Korean Photography Blog

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

I read once in a book called “Mastering Business in Korea: A Practical Guide” by Thomas L. Coyner and Song-Hyon Jang, that “the exchange of business cards in Korea is very important which is a formal affair and plays a very important role in introductions.” This is very true even for Photographers.

Why I say this is that, most of you have a flickr account or a website, YOU WANT PEOPLE TO GO THERE! but nothing looks more unprofessional that saying “yeah I got a site…. here, let me write it down for you on this napkin” Korea is a business card culture and it is almost as important as shaking hands. Nothing gives your work more credibility in this country than having a set of business cards made up.

I have met some important people here in Ulsan and I have made some interesting and sometimes embarrassing mistakes when I have run out of cards. The worst was when I was invited to a conference with the Vice-Mayor of Ulsan, the Dean of International Affairs and Education for Ulsan University, a large number of NGO’s with foreign businesses and some members of the migrant worker community. Once the meeting was finished, a line of business card exchanging began. By the time I reached the Vice-Mayor I was out of business cards. The look on his face was complete shock. Thankfully I bluffed my way out of it, stole back a card that was sitting on the table when no one was looking and got him one in the end. Suffice to say you need cards here.

Here are some tips:
1. Be Unique
I have had a millions different cards printed for the different things that I have done around Korea. However, when I printed cards for my website, I asked for something different. I made up some metallic, shiny cards with a simple design. They were plastic and matched the colours on my site. They were a little pricy, about 40,000 won for 200 cards but I knew it was worth it. Why? because they looked cool and people, upon receiving them, said the same thing “Wow… that is cool” In places like Canada, I went through a bunch just because most of the people had never seen that style of card before. This works great because then my name was circulating around. People tend to hold on to unique and interesting things.

2. Be Creative
You can make a plastic card look the same as all the paper ones or you can also make paper ones look really cool. I had a fellow photographer make up some cards with different pictures on the back (all his shots). It was cool because there were about 6 or 7 different photos. People really wanted to get each one. This is a great idea if you have photos that are bright and colourful. I had another photographer friend that took a self portrait with a fisheye lens and stuck that on the back. The photo was hilarious! and it made the card more memorable and hence, so was his site.

3. Don’t Be Cheap
Nothing reflects more poorly on you than a business card that looks like you hired my Mom to make it using a template from Microsoft publisher and a broken inkjet printer. Invest the capitol and it will reward you, especially here in Korea. Yes, my cards were a little on the pricy side (about 200 won each) but they have the cool factor. Explore your options and talk to people that are printing them out for you. Find the style and the cards right for you and disregard the price. Be it 5,000 won or 40,000 won, if you want to being people to your photos, this is a great way.

4. Logos
Now this is one that I am working on. Last year, A friend working for a huge firm in Vancouver would come into my cafe and talk about business. The one thing that he stressed on me was to create a logo and brand for whatever I was selling. Good idea! Creating a consistent logo for your site and your cards is a great way to make an image and a brand for yourself, especially in markets where English may not always be the first language.

5. Make Tons and Use Them
I have seen this happen too. A buddy makes up some cards, gets a few hundred made and then they sit in a box on his desk forever. I have stashes everywhere. I put them in my camera bag, my wallet, backpack, pocket, my motorcycle, wherever I think that I may need them. Never be without your cards because you never know who you may bump into. I once was at a photo gallery and started talking to this kind older man. It turns out that he had a gallery in Seoul and asked if I was a photographer. I said “yes” and he asked if I had a card. I had none on me at the time and quickly wrote my email address down on HIS card and gave it back to him. Suffice to say that I never heard back from him. Once you get them printed hand them out as much as you can.

If you are around Ulsan, I use Dam Design, near city hall. They are 3 sisters who have great design work and I have always been happy with their cards. Their number is 010-7469-2800.

The 2010 World Press calender has no dates in KOREA for what I would call “the most interesting photo event of the year” If you have never heard about this event check out www.worldpressphoto.org and have a look for yourself. I have been to this event twice in Korea and it has always been well worth the entry fee. I was hoping that it would pass by Seoul again but I guess not. The closest locations are Japan and Taiwan.