ANGELA B. PAN

Oh yea, and then there was that time Sue and I went to Spain. That was an amazing trip. It was my first time in Spain and I loved every minute of it. We were only in Barcelona and it was beautiful but I knew right from the beginning of planning the trip that I had to go to La Sagrada Familia. Just looking up images online, I was blown away. Seeing it in person, with all the detail was incredible. It’s one of those places that’s hard to describe because there are so many details to look at. The best was when the light came pouring into the stained glass windows and basically created a rainbows everywhere. If you ever find yourself anywhere close to Barcelona, you gotta check out La Sagrada Familia and the other buildings created by Gaudi. All of them are so unique and so interesting to look at.

So while we were in Barcelona, Sue, our friend Chonteau’ who was also in Spain with us made a pact to go back again once the completion of the La Sagrada Familia was complete. From that time we were there it was supposed to be 10 more years. So now technically 7 more years to go! LOL I wonder if I’ll still be blogging at that time. If I am, it would be so fun to look back on these images.

The funny part about it is that when we were making the pact, it was over bottle of wine on this rooftop bar we just randomly went to. We started pinkie promising our pact, but our waiter saw us and joined in on our pinkie promise. I know he didn’t know what we were promising to each other but it was funny because he wanted to get in on the action and turned our pinkie promise into a star.

My camera settings for this image is F5 at 1/6th of a sec at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

A recent find, one of the best views of the Washington DC skyline is in Anacostia! Thanks again to my friend, Austin who came up with the idea of photowalking around the Anacostia neighborhood. I would have never thought to visit Anacostia, but now I won’t even hesitate to go back. The neighborhood has so much history and character, but it is also changing too. Judging by all the construction happening, it could be the next cool hangout spot. So if you’re planning on going, definietly check out Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church to see the best view of the city. It’s outstanding!

From the parking lot, you have an amazing view of the US Capitol, other buildings and then this unrivaled view of the Washington Monument. I think it’s so cool to have been able to capture it with Nationals Park in the foreground. Such a different perspective of the city that I’m totally not used to. I bet the July 4th fireworks would be an amazing show to watch from here.

So after the photowalk was officially over, I offered my friend, Larry a ride back to his car. I live close to a metro that he usually parks at so I asked him if he needed a ride but we had to make a few stops first. The first stop was to the church to capture this image. Luckily, Larry was kind enough to let me use his 100-400mm lens. Like I’ve said before, the compression on these ultra zoom lenses are amazing. I’m always so impressed by them and this would not have come out the same if it weren’t for it. Second stop was to District Donut for their seasonal donuts 🙂

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/500th sec and ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and Larry’s 100-400mm lens

If you’ve never been, you’ve got to go. It’s breath-taking. Definietly a huge highlight of our entire European adventure.

The crazy part is that it’s not even complete! It’s scheduled to be done in 2027, so my girlfriends and I made pact to return to visit when it’s done.