Korean Photography Blog

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.

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.

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

One of the newest and quite possibly the most attractive new foreigner run publications is 10 Magazine. This excellent Magazine features some stunning photography and excellent insight on how to live it up in Korea!

One of the first things that I noticed when I first picked up this magazine was the quality of the publishing and awesome layout. This is a pro job and it is something that I only wished we could have pulled off when I was doing the “Ulsan Pear” This magazine looks as well as it reads.

What I like about this mag is the great photography and I hope many of you get a chance to grace its covers because I know that this publication is going to be a hit! The other great thing is the attempt at making this publication “non-Seoul-centric” To me the biggest down of most publications that are for “Foreigners” is the Seoul-centric-ness of the information. However, the hardest part of attempting to expand the borders is finding out useful stuff across this nation. They do a really good job of informing its readers of all noteworthy events in Korea.

Why would this be important for us? Well, where else are you going to get interesting shots like that one from the Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival? The Calender is a highly organized listing of events across the country and organized by regions. Just flipping through the pages, I have already started planning my next few photo shoots.

At any rate, next time you can, pick up a copy. They are distributed across the country through Kyobo Bookstores and are cheap! about 3,500 won. Also many restaurants and cafes like Tom N Toms have them for you to read in their stores.

Their website is always interesting and has tons of information for you to check out. The address is http://10magazine.asia/

Now I have no affiliation with 10 Magazine, just a subscription. Why I am writing about them today? Well, I got the magazine the other day and was very impressed. If you pick up this month’s issue, check out what the Managing Editor Stephen Revere has to say on page 4.

I was impressed that this slick mag has a great mind when it comes to helping foreigners. With the more success that they get, the more they will give back to the foreign community and charities that we are involved with. I feel happy that I sent in my $26 a few weeks ago and now can get this every month. Guys and Gals, seriously get out and pick this magazine up and I assure you that you won’t be able to put it down.

When you first come to Korea, the food is among the first things that pops out to most. While we have been accustomed to many different kinds of Asian cuisine, Korean is among the least known to many foreigners that arrive here. Sure, in places like Vancouver and LA there is a Korean BBQ shop just around the corner, but that is only the tip of the iceberg and most of what you’ll eat here would make Indiana Jones squirm a little bit before finding out that it is really good.

So how do you get good shots of food to show off to your friends and family? Well a lot has to do with preparation, temperature, and depth of field. Simply snapping away as people demolish the food in front of them is not the most appetizing way to show off the delicious food that you are about to eat. So here are a few do’s and don’t about food photography.

The main thing is that you want the main focus of the shot to be about the food, not the table, not the people behind you, but the food itself. So that meaning fill the frame with the food. Get in nice and tight and really get up close and personal but still leave a bit of room so people can actually see what it is.

Depth of Field is key to drawing the interest into the frame. I normally shoot most of my shots wide-open at f/1.4 on a 50mm prime lens. This provides an interesting effect, sometimes a bit too much but you want to have it somewhere around there, to add that little bit of artistic bokeh.

Try not to shoot from eye level. This makes for a less interesting shot of the food. Get down in there and shoot it from table level. This will add further dimensions to your shot. Shooting it from a similar distance from what you would normally eat it from, gives the brain nothing new to look at. This is the same as photographing children, when you get down to their level, the shots are more interesting.

Be aware of the lighting and the temperature of the colours. Sometimes the lighting used in restaurants is not the most flattering on the food you shoot. I normally shoot in RAW format so that I can adjust these factors using camera raw in photoshop. Another handy tip is to sit next a window during morning or late afternoon. The light from the window should offset the yellowish hue from the lights.

Table-top tripods work well for shooting on-the-go meaning that if you just sat down, had your camera with you and the food that you ordered looks amazing, these little, but sturdy tripods work great. However, if you get the chance, talk to the manager before hauling out the gear. They may not appreciate such detailed work, or they may give you a treat to take a photo of. Communication is always better than speculation.

This last one maybe a no-brainer but I still see it a lot. Don’t touch or eat the food before you get a few good shots. You want the photos to make the person viewing them to feel like they, themselves, ordered the food. If you started to demolish the food, then snap a few shots, it looks like someone’s leftovers and not the most appetizing of shots.

