Korean Photography Blog

On this past Sunday, I had a lot of free time. So I decided to check out the Photography Festival. The cost was 10,000 won and that got you a ticket in and your choice of photo cards made from the photos at the event. There was a book containing all of the photos also on sale for 10,000 won as well.

The event was held in the very nice art gallery next to the main theatre at the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center. It is a great venue and one that I hopefully will get a chance to hang my stuff in at one point in time. The main floor was for the international photos. The were professionally done but yet lacked inspiration. Don’t get me wrong, they were beautiful photos and far better than I could have ever produced but they also had that coffee table book feel where you want to thumb through it but nothing really grabs you.

As the crowds of Ajeoshis pushed their way passed my I found a couple that caught my eye. They were from the Europe side of things and really had that fantasy “Hogwarts” kind of feel to them. Of course the shots of Africa and the pyramids were spectacular as well. Then there was the local photographers display that would have been actually difficult to find had I not been there last year and asked if there were any more photos on display.

Behind the main building and down the stairs contained 3 galleries of local photographers. At first I wasn’t amused as I received a cold glare from the Ajeoshi that was looking after the first gallery. As for the photos, they were good and to be expected of photos from Ulsan. The 12 scenic sights showed up quite a bit and a few similar shots to the ones that I got showing the Taehwa Park and walking bridge.

I was about ready to call it quits thanks to the grumpy Ajeoshi but when I peeked into the other gallery I was shocked to find daring photos, patterns and awesome composure! Mind you I was followed by a family with a screaming two-year old but I was nonetheless surprised. There were some great shots of the petro-chemical facility and a very cool shot of the underbelly of one of the bridges.

All in all it is worth the 10,000 won if you want to take in some great photos and get inspired by your local city. I would shoot for mid-day or when the families are not there so that you can really stand back and take in the talent of both the international and local photogs. I also like just hanging around the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center as it is a really nice complex and great to sit down and drink some coffee that you brought over from Seattle Coffee that is just across the street.

As you probably already know Gregory Curley sits pretty high on my books here in Korea. I usually read his blog as much as I can and I think that you should too. The other day he posted a little note from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) about an exclusive tour of Changdeokgung at night. THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD SIGN UP FOR.

Few sites in Korea will let you stay past dark. Bulguksa staff have often kicked me out and numerous other places. Here, you are getting a tour through the grounds and some special performances. Check out Gregory’s post here (it gives you all of the information)

Make a note that most of the tours occur on Thursdays and Fridays, so if you are from out of town, sign up like I did for the October 23rd tour which is on a Saturday.

Also, pick up this month’s 10 magazine and read Gregory’s article, very well done.

That is right! 4 days to go before the Photo Walk! Please make sure that you have all of your gear ready and prepped. Scott Kelby has a lot of great tips for “surviving” the photo walk. Please remember that it this week is any indication of what the weekend is going to be like, then sunscreen and water are a must!

If you haven’t already told your friends and family, please do! The more we have out to this event, the stronger our community will be. I am hoping that we can build a sort of “Photo Club” here in Ulsan with the people that come out to this event. If not, well it will be a great day anyway.

In other news, Pohang is having an international fireworks demonstration. Thanks to a friend of mine who “graciously” planned an event the same weekend, I found out about this event… not bitter… not… at… all… At any rate, if you are feeling adventurous and want to head out of the city, Pohang is a great place to go. Just know that I hope it rains… just in Pohang.

I have been a little busy this days so I must apologize for the lack of posts and information. With that compounded by the fact that I missed mentioning a few photo contests around Korea with some pretty large payouts, I am truly sorry.

Yesterday, concluded the entry period for the Korean Tourism Photo Contest. This sneaky little contest was buried deep in their site and I just managed to get a few shots in yesterday before the deadline. For future consideration please keep an eye on their website for future events.

I am not sure why they haven’t put the word out on this one. This year they also dropped the top prize down to 5 million won. In previous years, it was as high as 10 million won, which is a fine chunk of change to get from your hard work. However, I am not sure why it is so hard to find. The uploading and everything was written in superb English and everything went very smoothly and quickly.

After reading this month’s issue of Groove Magazine I came across a photo contest that ends well… tomorrow. The photo contest is for Cheongshim and the theme this year is “Family”. Again, the top prize is fairly substantial, 5 million won will be given out for the top prize and another 10 million won will be handed out for other prizes. Here is the event link for that Unfortunately, the site is in Korean and I haven’t had time to pick through it and see what the requirements are.

