ANGELA B. PAN

I got home from Taiwan the night before Thanksgiving. After 10 days in Taipei, I had mixed feelings about coming home. I was there visiting family, but when I wasn’t with them, I was free to roam the city alone with my camera. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such freedom in a foreign country and I really got to appreciate all the things that make Taipei such a great city.

I’ve visited many times when I was younger. I want to say at least once a year while I was in elementary school. As I got older, the visits became less frequent and the last time I was there was 2014. However walking through some of the same streets during this visit, I was still able to remember some of the places I used to shop or eat at. It brought back so many wonderful memories but also made me want to create new ones. I know in my heart that this will not be the last time I visit.

This image was taken just a few blocks from our hotel. I’m in a big group chat with a bunch of my girlfriends and one of them asked me for a picture of me in Taiwan. After a few days of being there, I realized I hadn’t taken any with myself in it, so when I walked passed this mirror, I thought it was the perfect opportunity for the self-portrait. I love how you can only see my camera, but also gives the context of where I am.

My camera settings for this image are F9 at 1/160th sec and ISO 250 with my Sony A7II and 35mm lens.

Another rainy, moody image from our trip to New York.

This image was taken after we finished our meal. Andrew and I started walking back to our car when we ducked into this little alleyway because the wind had really started to pick up and blowing the rain everywhere. We were getting soaked. So we stood under a doorway of a closed store to wait it out a little bit. Luckily, there were some other people hanging out in this alley because they were all in line for Sunday morning Dim Sum.

Rain or shine, Dim Sum is always a great Sunday morning treat! What caught my attention about this person and his umbrella was the puddle that was building up on the umbrella. I don’t know, I keep on looking at that and decided that I needed to capture it. The added bonus was all the reflections from where he was standing. The rain made everything glow.

Now I sort of wish that it will rain every time I go on a trip. LOL.

My camera settings for this image are F4 at 1/100th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

So for the most part, we had beautiful weather on our trip to New York. It was pleasantly Autumn while we were there with cool weather temps but not cold enough for heavy jackets. Andrew and I couldn’t stop talking about how ideal it was because every other time we’re there it’s FREEZING.

But the day we left the city was POURING rain. As soon as I woke up in the morning, I could hear the rain pounding on our hotel room window. Good thing I was prepared with a long, heavy-ish jacket that kept me warm. Don’t get me wrong, I still got wet but it was better than having nothing at all.

So for our last meal in New York, Andrew and I went down to Chinatown for some soup dumplings. What’s better on a cold, rainy day? We made the decision that I would drive and I’d drop Andrew off in front of the restaurant so that he could put our name down in case there was a wait. That allowed me to drive around, find parking and along the way, I could stop and take some super moody images of the city with the rain. Turns out, Chinatown is PERFECT for rainy shots. I loved the mood this part of city created and it seemed like there were still so many people out with umbrellas. As soon as I saw a whole bunch of umbrellas lined up in a corner of the street waiting to cross, I knew we were in the right place.

This is probably my favorite image I captured the whole weekend we were in New York. I just love the bright red punch buggy with all the red in the signs plus the out of focus pedestrians. I don’t know it definitely brings me back to that rainy, windy Sunday.

My camera settings for this image are F4 at 1/250th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

While walking around New York City, I made sure to look for any signs of fall foliage. I was so happy to see that there were trees that were already turning yellow and orange that it made me curious to see what the trees looked like in Central Park. So when Andrew and I had some spare time, we ended up taking an afternoon walk around the park.

I don’t know how it happened, but we ended up on a side of the park that neither one of us had been to before. Actually, I do know how it happened, this park is HUGE! There’s so much going on everywhere. There was even an ice skating rink open! But as we were exiting the park, we stumbled onto this bridge. I was happy to see some sort of a moment in silence right underneath where these Candian geese were just wading in the water and cleaning themselves off. In such a busy park and even busier city, it’s unusual to find such quietness. So I had to capture it.

My favorite part of this image are the out of focus yellow leaves in the foreground. It reminds me of falling leaves in the fall. But you see what I’m saying about fall colors in New York City? They were everywhere and I loved every second of it 🙂

My camera settings for this image are F8 at 1/320th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

The day I wrote this blog post about fall foliage, I create a fall photo to-do list. On that list were my usual spots like Great Falls Park, the Tidal Basin, Shenandoah National Park, etc but I also added some places I’ve never been to. Falling Water in Pennsylvania and Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia were top of that list. It’s amazing how it all played out because the universe was definitely listening to me that day and, by the end of the day, I had made plans to visit both of those places I’ve never been to that weekend.

So I’m home after a long weekend full of fall adventuring. I probably got a little ahead of myself because there wasn’t much color change in either of the places I visited, but it was great to do a little photo scouting and I can never really complain when I have a camera in my hand.

This image is actually taken outside the visitor center at the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, PA. We stopped on our way home from Falling Water and it was definitely an emotional experience. But to document I was actually there, I took this reflective self-portrait that was 100% inspired by Vivian Maier who was an amazing street photographer and she would take these sorts of portraits as well. I thought this image turned out interesting with the lines in the glass but it is also very moody, which was how I felt while I was there.

My camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1/1000th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

The Washington Monument is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world. People from all around the world flock to the National Mall for the chance to see it in person. But who can blame them? It’s even more inspiring in person than it is in photographs. The centerpiece of the Washington DC skyline and the quintessential backdrop for cherry blossoms in the springtime and fireworks when it comes time to celebrate our independence. So if you are planning on visiting the Nation’s Capitol, here’s your guide to everything you need to know about visiting the Washington Monument:

The Washington Monument at sunset

How to get there:

The Washington Monument is conveniently located in the heart of the National Mall.  There are several ways to get there but the official address is:

2 15th St NW
Washington, DC 20024

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