ANGELA B. PAN

I was talking to my friend, Sue the other day on the phone. We have a lot of the same interests. Cute animal videos, funny memes and travel – so we have a lot to talk about. LOL. We both have done a lot of traveling this year, both together and separately. So we were talking about our favorite places. Obviously, our cross country road trip came up a lot but one thing we both had in common was that we did a lot of traveling within the United States. The best part was that we both had gone to places that we have never been to before.

One of the top places on my list this year was Colorado. I’m not sure how many times I can say this, but I LOVED it. I am definietly going back. This image was taken while I was waiting for the sun to go down at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It sort of reminds me of the sheet music for a piano scale. (OMG I can’t believe I just said that. If my mom just read that last sentence, she’d be so proud of me right now. HAHAHA I haven’t touched a piano in like 20 years). The way that the trees on the left flow into the mountains and then right back into more trees. I find the rhythm in this image very interesting. I also really enjoy the subtle streaks in the water. It may take a second to notice but once I saw them, I keep on looking at them.

So cheers to Monday! Cheers to Travel! and Cheers to our next adventure together in Maine, Sue!

My camera settings for this image is 1/160th of a second at F/9 and ISO 125 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

Happy Friday! Yay It’s here!

Lately I have not been getting excited for the weekend. Mostly because I have so much fun during the week that the weekend is kind of an afterthought to me. It is so weird. But it is true. I get excited for Mondays! But this weekend is an exception. I’m really looking forward to it.

Reason #1: It’s Frankenstein’s Birthday! My baby boy is going to be 8 years old. Seriously, where does the time go? I remember the day we brought him home. Currently, he is right next to me sleeping and snoring in his dog bed. But it is so cute! We plan on having a little birthday party for him on Sunday. Yes, we are those dog parents. But its our way of celebrating our favorite little pup. This was him two years ago.

Reason #2: I’m heading to Maine next week! I can’t wait. It will be my first time there and I’m guessing it’s going to be a great time. From what I hear, we should be visiting at the perfect time for fall foliage too. So if you’ve been to Bar Harbor or Acadia National park and have some good photo or food recommendations, let me know! I’ll make sure to add them on the to-do list.

Lobster Rolls, I’m comin’ for yaaaa!

So that means by the time I get back, DC weather needs to cool down. It’s been way too hot lately. Time for your leaves to start changing and your air to get crisper. I’ll be practicing in Maine but the real test will be when I get back home.  It’s FALL Y’ALL!

This image was taken in 2014 during the autumn season in Great Falls Park. The camera settings are 15 seconds F/22 ISO 50 shot on a tripod at sunset.

Back home from our trip to New York City. We had a blast but I think Frankie had the best time out of all of us. It was his first time in the city and he loved every smell of it! As for me, I’m pretty sure I’ve gained about 10lbs while we were there. That’s what happens when you go anywhere with Andrew. He’s a master at Yelp and does his research before we go anywhere. LOL. I’ll share photos soon! Time to recuperate and fit in a little, I mean a lot of cardio. HAHA.

In the mean time I took this image a couple of weeks ago at the same time I took this image. If you scooted over to the right a little more than the rainbow looked like it was coming out of the United States Capitol. I thought it looked really cool to have it as the backdrop to such an amazing piece of architecture. So I busted out with my 70-200mm to make sure I could get the details that I wanted. I usually don’t carry that lens with me, but ever since I decided to carry my 100mm macro lens around with me on rainy days, I figured it would be good practice to carry the 70-200mm all the other times. It definietly paid off this time.

The settings for this image is F/6.3 1/250th of a second at ISO 320. I did not shoot with a tripod which made it a little more difficult but still very happy with the way it turned out 🙂 The lens is just so long that it would have been easier to keep it steady on the tripod so I could mess with the settings and focusing.

Have a great and safe weekend everyone! What do you have planned for the long weekend?

WoW! Time flies. I took this image almost 3 years ago in Zion National Park. It feels like yesterday that I took it because I remember so many details about being at that exact location. It was at the Canyon Junction shuttle spot and I remember driving up to it and being shocked by how many photographers had already lined up for sunset. We were at least an hour early! You can imagine parking being difficult but luckily we found a spot right off Mount Carmel Highway. I ran over as fast as I could and tried to squeeze myself and tripod in with the crowd. Andrew just stood back and watched. It was ok because pretty much anywhere you stood, you’d have a great view of the Watchman.

The sun was setting and I just remember being so excited about this image. I knew it was going to come out well. At that time, we were only in Zion for a couple of days but now that I think of it I kinda wish we came back to this spot. Not to shoot from top of the bridge again, but I remember seeing people right next to the Virgin River. I wish I knew what that view looked like. I guess that will have to be for my next visit to Utah.

Crazy how one picture can bring back so many memories, right?

Anyways, we took this in October. We were a little late for the color change on the trees but the weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. It can be difficult to plan trips around nature but with that said, I’m looking to do another one this fall! I’m thinking either Maine or somewhere up North. What do you think? Have any good suggestions?

As far as photography goes, summer is my favorite because of the storms. We can get some pretty serious storm rain here in the DC area but the great part about them is that they don’t last too long. Usually about 30 minutes which is perfect! The best is when they end right around sunset. Man the skies open up and all this light comes through. It’s so beautiful.

Last week was no exception. Not only did we have amazing fog, but we got a crazy down pour of rain that ended right before sunset. It was everything that I wish for. But for some reason, I could not figure out where I wanted to go shoot. I was being indecisive driving around when I finally saw the back of the Lincoln Memorial. Skrrrch. Stop right there. The light that was being casted on the columns was so pretty and warm. Luckily I found the very first parking spot open on the Arlington Memorial bridge and rushed toward the memorial. Then I got stopped in my tracks when I noticed this puddle on the sidewalk. It was a perfect reflection of the memorial as well as the light that was being casted. I’m pretty sure I got a lot of crazy looks by the cars that were driving past, but it doesn’t matter. I was so excited to capture one. And on my first try! I was so surprised how well everything lined up.

My camera settings for this image was F/4.0 at 5 seconds ISO 160 handheld. The only reason I shot this handheld was because I couldn’t get low enough on my tripod to get the majority of the reflection. Plus with my really right stuff tripod bracket, it made it easy to hold it up without my camera getting wet.

It’s what everyone’s talking about and I’m still undecided if I want to shoot the solar eclipse on Monday. There are several reasons why but one of the biggest ones is that we’ll only be able to see a partial eclipse from the DC Metro area. Unfortunately we’re not in line with where total eclipse will be taking place. So I’m still undecided if I even want to try. I’m not even sure if I will even have the right equipment for it. Theres just so much hype surrounding the eclipse. It’s difficult to not fall into the trap. I may just try my best with what I have and if it turns out, then it turns out. Don’t be upset if I don’t get anything 🙂

Anyways, here’s a pretty image of the Washington Monument at sunset to distract you from all the eclipse talk. HAHA.

I love shooting the monument at sunset. If you’re there at the right time when the sun in shining directly on the monument, then it turns these amazing colors of red and orange. It’s like a sword in the sky with how powerful it looks. It’s absolutely breathtaking in real life. And to capture it with all these trees as framing was an added bonus. The Washington Monument is truly different at all times of the day. You just have to be aware of what you are witnessing.

The settings for this image was F6.3 at 1/80th of a second at ISO 25o handheld.

Hope you all have a great weekend. And if you’re planning on shooting the eclipse, best of luck to you! Tell me where you’re shooting from and send me your shots. I’d love to see them! May your day be filled with clear skies and plenty of space on your memory card!