While reading I came across the blog of another awesome photographer in Korea. Welkinlight Photography is responsible for the great cover shot on this month’s Groove Magazine and for writing an excellent (and very informative) blog.

If you read blogs like Welkinlight, Flash Parker, and Hermit Hideaways you will see the dedication that they have to the craft and also realize that there is a great photographic community here in Korea. I hope some day to learn from them all to improve my own skills.

Speaking of learning, please pop by and check out The Seoul Photo Club on Flickr. Their group regularly has contests running with Groove Magazine and also has a lively community on Flickr. I like the fact that you get some honest appreciation and tips on your photos rather than the ubiquitous comments of “nice shots” or those flashy things that pop up every now and then.

Have a great week and get out and enjoy the rainy weather!!

Go here to get your gear for the photo walk. I just ordered mine and it should be here in a few weeks. I am in the process of setting up the official blog on the worldwide photo walk website and I will send a post once that is finished. The blog will be where you will sign up for the walk and get updates as well.

Until then the important date to remember is July 24th!

I am sure that most of you now are entering into some sort of martial art, now that you are in Korea. I am sure that you have more than once, wanted to show your buddies back home your sweet moves and your spiffy do-bok. However, when you get the shots, they all some how have a green tint to them and they just don’t look as cool as you thought they did.

Being a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Kuk Sool Won, I have spent a lot of time in the Do-jeong, training and photographing my Kuk Sool family. Until recently that is, when knee injuries prevented me from training. However, I still love martial arts and will return soon to proceed on to my next challenge; staying in Kuk Sool shape!

At any rate, how do we get good shots? Well, it is tricky because of the lighting. In most of the do-jeongs in Korea, they usually have florescent lighting that makes things look like crap (in the best of conditions) plus, the padding used on the floors is usually green too, and to top it off most adult classes are held at night, taking the natural light away and forcing you to deal with the green tinted nastiness.

There are some ways around it. I can only advise you because a little experiment will go a long way. Here are a few tips to help you get some better shots:

When in doubt, shoot in black and white. There I have said it. I have never really been happy with the shots that I get in the dojeong, so I tend to convert them to black and white. This gives a sort of classic contrast to the shots. It also takes that nasty green tint away. For Kuk Sool Won, we have awesome black doboks, that this makes a great contrast to the white walls of our dojeong.

Avoid goofy posed shots and go for the action. If you have fast glass, F2.8 is choice, you can freeze the action and get some great “poses” or get creative and slow down a bit getting some blur to show speed and power. The key to getting great shots is to make sure you get some faces in the shots. If you pick up any magazine on any sport, very rarely do you see a shot of the action without a face to convey the emotion and the passion for the sport. In the dojeong it is no different.

Details are always great to shoot too. get up close and shoot your dobok or your sword. Get low and get creative. Remember, the more creative you are the more interesting and appealing your shots will be to other people who may not share the same passion for the martial art like you do.

Another good tip is to get your master in the action. We all learn from some of the best people in the world, why not show your friends back home who you train with every night? Get some nice shots (not the goofy posed kind) and let your friends and family get a feeling for the class that you take.

Lastly, take in a few tournaments and snap away at some of the higher end guys. Not only will you get to see the best of the best but if may help you with your training as well. Ask your master when the next region or national tournament is.

At any rate, how you cover your martial art depends on you. What makes you come to class every day. What drives you to train hard when you could just sit at home and watch TV? Put that into the digital realm and you will have your friends back home drooling.

This past Saturday I visited Seoul with a group of very talented photographers to check out the Seoul International Photo & Imaging Industry Show. It was a virtual playground for those with an affinity for camera, gear, printers, bags, coffee, lights, etc. I must admit that I was impressed by the displays that each of the major photography companies put out. By and Far, Olympus for some reason seemed to be the most exciting. Mind you that was possibly because there was a brand new Nissan GTR parked in front of their display.

Canon had a ton of toys to play with, each hooked up to an impressively nice iMac that allowed you to shoot and instantly see the results. With all the pizzaz that the other booths had, Canon basically said “here, take a photo and see for yourself” It was extremely nice to be able to play around with thousands of dollars of camera goodness.

