in post processing, where I thought this image would look even cooler in black and white. I think it really brings out the the drama and makes the angles look even sharper.

Can’t wait to go inside the museum again to capture the ‘cleansing fountain’. The first time I was there, it wasn’t up and running.

Looks like an almighty sword glowing in the sky, doesn’t it? This is my favorite part of always watching your back. The sunset action was happening in front of me at the Lincoln Memorial but a quick glance over my shoulder to the World War II memorial and I saw this! The sun was setting just at the right angle to change the white monument into gold. You can even see a little bit of the National Museum of African American History and Culture getting a bit of the sun sparkle too 🙂 It makes me smile to see the reflection in the reflecting pool water catch some of the sun’s glow.

My camera settings for this image is f5.6 at 8 seconds ISO 200. I really wanted a long exposure to blur out the fast moving clouds but also bring out the glow colors even more. To do this, I used my neutral density Ice Filter. I think I should be sponsored by them because I’m always talking about these filters and how amazing they are. *shoutout to Ice* Shooting with neutral density filters can be a little difficult if you’ve never used it before. My biggest tip would be to set your camera on manual focus, focus on your subject, and then put on the filter. Make sure you have the composition you want because once you put the filter on, it will be very difficult to see what you’re looking at. It gets super dark. If you leave your camera on auto focus, it will just keep on trying to focus on something and won’t allow you to take the picture. So remember just to keep your camera on manual and it will be all good. The neutral density filter also helped on making the edges super dark and contrasty which also helped in making the Washington Monument really pop out.

I found this in my computer trash bin the other day. LOL. Sometimes I can be so dramatic. I have no idea why I threw it out. I think I can get frustrated by my own work sometimes and without thinking, I’ll immediately dismiss it. I also think it’s the time of day that I chose to edit this image too. It was late (and by late I mean 9pm) and I had nothing better to do so I decided to edit some images. I feel images never really turns out the way I want to that late at night. I don’t even know why I bother sometimes. So I tossed it. But looking back at it now, I kinda like it. I also remember shooting this and thinking that man purposely stood there because he saw me setting up the shot to get low and he just wanted his picture taken.

What about you? Do you have a most productive hour? Mine is definietly in the morning. Probably between 10a – 1p. I usually don’t even eat lunch until 2pm because I want to make sure I get everything done that I wanted to get done in that amount of time. In the afternoon is usually the time where I’ll do the mindless things- check emails, go to the grocery store, etc. Then my second wind will come back at around 5pm. Too much info? Ok, I’ll stop now.

My camera settings for this image was F8 at 1/50th of a second ISO 1000. Yes, 1000. I had to double check to make sure I was counting all the zeros correctly. I have no idea why my ISO was so high. The only reason I could come up with was that I must of bumped it up that during sunrise and forgot to change it back when the sun was actually up. I hope the rest of the images from this day wasn’t that high.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love shooting the fog. *but knowing me, I’ll probably tell you a 100 more times so just pretend it’s like your first time hearing it each time I tell you. You know that scene in Cinderella when all the birds and mice dress her up for the ball? It’s like a whirlwind of magic and then all of the sudden, she’s ready? That’s what it’s like shooting in the fog for me except I really hope there are no mice circling me and I pretty much look exactly the same as I did before it got all foggy. But what I mean by the Cinderella reference is that I feel like I’m being wrapped up in this warm magical cloud whenever I’m walking through the fog. It’s absolutely amazing. But what it does to the scenery is even better. Everything is so muted and reduced down to the bare minimum. If I could wake up everyday to fog, I’d be a happy photographer.

That’s why I was super excited when I saw the Jefferson Memorial like this. Just a tiny hint of reflection in the Tidal Basin water with a bit more of the top of the Jefferson Memorial and cherry blossom trees peaking through. You have just enough information to know where this is. You may think this is black and white, but it’s not. Just the way the scene presented itself. I was standing on Kutz Bridge literally in awe of it all.

This was shot on my tripod with camera settings F/9 at 1/30th of a second with ISO 200. Not much photoshop editing with this one either. The hardest part was getting rid of all those dust spots! Man am I the only one who can never keep a clean sensor?

Doesn’t it seem like the days are going by so quickly now a days? It seems like it was just yesterday that I was at the Holocaust Museum but it was actually 2 weeks ago. I guess what they say is true. Time flies when you’re having fun. And when I think of it even more, I can’t believe almost half the year is already gone! Nuts-o.

Anyways, this image was taken on that day we visited the Holocaust Museum. It was an architectural tour which I really enjoyed. It was just a whole new way of looking at the museum. So we got divided up into small groups and were lead around 4 different parts of the museum as we talked about how the architecture represented different parts of the Holocaust. This particular image was taken outside at the 14th street entrance. Even if you google mapped it, you can see there’s a slight curvature that comes out of the building. Although that’s very cool all on it’s own, I thought showing it in the window reflection was even cooler. A whole new way of looking at it. I can imagine this to be a neat way to frame things if the sky was really dramatic.

The lesson that I learned from this image is to take your time and really exam the space that you’re in. You’ll be surprised by what you may find. Thanks to my friend, Zack who helped me out with this. So in recent photoshoots, I’ve been really trying to practice that. Also practicing the art of being present. I’m really resisting the urge to look at my cell phone while I’m out shooting, especially if I’m out with other people. Being present and aware of your surroundings can only help improve your images and quality of life.