ANGELA B. PAN

If you asked my friend, Sue what her favorite part of our whole Acadia trip was, she’d say it was Ocean Path. It’s a super easy hike from Otter Point to Sandy Beach with a stop at Thunder Hole along the way. It’s two miles long and would typically take people 2-3 hours to complete, it took us almost 4. LOL. That’s only because we stopped a lot to take pictures… and snack breaks. This was our early morning hike so we didn’t have any breakfast prior.

If I had to guess, she liked this hike the most because every view point and every stop was so typical “Acadia”. Like when you google imaged pictures of Acadia, these are the views you’d see in the search results. We were also hiking on a super cloudy day and the air was crisp and cool. It made it so much more comfortable for us to really take our time and enjoy the scenery.

So if you have plans on visiting Acadia National Park, this hike would be one of my top suggestions. It faces east so basically anywhere you stand, you’re going to get a great view of the sunrise. And I’m not sure if we were just lucky or what it was, but we barely saw anyone on the hike. It wasn’t until we got closer to Sandy Beach (our end destination) where we really started seeing people. I think most people go to Cadillac Mountain to view the sunrise if they’re going to wake up that early, but there are other beautiful places in the park to see it too and Ocean Path is one of them!

The best part was being able to take a bus back to our original starting point, Otter Point where we parked our car 🙂 Luckily we got on the bus just in time before it started pouring rain. Man I can’t express how happy I was to be able to take that bus back instead of walking back 2 miles in the rain.

I usually have tons of plans and to-do lists before I leave for a trip, but this time I didn’t have any of that. I might of had a few suggestions here and there from friends but otherwise, I left for Maine last week with no expectations. Well, I’m happy to say that I had a blast. It was way better than expected! LOL.

About 2 days before we left, my friend Sue and I decided to stay one less day in Acadia National Park and spend that extra time in Portland. I’m so glad we did that. It’s only 3 hours away from Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park but it gave us a better idea of what it’s really like being in Maine. From the one day that we were there, I loved how seeing lobster cages in the back of a pick up truck was no big deal and you can really tell that the people who lived there, loved it there. Everybody was so happy and friendly and I don’t think I have seen such a clean city before. You can really tell that Mainers respect their land and their water.

And on the top of every to-do list that we googled about Portland was this lighthouse, Portland Head Light. I loved how accessible it was. It’s so close to the city and it’s just a short walk from the parking lot. Which was perfect when you are running late for a sunrise! Man, was I running through that parking lot like it was no one’s business. And I may or may not have jumped a fence to capture this, but I figured it was ok since I saw other people doing it, right?

My camera settings for this image is 8.0 seconds at F/4 ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens. I also had my neutral density filter on there to make a longer exposure to smooth out the water.

An image that didn’t make the 2018 Dynamic DC Wall Calendar cut.

I love this image. I think it sets such a nice tone for the cherry blossoms, but I wasn’t sure if you all would want to be staring at a lady’s back for 31 days. So it didn’t make the cut. LOL

I think my favorite part of the image is the little reflection you see on the bottom right hand corner. It’s definietly obvious that it’s there, but the reflection is so subtle that I don’t know if you really think about it. I like how it gives the vibe that she’s being surrounded by cherry blossoms.

To be honest, I don’t even know how this lady is. She was just there with another photographer and they were having a cherry blossom photoshoot. Totally normal if you’re ever at the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season. I usually try to stay out of the way and I was in the middle of walking around them when I saw the scene from behind. Now, I don’t know how this lady’s photographer’s image turned out, but I’m really happy with mine. But even if she walked right past me, I would not even be able to recognize her. I completely forgot what she looked like from the front. She will now forever be called ‘Cherry Blossom lady’ to me. HAHA. But if I did find out who she was, I’d totally gift her with this print.

The settings for this image is 1/100th of a second at F/8 and ISO 160 with my 100mm macro lens. See, you can go beyond just macro images with that lens however I’m not sure why I did that. I was probably busy shooting the flowers and just happened to have that lens on my camera.