The strangest part of the whole show, had to have been the “models” or Doumi as I wrote about in a recent article for Ulsan Online. It was sort of mesmerizing and skanky at the same time in that sort of “what the F**k?” kind of way. Canon was a prime example. In one part of their huge display, they had a model sitting in front of fake European cafe setting. That was fine but where they had their high-end cameras was around a “classroom” replete with naughty school girls.

Not to be out done, each of the major brands had their own models standing there for you to test you equipment out on. It was rather interesting and a clever idea. Though there was that strange feeling of sickness watching hordes of men with thousands of dollars in camera equipment photographing girls in short skirts.

The plus side of the show was the deals to be had! Most of the shops had special pricing for the show. Though, there wasn’t much in the way of dealing on the pricing, there was some pretty good prices around. Griffin Stewart and I picked up some new straps for our Canons. I must highly recommend the Lowe Pro Voyager C camera strap.

If you have a rig like mine, where you have a heavy lens, plus a battery pack, then you no doubt have felt the cut of the seams and the rough edges of your camera strap digging in to your neck. I kid you not, after a lot day of shooting, that strap feels like it is going to decapitate you. The voyager C is like a gift from above! Soft, cushioned, breathable neoprene gives amazing relief on the old neck. Plus the memory card wallet on the strap is cool along with the quick release straps.

A few things that I didn’t pick up that I saw were very cool were the new line of Kata bags. They’ve changed up their logo (the one before looked like it was barfed up from the ’90′s) and updated their like of backpacks. Very cool and extremely functional. The bumblebee back pack looks really cool. Though the website says that it is coming soon, I totally saw it at the show.

One of the highlights of the trip, as sides from the great group of people, was the restaurant we went to for lunch. Taco Rico was quite possibly the most authentic mexican food that I have had in a long long time. They had great friendly service and great food. If you are even in Gangnam pop in and grab a bite, you be amazed. Zen Kimchi has a great video about it here

When all was said and done, I set off on my own in search of stunning photos of Seoul. After getting a little turned around and then losing the light, I decided it was better to grab yet another tasty mexican food place Tomatillo’s I was in the Jongak Station area and tore into a pretty damn tasty chicken burrito. For a good price you get a drink and a plate of chips (handmade) and salsa as a set menu. It was a great way to end an awesome day.

A things that made the trip great were some helpful apps made for Korea. Having an iPhone is a great tool in a city the size of Seoul. An app that was awesome when I got turned around near Jongak station was one called “Odiyar” which was great for searching out locations. This cool app uses a map when you have the camera facing down but switches on the camera and overlays the locational on the screen image of your phone. Thanks to Jon Purdy for telling me about this one.

The other app that I found useful every time I travel in Korea is iKorway This app has all of the information from busses to trains, along with extremely useful subway maps. You can adjust the route you take by minimum time or transfers and plot by just pressing the locations. It is great for navigating the complex network that is Seoul.

I hope that many of you got out and enjoyed the great weather this past weekend. I plan to get out and get some shots of the city one I slog through all of this work that I didn’t do this weekend.

There is a Korean word that I have been using for so long that I have forgotten the English word for it. Normally we would call the places that fix or repair stuff “repair shops”, right? Well here in Korea, they get the official title of “A/S Center” Anything that you want fixed after you buy it goes to the “A/S Center” which basically means “After Service Center” and typically they are really good.

As I said on previous post there is a Canon A/S center in Ulsan, as well as many other places though out the country. In my post about Nampo-dong in Busan, I forgot to mention about the plethora of A/S centers located in close proximity to each other. There is Canon, Nikon, and Olympus and each one can fix a variety of lenses as well.

Recently, my main workhorse a Tokina AT-X Pro 12-24 F4, started acting up on me. The aperture was sticking and wouldn’t function unless it was wide open. This led me back to Nampo-dong. I went to Ilkwang Camera where I bought the lens (years ago) and they sent me to the Nikon A/S center where they had a Tokina certified technician. 4 days later and a mere 88,000 won later, It was back to working condition. They had also cleaned everything! Also they included a year warranty on the lens. Awesome!

Sadly, after my next photo shoot it broke again, so I will be visiting Nampo-dong again to take care of this problem. Not to worry, with the amount of great coffee shops like “The Coffee Factory” I will gladly return, if not just to pick up some more awesome coffee.