Another thing that is often forgotten is to remove any distractions from around the table. That means get your mitts, hats, receipts, used napkins, etc out of the shot. Again, focus on the food, not what is around it. Unless the surroundings add something to the appetizing look of the food.

Here is one of the worst shots that I took of food. I had just got my 300D and like most was pretty happy to get some shots of us eating some Whale meat. The shot is as bad as the food itself.

Here are a few better examples of what I am talking about.

Notice how your eye is drawn into the guts of the Burger? If you want to show off the food, you want to put the focus on the food.

Another great example of how to shoot food can be found on Ulsan Online There are a ton of great articles (I know that most of the coffee ones are written by me) but check out Jason Wilson’s recent article and take note of how he shot the chocolate. Amazing photos there. Flash Parker also did a really excellent tutorial on taking shots of food and I think even better than mine. Take a look here

At any rate, enjoy playing with your food and have a great week!

For those of you who missed it, the Fire Festivals around were lit up last night to bring in the good luck for the year to come. Ulsan’s festival was the biggest that I have ever seen it! Since 2003, this particular festival has been little more than a gathering of people and a bonfire. This year, I guess with the new landscaped area, was an actual “event”

This is one of the few festivals that brings Korea back to its roots. Visitors to the festival, held along side the Taehwa River in Ulsan, got to see performances, Korean folk singing and a lot of fire. I was actually surprised at how many people showed up. The event seemed like it went off without a hitch. The vast improvement in Ulsan is amazing to see. Events like these are what make me glad I live here in Korea.

As for myself, I was happy to have got the chance to meet up with the very talented photographer J. Griffin Stewart. I have checked out his site and it is amazing! He has some great work and I hope to be collaborating with him on more events and photographic things in the future. You can check out his site HERE or in the sidebar over there======>

Griffin also gave me the address of the much hidden “Canon A/S Center” which does that wonderful job of cleaning dirty sensors. Something that I have been needing to do for a long time now and have been just too lazy to do. How do you know if you have a dirty sensor? The easiest way is set your lens to F/22 and take a few shots on a white background. IF you live here in Korea just take a few shots of your apartment’s walls. IF you sensor is dirty, you will see black marks consistently across all the shots. For 10,000 won, the Canon A/S center will clean you camera and your sensor. Thanks Griffin for the information!

One of the most interesting things to shoot is the yearly festival that surrounds “Ji-Bul-Nori” or basically “fire play” This festival occurs on the first full moon of the lunar new year. This year, it will beheld on February 28th, 2010. As you can tell from the title, what makes this festival special is FIRE! in all of its glory.

The tradition is a remanent of more pagan rituals still found in Korea today. It is a harvest festival where fires are lit to scare away spirits that could damage the harvest or bring bad luck for the following year. These interpretations mind you come from various sources which are my Korean friends and co-workers. They are not without their conflicts, but this description is the closest I could come to accuracy.

That being said, it is a hell of a time. I love it! The main activity is the fire play. People fill buckets with embers and fire, then swing it around their bodies. This can be dangerous if you have ever witnessed the destructive power of Korean children, give them some fire and you have enough destructive force to decimate an entire country. I am not sure of the amount of people that are burned each year but it is really fun. The fire trucks are always around to make sure nothing gets out of hand.

How to Shoot:
Get there early – Usually a huge bonfire is lit early in the evening, sometimes even before it is dark out. In ulsan this usually takes place next to the Taehwa River, close to the Taehwa Rotary.

Bring a tripod – Once the light drops, you cannot handhold anything! Set up you tripod where people are playing and try to get some longer exposures of the fire. I love playing around with the exposures to see what shape I can get the fire in. Because people are swinging the fire around repeatedly, you can get some uniform shapes.

Be creative – try popping a soft diffused flash to bring out the faces or stop the motion. Try looking at the fire as a subject, rather than the people. Try zooming out (or in) during a long exposure of the fire.

Document – As this is something new to most, try covering it like a national geographic photographer or something. Get the whole story, show the faces, and show the event.