Now that I think about it, this whole image sounds like one happy accident 🙂

It’s here! It’s finally here. The 2018 Dynamic DC Wall Calendar is here!

This is one of the images that’s in this years calendar PLUS there are 12 more that I think you’d like as well 🙂

Click here to check it out.

It takes me quite a bit to complete the calendar. I started on the project in the beginning of August and I’ve been going through many revisions to get it to what you see today! And my mom tells me every year that I need to show it to her first to make sure she likes all the images before they get printed…. so it’s Mommy Pan approved as well.

If you were interested in getting it, they are on presale now and at a discounted price. If you’re hesitant, just get it now. The discounted price only lasts until November and they usually sell out by December. However I think this year may be a little faster. I’ve already had people emailing me telling me that they want to reserve some before they’ve even seen it! That’s so nuts.

So one last time, click here to see your new 2018 wall calendar.

This image was taken in the beginning of 2017 and made it’s way to the calendar as the September image. I love the cloud formations and reflections you see in the Tidal Basin. But my favorite part of the image is the color change from orangey yellow on the very left hand side to the blue hues on the right. It started off as a foggy morning but once the sun came out, the fog and the clouds lifted and formed this amazing sky. My camera settings for this image is 1/160th of a second at F7.1 and ISO 200 on my Sony A7II with my 16-35mm wide angle lens.

This image was taken a couple years ago at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, California. If you know me at all, you know I love California. I love how laid back everything is, how healthy it is, and it’s just overall so beautiful. It’s always one of my favorite places to visit.

But I think next on my travel list would be Aruba! So random I know. Considering I’ve been to quite a few places in the Caribbean already and growing up you were always scared about the Aruba triangle. But I want to go and stay at the Renaissance Resort and Casino. Why so specific? Because this is the only place that I have seen that has wild FLAMINGOS on their property! Like you could be chillin on the beach and there would be a flamingo walking right past you. I’ve never seen them fly before either, so I think that’d be really cool to see. I don’t know recently I’ve had this obsession with wanting to see a flamingo in real life.

Look at this picture. This could be ME! Except I wouldn’t be laying down so casually. I’d probably be trying to feed or pet one of them. And then sticking a camera in their face. LOL.

If you’ve ever seen a flamingo in real life, let me know! What was it like? Where were you? Did you get to pet it? They seem delicate, are they? OR if you’ve ever stayed at the Renaissance Resort and Casino in Aruba, how’d you like it? I need to know!

For the Natural Bridges State Park image, my camera settings were 1.6 seconds at F/20 and ISO 100. This was probably taken around 2013 so I was still shooting with my Canon 5D mark II and I was using my 17-40mm wide angle lens.

Not to say that I like one better than the other, but another favorite place to shoot fall colors is Shenandoah National Park. Just driving along sky line drive is so peaceful and relaxing. I never have a plan of what I’m going to shoot, I just go. And each time I go is so different.

What’s crazy is that I shot this in 2011! Lately I’ve been going through some older photos. Like way back. And I still remember shooting this. This particular morning was foggy. You know me and how excited I get with fog. But you can’t even tell that the leaves are changing or anything. I just love how the fog washed away all the details and all you see are blurred lines. It sort of reminds me of an abstract painting with an influence of Mark Rothko. The small hint of purple and pink in the middle of the image really draws my attention.

My camera settings for this image was F/18 at 1/20th of a second ISO 125 on my Canon 5D Mark II.

On a side note, I still get quite a few questions about my 5D Mark II. They’re mostly if I still use it and the answer is not really. The only time I really use it may be shooting fireworks. I just trust the camera remote on the 5D Mark II way more than the one on the Sony A7II. I feel like in that “high pressure” situation, (high pressure meaning, I can’t easily re-do it) I’d rather use that camera. Otherwise, it’s straight Sony equipment for me. I still have my Canon body and lenses sitting on the shelf. I may sell it in the future, but I’m not sure. We just have so many memories together that I don’t know if I’d want to give that away.