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Monday, June 1st morning was the first day I went out to the White House in months. I don’t usually spend too much time photographing the iconic residence because honestly, it’s just not in the best location for sunrise/sunsets. That’s it.

But after a weekend of Black Lives Matters protests, riots, and looting, I had to go. I knew the city was going to look very different than it did just a week ago. So I woke up early in the morning to see if I could capture some of the rioting aftermath.

(L) Cash register found on the sidewalk (R) Broken glass storefront

It didn’t take long to find damage. I knew the White House was the epicenter of the weekend so I had planned to drive around until I found something. Turns out, I could have parked my car anywhere around there and see the destruction.

Windows smashed in from riots along Vermont Ave NW

I noticed a lot of people cleaning up the shattered glass of business storefronts and graffiti on walls while other people were making sure it doesn’t happen again by putting up boards over windows.

The morning after a lot of rioting and looting.

(L) DC Fire & EMS putting out fires from the night before (R) Graffiti seen on the street.

But going in the morning was not enough. I didn’t want to just create images of the wrecking, I wanted to photograph the protest. I wanted to photograph the people, emotions, and voices of the protest. Later in the afternoon, I found myself driving back into the city. 

For the most part, it was peaceful. People chanting “George Floyd,” “I can’t breathe,” and “No Justice, No Peace“. Most seemed determined to have their voices heard, others were there supporting them.

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It’s been a while since I’ve photographed the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. Sometimes the fountains aren’t on in the mornings and in the evening, it can get really packed with visitors. And especially on hot days, people like to soak their feet in the water. So for a while, I just pretty much skipped the entire memorial and went straight for the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial.

But I’m glad I went back!

I was out with my friend, Birch just walking around and talking when she asked if we could stop by the memorial. There had been a shot that she’s been wanting to get but never was able to. Of course, I said yes, so while she was trying to get her shot, I sat down on the steps to capture this one. I loved how the fountains looked like they were right by the Lincoln Memorial but I loved the silhouettes the Lincoln Memorial was helping to create. So I just sat there waiting for the precise moment to capture somebody walking by without too many other people in the foreground. I like the way it came out because there are just so many different layers to look at. And especially if you’re familiar with this memorial, you know there’s at least a good 2,000 ft between the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/30th sec and ISO 4000 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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Guess what? Another drone shot. I’m obsessed with my drone. It is exciting to fly and to capture such different perspectives. Its almost like a whole other world that I’ve never seen before. I just wish there were more places around the Washington DC area where I could fly or else I would do it a lot more often.

This image was captured around 6 am at Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos. It seemed like Andrew and I were the only ones who were up at that time which was awesome because we had the whole beach to ourselves. Can you spot us in this image?

My favorite part about this image is obviously the color of the water but I also think the little details are so interesting too. Like the lines in the sand created by the beach chairs. I also love how the beach chairs look so little in this image. If you saw us at all on our trip, we spent most of the time in that exact location just sunbathing. It was amazing.

I don’t know if you can tell but I’ve definitely been having some beach withdrawals.

And yes, that is an overhead shot of the pier I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

My camera settings for this image is F2.2 at 1/290th sec and ISO 100 with my DJI Mavic Pro

 

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Out of all the days we were in Chicago, this was definietly the coldest. It’s crazy how cold that city can get and I wasn’t even there during winter and I was freezing my buns off. Honestly, I don’t know how Chicagoans do it.

It was Saturday morning and the first opportunity we had to capture sunrise. I decided that North Avenue Beach would be best for the early morning based on what I’ve read from travel forums and blogs. HOLY COW I did not account for how windy it was going to be. I remember looking at the weather before we left the hotel and thinking “Ok, low 40s. Not too bad” But it felt like low 20s. So thankful I had gloves and a beanie packed in my backpack just in case.

It was so windy that as soon as we got out of our Lyft, Andrew went straight to the lifeguard building to block himself from the wind. He waited until I was done taking pictures for him to finally emerge and check out the skyline right before we left for breakfast.

I’m sure it was a lot colder since we were by Lake Michigan but man, looking at this image definietly brings me back to the cold air. And let’s talk about these waves! Yes, it has been brought to my attention that I’m starting to get a bad reputation with my camera and large bodies of water… but this was a body of water that I did not want to mess with. I was so nervous taking this picture because I had no idea how big the waves were actually going to get and I was trying my very best not to get splashed. I think I would have had to cancel the rest of the trip had I gotten splashed.

My camera settings for this image is F5.6 at 1/800th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 16035mm wide angle lens.

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If you had asked me last year, I would have said no to anything that had to do with getting in the Pacific Ocean in the winter time. There’s something about really cold water that scares me and I didn’t even want to put my toes in it. Seriously.

But this past trip was different. Our cousin, Vincent actually signed up for surf lessons while we were in San Diego and asked Andrew and I if we wanted to join him. We both immediately said no. I don’t know what Andrew’s reasons were, but mine was definitely because of the cold. I mean, it was cold enough at night time in the regular, above water air I can’t imagine what the water was like swimming in it.

Well Vincent finished his lesson and I asked him about the temperatures. He said it wasn’t even cold at all and I didn’t believe him. He kept on going on about how fun it was and that he wanted to do it again. I must admit that I wanted to surf but it really was the cold water that was holding me back.

So it turned out that the next morning I was out photographing the sunrise at Windansea beach in La Jolla and I got splashed by a huggggeee wave. I wasn’t paying attention and I got soaked. I packed up all my gear and went immediately back to the car. But before I got back to our airbnb realized that Vincent was right. The water wasn’t that cold. LOL. So Andrew and I ended up taking a surf lesson and it was so fun. LOL. I would totally do it again but only if the water is warm.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/4000th sec at ISO 500 with my Sony A7II with my 70-200mm.

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We have been getting some crazy rain in the Washington DC area. The past week has been especially hard on Frankie who doesn’t like getting wet at all. He immediately wants to run back into the house at any signs of rain.

But with all this rain, I knew the Tidal Basin would not be doing so well. Even with a normal amount of rain it gets bad, but this has been exceptional. Earlier this week I decided to go check it out. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as this day but it was still crazy to see. As soon as I walked up to this bench, I had an idea for a selfie. I wanted to sit on top of the bench to try to create a sort of pyramid between me and the two monuments. But it didn’t quite work out like I had planned.

Like I said before, I’ll be shooting with my Canon for the next few days. It’s been so long that I’ve even held it that I kinda forgot how to use it. So I set the camera up on a tripod and was hoping to set it on a 10 second timer to execute my vision. I didn’t think to bring my remote and I could only find the 2 second timer. I even tried googling it real quick but found no answers to where I could find a 10 second timer. So two second timer it was.

Man 2 seconds is FAST! Here are more attempts. I think it’s pretty funny but still would have rather have found the 10 second timer. What’s even better is that I have at least 10 more of these “images” on my memory card. After a while I just had to give up. LOL

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After a while I thought if I put my camera to the side then I could be a little closer and make it, but that didn’t work either. LOL. Oh well.

My camera settings for these images are F5.0 at 1/4th of a second ISO 400 with my Canon 5D Mark II and 17-40mm wide angle lens.