Korean Photography Blog

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!!

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!!!

A quick post here about a cool case for your iPhone. In a weird “Great minds think a like” moment, I picked up a cool case for my iPhone at the same time Griffin Stewart (great photographer and designer) posted about it on facebook.

The company is called SwitchEasy and their line of cases for the iPhone are great. If you are wondering what this has to do with “Korean Photography” then you need to pull your head away from your DSLR and see what the locals are shooting with, their cell phones. Also in the words of Chase Jarvis, the best phone is the one that’s with you.

The thing that prompted this post was the fact that this case is awesome! You get a two-part case that has a sweet “exo-skeleton” that locks everything in place along with a cover for the port on the bottom. The port cover is sweet because that is the one place that will fill up with lint and dirt. Think of your belly button…

The other thing is that it comes with two extra screen guards and a dock adapter. The dock adapter is important because nothing is more annoying than having to take the case off every time you want to dock your iPhone. Over all for the price that I paid, it is a sweet deal, but it doesn’t end there.

Now, I didn’t order this from the site above, I ordered it through Gmarket. This is the sweet part of the deal. This is Korea and man do I love this place! I ordered the case on my lunch break and by the time that I got home, it was already shipped. It arrived at my school the next day at lunch. It also came with a bonus accessory which was a pen for use with the iPhone when you are wearing gloves. Suffice to say now I am addicted to Gmarket and I will be posting some more on how to order and where to find some good deals in the future.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.