Korean Photography Blog

I just saw this poster at my school strangely enough and I thought that I would drop a quick post.

The Ulsan International Photography Festival will be taking place this weekend until the 7th of September. I visited this event last year and it was a real treat. The photos were exquisite and well worth the entry fee.

The festival started yesterday and is running until September 7th. Doors open at 10 am and close at 8 pm. I can’t find any information about the fee but it should around 10,000 won or somewhere in that ballpark. They have a site here but it is all in Korean and the nifty chrome translate doesn’t seem to work on it.

For some, the city of Ulsan lacks a bit of culture but this event surely adds something to the city. I really hope that most of you get out and check out the photos.

Make a note that the Ulsan Culture and Arts center is always running something cool and you can find out more here

First of all, let me thank all of those who came out for last weekend’s photo walk in Ulsan Grand Park. In total we about 10 or so people come out and I was very happy with the turn out. The feeling that I got from a lot of people was that they wanted to take time to really just focus on learning how to use their new camera.

The group stayed sort of close together as we walked through Ulsan Grand Park and then beat the heat as we relaxed at The Reason. We were so lucky for once we got to The Reason, the skies opened up and it poured! Thankfully only one of the walkers got wet but I think he needed a shower anyway.

For the walkers, please up load your pictures for the international competition on Ulsan’s page and the Flickr group that I just created. and if you want to enter the international competition, head back to the Ulsan page at the photo walk site and upload your photos there.

Thanks again for everyone coming out. I hope to have the event running again next year and hopefully it will be a success like this year.

The big day is here! July 24th has finally arrived and it looks to be a rainy day. Don’t worry! this means that you can get some moody rainy day shots, black and white shots and some interesting slash effects.

Remember, we will be meeting at the East gate of Ulsan Grand Park at 4 pm, rain or shine. IF it gets too wet, we’ll head right over to the reason for some good food and coffee.

See ya all tomorrow!!

As I said before, pre-registration is up and running! Sign up here The cool part is that so far we are the only photo walk in KOREA. That makes me happy that I can put Ulsan on the map for something besides whaling and petrochemicals.

So far, we are waiting to hear back from a number of people. Please remember that pre-registration is a must, but also that it is free. So you don’t really have to commit to too much, just sign up and check your schedule. It is that easy.

I have been talking to the guy down at PIX-DIX to see if he can dig up any more free stuff for the event. If he does that will be sweet! Imagine a great day in the park, a chance to win some stuff that you only drool over in magazines (thanks to the international sponsors), free stuff from the local shops, great food and coffee, ALL FOR FREE!!!

Click here to register for the Photo Walk. It is free and easy to do!
1)GO to the Ulsan page, above the map there will be a big green button on the right side that says “Join This Walk”
2) CLICK IT
3) Fill out the short form
4) Show up on July 24th

That is it! See how simple that was?

Other good news is that I got my photowalk t-shirt today. Now, the cool part about these shirts is that 100% of the profits goes to the Springs of Hope Orphanage in Kenya. I got mine right away after hearing one! Here is the link Orders should take about 2 weeks to get to Korea and will cost little (like $26 or something…) but again 100 % of the profits goes the the Springs of Hope Orphanage in Kenya!

I can’t say enough about this event and the people running it. Not only is Scott Kelby and his team of awesome people working hard trying to make sure that all of the walks go well around the world but they are also getting some darn good prizes as well! Think about how many of Scott’s new lightroom 3 book are going to be sent around the world… FOR FREE! I have to give a huge thank you to all of them for that.
I hope to see you all out there on July 24th at 4 pm.

Here is the link again for the pre-registration (it is a must)

I just renewed my membership to the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and started a year long membership with Kelby Training. Now these were a little pricey and I understand that it is a huge chunk of change (a little over $200 for both together) to hand over to Mr. Kelby, but trust me when I say that it is worth it, especially for struggling photographers in Korea.

Why I say that it is worth it is because of the sheer amount of information that you receive from “qualified” instructors. Sorry, I can’t say the word “qualified” anymore without thinking about the idiotic debate over English teachers here in Korea. Anyway, like most, these guys really really know their stuff. This is an asset when living in Korea and help with photography, web design, and photoshop techniques are hard to come by in English.

These sites are helping me right now, as I redesign my own site. The videos and full screen shots allow you to see exactly what to do. I can’t even put it into words how much the team from Kelby Training have helped me this weekend. Kelby Training is a virtual library of the most relevant material for today’s photographer.

Photoshop User Magazine comes with your membership to NAPP and is a great read. Each issue comes packed to the teeth with tips and tricks to help you get the most out of photoshop. Now, I am not getting any kick-backs from Scott Kelby on this, I am just stating the obvious, these sites are worth the investment.

Even if you think you know your way around a camera and photoshop, pick up a month membership and watch a few tutorials. I know you will be shocked at how much you didn’t know and how helpful the tutorials were. Like my Dad always said when I got too cocky for my own good, “Son, there is always someone better than you out there and if your are not careful, they’ll take ya to school” Well the team from Kelby training certainly did and I am grateful for it. Please take a look at the sites linked in the first paragraph.

