ANGELA B. PAN

Another one from Saturday morning’s amazing sunrise.

I was walking up the Lincoln Memorial steps when I just had to turn around and appreciate the morning light. It felt so good on my back that I wanted to see what it looked like and I saw this scene. My favorite part of it all is the light that is shining right down the middle of the image.  My eye keeps going to the huge shadow it created of the guy walking down the steps. It looks like the shadow is as tall as the Washington Monument!

I don’t usually put a lot of sunbursts in to my images, but I do shoot them a lot. Sometimes I feel like they can be a bit overwhelming and may take away from the image. In this particular one, I think it works well. I think it helps create the mood of the light shining down on the reflecting pool and everyone walking around it. I also think it’s interesting how the light effects the people depending on where they stand. The people who are closest to the reflecting pool look so teeny tiny, I love all the layers in this image.

On a side note, how about all that rain and snow we got? Please magnolias. Please stay warm and intact. I’m not so worried about the cherry blossoms. I think they’ll be fine. A similar weather situation happened last year where we got ice and freezing temperatures right before they were about to bloom and they were fine, for the most part. In some ways it was kind of better because it deterred a lot of people from visiting the Tidal Basin. All good with me! But I’m not so sure about how well the magnolias will do since they’ve already started blooming 🙁

The settings for this image is F22 at 1/20th of a second and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm handheld.

Like I said before, I showed up to the Women’s March pretty early last week. I live really close to a metro stop and I just remember the huge lines that were coming out of the metro last year for the walk. So this year, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have wait in any of those lines. But I arrived so early that I had time to walk around the Tidal Basin.

My original plan was just to check out what the ice looked like over the water but as I was approaching, I felt inspired to take pictures of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. The way that the sun was just above it, creating these shadows made it look so epic. This is the view from behind the memorial. I took similar shots from in front, but I just liked the way this one looked better. The way that its simplified to this one little opening is very interesting to me. I think I want to keep this image in mind and keep on working at it. I know I could make something really cool out of it on a beautiful sunrise day.

It being the day of the women’s march and just walking around the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial felt right. He has several famous quotes around the memorial but this one was perfect for the day, “Make a career of humanity, commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a great person of yourself, a great nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” Thank you so much for that Dr. King. I just got the chills.

The camera settings for this image is F22 at 1/200th of a second at ISO 160 with my Sony A7II and my 28-70mm lens.

While I was shooting the sunset on Pacific Beach in San Diego, CA, my eyes were strictly on the water. I was watching people run in and out of the ocean and the waves were glowing in the sunlight when Andrew stopped me and told me we had to go watch this bubble guy. I had no idea what he was talking about but I stopped shooting and started following him to the boardwalk. Apparently this guy comes out everyday to create these bubbles. I don’t even think he had a tip jar. He just does it for the pure joy of it which is so awesome. And he had a huge crowd surrounding him as well. Kids of all ages wanted to check out this bubble guy.

We only stood there for a few minutes but you can tell he was making everyone so happy. But don’t be fooled, these bubbles were no joke. These kids got so soaked when they bursted on top of them. It was kind of funny. He even had some dogs barking at him too.

My favorite part of this image is the actual bubble itself. I love looking at the left hand side where it has already burst and in the center, above the sun where it has so many light variations.  It’s so interesting to look at the different ‘stages’ of the bubble. But I also really like the children that are in it. They add so much to the story, especially with their hands.

Props to this bubble guy for doing this everyday. I’m sure he has so many stories to tell just from standing in this one spot.

My settings for this image is F/25 at 1/125th of a second and ISO 125 on my Sony A7II and my 28-70mm lens.

Out of the 7 days that we’ve been in San Diego, 6 of them have been foggy. It’s not foggy all day and it mostly comes around sunrise or sunset, the best times for taking pictures. I love the fog and everything but I thought I was coming to California for some sunshine.

But I am not letting any of the weather stop me from shooting. If I can’t photograph the skies, then I will try my best to photograph other things. This particular morning was not foggy but it was extremely cloudy. I found myself on the Ocean Beach pier just watching the waves go by. As the sun was rising higher in the sky, I noticed how beautiful it made the water look. I positioned myself on the pier so that I’d be shooting towards the shore and watching the back side of the wave roll by me.

My favorite part of this entire image is that little bit of light of aqua color on top of the wave. That was the color and light I was looking for while I was shooting this image. I don’t know but there’s something so fascinating about watching the waves roll by from up above. I love watching the patterns and repetition. Next time I need to bring the drone!

The surfer in the image was just an added bonus. I didn’t even realize he was there until I looked at these images on the computer. It’s pretty cool to see him in context to the wave. He looks so tiny compared to it.

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/50th of a second and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens. I didn’t not shoot this with a tripod but was using the pier ledge to stabilize my camera.

Greetings from San Diego! and Happy New Year! This is my first official blog post of 2018. The first two were prescheduled in 2017. Kinda sneaky, eh? LOL.

So far 2018 has been nothing short of beautiful. I’m currently sitting on the front porch of our Airbnb cottage, listening to water flowing from a water fountain and staring at some beautiful oranges on our orange tree. Not sure how it could get any better than this. Since arriving, Andrew, Frankie and I have just been settling into our new environment. We went to the farmers market to pick up some fresh produce and just been sightseeing and getting to know the area a little better. We’re staying in North Park and loving every minute of it. Every morning we’ve been here has been incredibly foggy. Foggy but so fun and exciting! By mid-morning everything clears up and it’s back to enjoying the sunny skies.

I took this image yesterday in La Jolla at Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier. It was taken about an hour after sunrise and after the fog lifted from the beach. My favorite part of this image is that little hit of sun glow on the wood. To be honest, I’m not sure how busy this place gets at sunrise but somehow I feel lucky to have been the only one there. Well, me and this seagull of course.

I can’t wait to explore San Diego even more with my camera. So if you have any photo recommendations for me, let me know! Also food recommendations. I’ve already had my first official fish taco as my first meal when we arrived but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be my last 🙂

The camera settings for this image is 1/200th of a second at F5.6 and ISO 200 with my Sony a7II and 28-70mm lens.

Am I the only who feels like this or can the week between Christmas and New Years eve feel really slow and sort of like a blur? Like you have no idea what day it is anymore or even what to do with yourself? I don’t know it’s felt like that for me in the past couple of years so this year I told myself I wasn’t going to do that anymore and remain productive during the week. That started yesterday, the day after Christmas when I woke up to take sunrise pictures.

I woke up and checked my weather app and it said it was 26 degrees and cloudy. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t exactly get me excited to wake up but I told myself that I was going to do it the day before so I did it.

Oh man, it was so worth it. The sunrise was beautiful! One of the best ones I had seen in a while. But the best part was when the sun was already up and that early morning glow hit the the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial doesn’t glow like that at any other time of day but sunrise. I love how it makes the memorial look orange. I was in the middle of walking down the steps when I turned around and saw this lady enjoying the sunrise as much as I was. I had to stop and take pictures. She had to have known I was taking pictures of her because we basically had a whole photoshoot together. LOL. Either way, it was such a great way to kick off that in between week that you just don’t know what to do with yourself.

The camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/200th of a second and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm lens.