ANGELA B. PAN

Taken around the same time I captured this image, I love the way this one turned out. It also goes great as a pair because I think it portrays what it’s been like in DC lately, H-O-T. Granted it’s not as hot as it was last week but it is definitely sundress or tank top season. OMG.

This image was taken around sunrise time. I was definitely getting the orange glow from the sun but boosted up the vibrancy a little bit in lightroom to show off the color a little more. After I saved the image in my “haven’t blogged yet” folder, I noticed it was sort of similar to this image I captured a few weeks ago at the McKee Beshers sunflower fields.

So I guess that means I have a “style” for when I’m feeling extra warm outside. They both give off that, “please provide me with some shade” feeling. LOL

My camera settings for the Capitol image is F8 at 1/1000th sec and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

My camera setting for the sunflower image is F4 at 1/3200th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

From the top of the Altaire luxury apartments in Crystal City, Virginia. I still can’t get over this view.

Although the Lincoln Memorial isn’t as predominately seen from this viewpoint, it was still so cool to capture.  I think it’s because you see the memorial from the side, which isn’t seen as often but it is surrounded by so many trees. I really had to zoom in with my lens to capture this.

But it also raises the question, should landscape images be photographed in landscape mode? Meaning vertical or horizontal? I feel like the majority of images I capture are in the vertical orientation. Not for any reason other than I think the composition usually looks better that way. I sort of see it as a way of “naturally” cropping and zooming in to a subject. Yes, it is more phone-friendly as well because it takes up the screen but I know traditional photographers will always photograph in the horizontal.

A couple of years ago, my friend, Mike who at the time worked at Modern Luxury DC magazine, said that magazine editors prefer the vertical orientation as well since that’s how magazines are read. Ever since then I was trying to get into the habit and it kinda stuck.

Obviously, this image is horizontal, but I think it worked because my main focus was to show all the layers behind the Lincoln Memorial. I tried cropping it in vertical, but it just didn’t work.

So I guess I’m saying that the orientation depends on the image but in general, you will usually see my images vertical. What about you?

My camera settings for this image is F9 at 1/100th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and my kind friend, Larry let me use his 100-400mm lens for this shot.

A little Cherry Blossom throwback never hurt anyone, right?

I remember exactly when I captured this image. It was at the end of March and still cold out. I met up with my friend, Larry to try to photograph some of the really early cherry blossom blooms but also ask him tips about Texas. It was right before I left for my road trip to Austin so who better to ask for advice than a Texan, right? He was the best person to ask because he gave me a few places to photograph but mostly told me all about the great Texas barbeque and tacos. OMG, I still think about the tacos.

Back to the Cherry Blossoms- At this time there were a few branches with a few flowers out. It was kind of a struggle just to find these. As I said, we were still really early for peak bloom but it was great to scout out the compositions a little bit.

Luckily at the end of it all, I was able to get back from the trip right in time for the cherry blossoms peak season. To be honest, my friend Sue gave me a window to time to go on this road trip so I sort of planned it all around the flowers. I’m glad it all worked out. As soon as I got back, I hit the ground running. I probably woke up for Cherry Blossoms for 10 days straight. The 2019 season was an amazing year for the blossoms.

My camera settings for this image is F10 at 1/40th sec and ISO

Since I’ve photographed Washington DC so much, I sometimes play tricks on myself and try to park my car in different places so I can find different perspectives in photographing the landmarks. That way I will force me to walk different directions than I’m used to and hopefully see things differently. I think this trick works well, as long as you remember where you parked your car 🙂

So I was driving around, trying to look for a different parking spot when I noticed the Bartholdi Fountain flowing with water at sunrise. I was surprised it was on because even the World War II memorial on the National Mall doesn’t start the water until 6 am. So when I drove past around 5:30 am, I was excited and knew that I wanted to photograph the fountain.

It’s been a while since I have photographed it. Almost 4 years! But I do remember thinking that I wanted to get back there one day for sunrise. So I finally did it and concentrated on creating layers with the US Capitol dome. The sunrise itself didn’t have any clouds in the sky so I really wanted to fill the frame with the dome, water, and fountain. I made sure to have a “slower” shutter speed so you can see the steam of water flowing well against the almost white sky.

My camera settings for this image is F20 at 1/15th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm.

If you’re in the Washington DC area and you have no plans this weekend, definitely go check out the Washington Monument on the National Mall. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and they are projecting a life-size version of the Apollo 11 lunar spacecraft. It’s been going on every day since Tuesday at 9:30 pm but if you go on Friday or Saturday at 9:30 pm, 10:30 pm, or 11:30 pm, they will have a 17-minute presentation of what it was like when the spacecraft took off.

I hope to be there Friday but trust me when I say this is way cooler in person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything projected on the Washington Monument like that and it’s just a great time sitting on the national mall and watching it go.

I captured this image on the first night of the projection on Tuesday evening. We sat right by 15th street and I don’t think a lot of people on the street knew what was going on. There were so many pedestrians, scooter riders and car drivers who just stopped in the middle of the road. At one point the police had to even come, turn on their lights to clear everyone out. So I thought I’d take advantage of the foreground and really show what it’s like being there. It sort of reminds me of Stranger Things, right? LOL

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 3.2 sec and ISO 100 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle lens

These summer storms have been getting intense. And it seems like they’re happening almost every day, right?

I’m so happy I was able to get out and photograph the skies in between some downpours in order to get this shot. It had been a while since I’ve been to the Tidal Basin so I completely forgot that the Jefferson Memorial is now under scaffolding. Hopefully, it won’t last too long because it’s just to clean the top of the dome, but with Washington DC, who knows.

To quote my friend, Larry “DC means doing construction” LOL.

Like I said, this was photographed in the middle of some downpours. I was there just around sunset when I noticed the rainbow so I immediately had to pull over. All of a sudden, the second rainbow out of the top of the Jefferson Memorial showed up. I was so excited. I was standing on Kutz Bridge in order to capture this and I even heard cars driving past and people going “Ouuu double rainbow”. LOL.

Hopefully, there will be some more storms in the future and I’ll be able to capture some lightning strikes. Those are always so exciting to capture.

My camera settings for this image is F8 at 1/20th sec and ISO 100 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.