ANGELA B. PAN

Speaking of fall colors still hanging around! Heart eye emoji! (P.S. Is it weird that I say what the emoji is instead of actually using the emoji? HAHA) One of my favorite places to go to for fall colors in Washington DC area is the Tidal Basin. I don’t know if many people know it but the cherry blossom trees are gorgeous in the autumn season. We were so lucky to have gone at the right time on this particular morning. The tree colors were poppin but the sun hitting the leaves made them look like they were glowing this amazing gold color. I’d say this was probably 30-45 minutes after the sunrise.

At first I thought this season wasn’t going to be great for fall foliage. I had heard somewhere that we didn’t get as much rain as we usually do so that was going to somehow negatively affect the leaf colors. That was definietly wrong. I think all it really did was delay it for a couple of weeks because they are out in full force right now. You can even see the trees on the opposite side of the Tidal Basin and so many of them were this beautiful red color. We didn’t walk that way but I’m sure they’re just as beautiful as the yellow tree I was standing under. So if you’re in the DC area, I’d highly suggest checking them out soon before they all go away.

Shout out to Brandon, his cousin, and Jarrett for the early sunrise shoot. It was a fun morning walking around the National Mall with you guys! A morning filled with photos, camera talk and colorful leaves- what could be better?

My camera settings for this image is F/11 at 1/320th of a second and ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm lens.

I’m not sure what has gotten into me lately, but I’ve been waking up so early. Like way before my alarm goes off to wake me up for sunrise, even early enough where I could scramble myself some eggs for breakfest and still be on time to watch the sun. Oh man. That’s early! It’s like I’m jet lagged…

But what else is there to do at 5 o’clock in the morning but go out and take pics, right?

Luckily we’ve been having some awesome sunrises around the Washington DC area. This particular morning wasn’t as colorful as I usually hope for but it was so moody. I’ll take it!

It rained over night and the steps to the United States Capitol was so reflective. You know me, I love a good puddle when I see one. So I was playing around with different angles and perspectives when I finally came across this one. Holy cow, I love how the trees look as big as the Capitol Building. One of my favorite things to do is to get down low and make whatever is in the foreground look bigger than what’s in the background. Its sort of a eye-mind trick thing but I think it looks super cool. And for some reason my eye keeps going down to the reflection and staring at the Statue of Freedom lookin’ like a squiggly line. It’s so interesting how that came out.

Don’t get me wrong though, I am not complaining about waking up early. I’m complaining about being super sleepy by 8pm every night. #grandmastatus So expect to see way more sunrise images from me soon 🙂 I’ve got a few lined up.

My camera settings for this image is F22 at 0.6 seconds and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Last but definietly not least, I’m grateful for all of you. You all have made it possible for me to do what I love every single day. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not grateful for it. And it blows my mind that you actually take the time out to read my blog and view my pictures everyday. I’m just a girl with a camera. Seriously, THANK YOU!

I took this image in 2012. I remember it very clearly because it was one of the first times I had ever done a long exposure like this. I remember coming home and being so proud that it actually worked. How have times changed. Now I’m taking long exposures every other day. HAHA

My camera settings for this image is F11 at 1/6 seconds and ISO 100 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105mm lens.

Above is an image of a recent project that I had been working on for a private home. The final result is a 44×86″ double framed print. The white frame is meant to look like a regular mat and it will prevent any curling or anything in the future since the print is so large. So cool, right? Unfortunately, like many other projects that I work on, I did not get to see the final product in person. But I did get to see the print before it got framed and it looked excellent. It got installed last weekend and I’m grateful for the family who purchased this to send me a picture.

So out of appreciation of you all, I’d like to offer a discount code for black friday on all my prints. Click the link here and use the discount code: “HappyHolidays” at checkout.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all your kind comments, support and love. They mean the world to me.

One of my favorite things to do after taking sunrise pictures is to just sit and enjoy the early morning light. Sometimes you can forget to enjoy the moment. Maybe you woke up late and you’re in a hurry to get to your location or you’re trying to find the perfect composition at the time the light is hitting you subject just right. There can be a number of things that cause you to stress so early in the morning which kinda sounds odd because photography is suppose to be a fun activity. But once all of that madness is done and you’re just left with the early morning light, it can be so peaceful to just sit and enjoy. Even for 10 minutes. It is the most relaxing and beautiful way to spend the morning. I love it. I just feel so happy and calm. Its a great way to just slow down. Rarely will I even have my cell phone out.

This was taken at Otter Cliff in Acadia National Park, Maine. Just looking at this image brings back those feelings of relaxation and peace. I remember sitting on those rocks after I captured this image and watching the sun for a good 20 minutes before doing anything else. That buoy in the distance was ringing a bell every time a wave rocked it over.  Sue and I were the only ones there and barely even said a word to each other. Is it weird to say that thinking about this image and what it took to capture it makes me look forward to waking up for my next sunrise? Yes. The answer is yes.

PS Where the otters at?

The camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/13th of a second with ISO 100 on my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Most of the time when I wake up for sunrise, I have no real plans of what I’m going to photograph. Especially now with daylight savings, I’ve been waking up earlier than my alarm and can’t fall back asleep. Theres really nothing else to do that early in the morning but to get ready and go take sunrise pictures.  I just figure out where I want to park my car and let my eyes be the guide. Most of the time that results in some of the best pics.

I took this image early last week. I spent most of the morning walking around Constitution Gardens. I always find myself going back there in the fall. I love the trees and reflections you can get from the water, but this day was a little rough. The sunrise wasn’t much to look at because it was so cloudy. The trees weren’t very colorful yet so I didn’t get much from the pond. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you loose some. I don’t get upset. It just happens.

So I decided to keep walking and I ended up by the Washington Monument. Luckily, there were some beautiful yellow trees along Constitution Ave. that I didn’t notice while I was driving. It was like the branches were reaching toward me screaming, “take my picture, take my picture”. I found a couple that perfectly framed the Washington Monument and played around with the composition. I think my favorite part of the image is seeing the branches themselves. I think it’s really interesting to follow each twist and turn and see where they end up.

What about you? I’d love to know what you like about the image.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/400th of a second at ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 28-70mm lens.

Day 3 of reflections. Check out day 1 and day 2.

Obviously an image of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had to be a part of the week long series of reflections. I took this one a couple weeks ago with my friend, Chris. We met up for sunrise and it was forecasted to be a clear day but the predawn colors in the sky were amazing. Usually I hope for clouds for any sunrise image but I feel like the orange color was so vibrant all on their own that it didn’t even need them.

And as I arrived at the reflecting pool I was excited to see that I had got there early enough for them to still have the US Capitol lights on. About 10 minutes later, they were all turned off and it was a lot harder to see it back there. Anyone know what the light schedule to the monuments are like? Next time I’d like to plan for it instead of guessing.

But this same composition has a special place in my heart. It always reminds me of when I first started waking up for sunrise to take pictures. I would make Andrew go with me at first just because I didn’t know what the situation was going to be like. Being a female with expensive camera equipment could be a potentially dangerous situation. But as time went on, I decided that I didn’t need him to go with me anymore. I got comfortable waking up and doing what I needed to do all by myself. So the first time I went by myself to DC, I shot this same exact image and felt super proud of myself.

Now look at me. Sometimes I’ll even wake up before I need to just because I’m so excited to go out to shoot.

The settings for this image is F5.6 for 10 seconds at ISO 200 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.