ANGELA B. PAN

Man, why don’t people photograph this building more often? Actually, why don’t I photograph this building more often? Its so beautiful and right across the street from the US Capitol. It should be one of those places that people love to visit.

It’s crazy, I shot this image last fall but never got around to editing it. I think that happens a lot. I just get so carried away with shooting sometimes that I forget I have to spend more time sitting in front of a computer and edit them. I dont mind though because I like editing almost as much as I like shooting. I didn’t even remember that I shot this until a client of mine asked me for Supreme Court shots. I was like ‘I know I’ve been there before…’ LOL.

It’s kind of intimidating place to be there though. Theres ALWAYS security officers all around the grounds. You feel like you’re being watched with every move you make. Not like how it is at the US Capitol or any of the other memorials I usually visit where you can run around buck naked and no one would even care. JUST KIDDING. Don’t do that. Please don’t do that.

This was shot at f/7.1 1/25th of a second at ISO 250 with my 16-35mm handheld. The only way to get a shot like this is to shoot with a wide angle. I love the contrast between the columns and the sky. Luckily this was around the time of sunset so the sun was doing amazing things on the marble. I also like the natural leading lines the columns create.

Washington DC is so great for architecture and the Supreme Court is just one example of that. Hope to explore more in the city and find more interesting angles like this one.

Shout out to my friend, Zack who had been texting me to meet up for sunset on this day. Although we were on two very different sides of the national mall shooting (I was by the reflecting pool and he was at the US Capitol), I would of never have gone out on this day if it weren’t for him. It’s funny because we were texting each other pictures of what we were seeing in the sky the entire time. Once the color actually broke through the clouds, it was dead silent between the both of us until it was all over. LOL.

So I was sitting by the reflecting pool, mostly concentrating on the sky. But it was awesome because these little kids came up next to me with crackers and were feeding the ducks. *note to self, always bring crackers when taking pictures* So my attention went from the sky to getting the ducks in the foreground of the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial. I got some pretty cool shots which I’ll post later. Next, I’m not sure what happened but I turned around to see that the sky behind had really blown up. I mean you usually see the sunset colors behind the Lincoln Memorial, but all the action was behind the Washington Monument right at the WWII Memorial. Luckily, I had some time to set up a shot. But it didn’t last long. I’m glad I was able to capture what I did.

Camera settings for this shot was F5 with a 15 second exposure at ISO500. I was using my Ice neutral density filter for this one so I was able to capture the saturated colors and any people who were in my way were blurred out. The only people you see were the ones who were standing there for longer than 15seconds.

Man, if it were a clear day, it would of been awesome to see Mt Rainer from here. Oh well, guess I gotta go again, right?! *cute winky face*

So glad it’s Friday! I had a busy week of meetings and appointments and currently listening to a lot of hammer banging because we’re getting repairs done to the house. It’s not the funnest thing to listen to while you’re working, but I’m glad our shower is finally getting fixed.

What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

Here are three things that I’m grateful for this week:

1. Theres nothing like seeing your work blown up and center stage in a law office right next to the White House! So exciting to see this in person.

2. Starting to work with interns. I have Nia who’s a film student at Howard U and Jon who’s a freshmen at American U. I’m excited to see what will come out of these two 🙂

3. Booked my trip to San Francisco.

Interrupting your regularly scheduled Utah posts for this Ah-Mazing sunset by the US Capitol last night.