As you may have noticed and I sure hope that you have, the Cherry Blossoms have burst open across Korea. This is a special time of year because it brings people out of the dust-storm prison of their apartments and into the fresh (sort of ) air. Also make a note that this time of year makes the temples even more awesome with colourful accents of the blossoms. It is worth the trip out to your local temple just to check out what’s popping up around them.

This time of year is also the start of what I like to call the “festival season” and what would spring in Korea be like with out its share of Cherry Blossom festivals. It think the biggest one around is the one in Jinhae. Although with the sinking of the Cheonan, some of this year’s festivities will be canceled. I have been there in the past and it is a huge event. This year, it is coupled with an international military band and honour guard festival. So you know, that this is going to be huge! With that being said, there are a few drawbacks.

Be aware that prices for hotels will increase quite a bit. So expect to pay anywhere from 80,000 won to 110,000 won for a night in a 40,000 won/a night love motel. Also parking and traffic are a headache here. Traffic police are there to assist but they can’t really do much when so many people descend on this little place.

This month’s 10 Magazine has a great article on Cherry Blossom Festivals in Korea. Check it out HERE So give it a read and check some of the sites out this weekend.

Some of the places around Ulsan that I have normally shot have usually been places like Bulguksa temple in Gyeongju and around the entrance of Tongdosa. I have encountered mixed shots and it is up to you to decide what you want to say with your photography.

A long time ago, one of my more cynical friends made a comment about one of my shots, which I will adapt for this topic he said “So what? it is a flower on a tree…” I think often, we get caught up in the beauty of the moment and fail to properly communicate the moment through the photographs that we take. A photo can only capture so many dimensions, but we see and feel many more. We have to work and think harder to find ways to fill in the gaps.

One of the ways is to focus on the details. Don’t take shots from the same height that you view the scene at, get in closer. Focus on the low-angles and try using some macro. Get under or at the same level the blossoms (might need a ladder or something) and get the shots that everyone dreams of but were too afraid to get.

White Balance and Metering This is a big one that most people forget about. If you are shooting in RAW, it is not so much of a big deal, but if you shoot in .JPG then make sure that you check your settings before you spend your weekend blasting away and then realize that all of your shots are dark and brown.

Just like snow, these blossoms have a way of tricking your camera into thinking that it is brighter than it is. So then when you shoot, the camera compensates and gives you a dull, dark or muted picture. How do you get around this? Use the Auto-exposure (AE) Lock. On Canons it will look like an asterisk (*) and this allows you to meter off something else and keep the same exposure settings for an entirely different scene. You might try metering off of a classic grey card or even the sky to what works best for the scene.

Keep a close eye on what your white balance is set at too. I normally keep mine on auto, but play around with the settings. You may want to cool things off a bit if you really want those whites to pop out.

That is about it. I am just getting over a nasty cold, so I am not sure how many shots I will get of the blossoms before they disappear but I will be trying to get some this weekend, if my health permits.

[Spoken in a Ring Announcer Voice]
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! Welcome to the Cheongdo Bullfighting Stadium the the event of the season! On my left weight in at a horrendous 2 tons, Red Bull! and on my right weighing in at a staggering 2.5 tons Blue Bull!!! LET’S GET IT ON!!!!!

Okay well it is not quite like that but I am sure that is what the halmonies [little old Korean ladies] probably get from it. Essentially, the sleepy town of Cheongdo gets hit with thousands of people each year for the bull fights. They essentially are bull pushing fights where the bulls push each other back and forth until one gives up or runs away. No bulls are seriously harmed or killed during this event.

This is a great slice of the dying country life here in Korea and it should be something that you should take in at least once while you are here in Korea. Why I say that it is dying is because 70% of the Korean people that attend this event probably survived the Korean war. Most young people are to stylish and hip to attend country events like this. However, this event attracts thousands of people and the roads are backed up half way to Ulsan during this 4-day event.

I have gone here a few times and enjoyed myself. In 2007 they even had sort of a mini-circus going on next to the show. Like most festivals Cheongdo has a lot of great food and places to eat right on the stadium grounds. Be aware of the pushy salesmen trying to get you into their shops. It can be sort of annoying because a lot of time these food tents don’t have the greatest service. So, after getting begged to go to their tent you could wait for a while to get grumpy service.

All in all, it is a good time and a real great way to see the other side of Korean life. This festival sates back a long time and is quite interesting as well. Here is the main website for more details