Some of you may work at a public school and now is the best time to bring your camera to class. It is this time of year that schools around the country are having their Sports Day. This is a great way to see the kids in action and really get to know them. For my school, we have several activities that the students compete in. Unlike the west where they usually compete against each other, here they compete as a class against the other classes to win prizes.

This is huge and it gives you an idea about how Koreans socialize. Each team or class has a costume which is call a “Ban -tee” which is sort of konglish in a way. “Ban” refers to the Korean word for class and “T” is short for t-shirt. Just like in the office or elsewhere the emphasis is on the team and not the individual. That being said, all of the activities are team oriented.

I really like this day and I know that the kids do too. They get a chance to express themselves and have a good time. This year at my school the new principle lifted the “Snack Ban” and allowed the parents to stop by and give the classes some snacks, burgers, bread, or whatever. They all were content at the end of the day.

For the teachers, if you get a chance to photograph and participate in this day, do so. It really shows that you are a part of the school and not just a passing flavour. Above is a shorter version of the video I made for my school using animoto. It went over really well and I know the kids liked laughing at their faces in costume.

As we did last year, Ulsan will join Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk. This is a great event that will talk place July 24th, which is a Saturday. I lead the walk last year and had a decent turn out. This year I will lead it again and hopefully get a better turn out as there are many more photographers in Ulsan.

If your are looking at starting up your own photowalk in your area, please visit their site here Before starting up your own, especially if you are in Seoul, check to make sure their are no others in the area. If so you might want to choose a different location for your walk. It takes about 4 -5 business days to be accepted. By that, I mean they are looking for leaders for the walk, not just people who want a free book (yes, you get a free book for being a leader). Basically, that means they are looking for people who have instructed photography or are educators, people who have lead walks before, or a really good reason or qualifications. It isn’t as hard as it sounds but they really want people that can pull off the event and that takes a certain kind of person.

Last year, we all had a great time. Thanks to the fact that this is more of a photo gathering and not a “competition” it was a very relaxing time. This year, with the talent that I have seen around town, I am hoping that we have a few entries for the main contest. The prizes last year were fantastic and I hope to give my photowalk participants the chance to win some great prizes. The best part is that there is no pressure to do anything. Just show up, shoot and have fun.

I must say that this is a huge event for Scott Kelby, his staff and publishers. I have always been a huge fan of Scott because of his down to Earth attitude and common way of speaking. Too often, people catch a bit of success or desperately want it, and become jerks. I have even seen this sort of attitude in expat photographers around Korea. Scott is helping people out and getting people to show their true abilities and a friendly manner. I respect that, plus his work is amazing!

Check out his training site for tips on how to improve your photography and grasp of photoshop. Also his Photoshop Insider blog is a great source of information and good reading.

At any rate, I hope to see you all out on July 24th! I will keep you updated on how things progress.

After my internet went down for the weekend, a lot of these posts will become late or useless until next year. At any rate, Just before Buddha’s Birthday, I drove out to Yunggungsa after reading Gregory Curley’s article that I posted earlier in this series. I visited this temple earlier in my career and got some pretty hideous shot of the temple and I never returned, until now.

I got there with the perfect light for evening shots and was quite excited. The temple lies on the rocky shores and looks like something out of a martial arts movie. With the lanterns decorating the paths and buildings, it was a beautiful sight. I waiting for the moment when the lanterns turn on and I could bask in the the beauty of the light… I waited. More photographers came and we waited. More people came and we waited for nothing. Sadly, they did not turn on the lights that evening, but I did manage to get a few shots off before I left for burgers in Haeundae.

The temple is close to Haundae and is quite easy to get to. If you are heading from Haeudae, follow HWY 31 through the tunnel and follow it until you hit the next major intersection. This will be the one that has a huge pole with a massive amount of light coming from it. You can’t miss that thing, just take a right at it and follow the signs to the temple.

If you are heading from Ulsan, take HWY 31 to Gijang and follow the signs to the temple. You will have to take a left at the second major intersection to come to but it is pretty straight forward and the signs are pretty clear. The main thing is to not turn at the fisheries museum, just squeak past it as it is the major left turn.

In 2008 I was working for one of Vancouver’s best cafes, Cafe Artigiano. I had the pleasure of being trained by one of the world’s best Baristas. Sammy Piccolo was my trainer and mentor. This guy was amazing when it came to coffee and hilarious to be around.

Throughout my time at Cafe Artigiano, I had the opportunity to photograph Sammy in action, especially at the Western Regional Championships that where held in Vancouver the year that I was there. Sammy, of course, won. The photos came out great and I was happy to get front row seats to Sammy’s performance.

Now Sammy, has started up his own website and featuring some shots that I took. I am happy to see them there. Please check out Sammy’s website if you are interested in all things coffee.
Here is the link