Back in Korea

[thereyougo!]

Korea is a country I spend a lot of time in, and as being a place with fantastic food, it is a beautiful and fascinating country. I was involved with an event in the coastal city of Incheon at the weekend and one area, Song-do has had a huge amount of work including a skyscraper and many interesting apartment buildings. They are all built around a man made inlet with filtered sea water having been pumped in.


Pentax 645D FA 35 at 1/50 f/11 ISO 100



Incheon-apartments by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Same camera and lens:


f/8 1/60 ISO 100



Incheon-building by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/8 1/60 ISO 200



Central-Park-Apartments,-Incheon by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/8 1/60 ISO 200



Early-evening-light-in-Inncheon by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/16 1/60 ISO 200



Here's-Incheon-Canal-at-just-before-sunset by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/8 1/100 ISO 200



Evening-at-Incheon by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Traveled down by KTX bullet train to Ulsan or Hyundai town as it's popularly known. Had a tour around the shipyard, unfortunately photographs not allowed there, although many interesting subjects, not least the newly completed tankers that are nearly a quarter of a mile long. the engines are massive and 9 million bhp! Incredibly the shipyard builds 120 ships like this a year!


Afterwards went down to the shore and took a stroll. The lighthouse is influenced by dolphins which make a regular appearance here:


Pentax 645D FA 35 f/11 1/50 ISO 250 converted in Silver efex pro2



Ulsan-Lighthouse by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[Jaemie]

Nice photos!

What is "filtered seawater" and why filter it?

 

[Xpertss]

Excellent photos!

 

[Denon]

Great photos! Seems like a interesting place to visit(and great photo opportunities as well)

 

[dalex100]

I really like the : "Here's-Incheon-Canal-at-just-before-sunset". I love the fact that the sun is between the two buildings. Wonderful!

 

[thereyougo!]

Took a stroll around the centre of Seoul, including visiting a fascinating Henri Cartier Besson exhibition at Seoul's Sejong Centre. After we left we took astroll along the very long traffic island which has a statue of the Emporor Sejong who was responsible for giving the Korean people their language and freedom from the Japanese influence at the time.


The Sejong statue:


Canon 5D mk III EF 24 - 70 at f/8 and 43mm 1/125 ISO 125



Sejong by singingsnapper, on Flickr


We took a stroll in an area where a river has been restored by removing the road. On a warm day it was very popular with people relaxing. It might have little aesthetic value but took this shot with a view to converting to Black and white. While I endeavour to get things right, decided to experiment with triangular shapes in a high contrast area:


f/5.6 24mm 1/40 ISO 800



Seoul-bridge-abstract by singingsnapper, on Flickr


A different bridge (both converted in Silver efex)


f/11 25mm 1/30 ISO 100



Seoul-city-river-bridge by singingsnapper, on Flickr


On our way back to our hotel, the sky gave some colour as sunset approached:


f/11 58mm 1/250 ISO 400



sunset-over-Seoul by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Another shot of the modern 'old' bridge:


Canon 5D mk III EF 24 - 70L at 34mm and f/11 1/125 ISO 100



Seoul-modern-old-bridge by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Some night shots from the Gangnam area of Seoul. Was hoping to make use of the wet weather to capture reflections in the road, but as things turned out after a wet day with another typhoon due to blow through tomorrow, it stopped raining and on a warm evening the road dried up with 30 minutes.


I have done a shot here before with the Canon and a macro lens. This time I have used both my cameras with wider lenses.


Pentax 645D FA 45 - 85 at f/16 at 60mm



Gangnam-traffic-trails-in-Seoul2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr





Gangnam-traffic-trails-in-Seoul by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Pentax 645D FA 45 - 85 at 45mm f/16



Gangnam night shot by singingsnapper, on Flickr


There is a large exhibition centre and one of the largest shopping malls in Asia called Coex and this is on the corner


Pentax 645D FA 35 f/11



coex-sign by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Spent some time in Young-Wo in the Eastern part of the Republc of Korea (South) and took a trip to the top of a mountain at night to see the view of the stars from the observatory. No chance of star trails as the full moon is fully out, so decided to use the light of the moon to make the best of the magnificent scenery in front of me.


This one is when the observatory roof was opened for us to see the sky and after a short talk we were allowed to take photos. I brought my tripod with me and balanced it a little precariously on the edge of a metal wall.


Canon 5D Mk III Carl Zeiss 35mm f/5 30 secs ISO 320



A-View-from-the-top-of-Dang-Gang-observatory by singingsnapper, on Flickr




A Panoramic from a balcony at the entrance to the observatory


Pentax 645D FA35 f/5.6 91 secs (4 shots) ISO 160



Moonlit Panorama from Dong Gang Observatory by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Some from Pohang on the Eastern Coast of South Korea. had a tour around the country's largest steel works where the mill makes sheets of steel 2km long. Unfortunately no photographs allowed there.


This is just along the coast -


Nikon D800 Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/8 38mm 1/80 ISO 200



Pohan-coast-lighthouse by singingsnapper, on Flickr


A casual portrait taken from a little distance:


Nikkor AFS 300 f/4 at f/5.6 1/320 ISO 1600



korean-girl-on-seashore by singingsnapper, on Flickr


and a colleague of mine taking her self portrait on her iPhone - the hand represents outreach and was built for the new millennium


Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/6.3 and 31mm 1/80 ISO 400



It's-behind-you-Jeein! by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[PlanetStarbucks]

I must have missed part of this thread last month. I was scrolling through it thinking, nice, ok, ok, nice, and then I got to the shot from the obsevatory. BOOM...That's an epic shot from above the mountains. Just wanted to say, "nice shot, bro" albeit late I suppose.

 

[jaguaraz]

The first set and the shot from up in the mountains are spectacular! I love the lines of the non-straight buildings; almost made me dizzy...

 

[thereyougo!]

Thanks guys:

Out and about around Pohang in South Korea and took the 300mm f/4 for a good workout. A lot of shots got deleted for missing focus as I was panning, and one lesson learned is to push the ISO up a little more- Jetski's are hard to capture below 1/500th.


A lot of fhishing boats were out and some were heading in


(All with Nikon D800 and Nikkor AF-S 300 f/4)


f/8 1/640 ISO 200



Fishing-Boat-bringing-its-catch-in_ by singingsnapper, on Flickr


converted in silver efex 2:



Fishing-Boat-bringing-its-catch-in-bw by singingsnapper, on Flickr


A couple of boats dragging their nets in


f/11 1/640 ISO 400



Pohang-fishing-boats-pulling-nets-in by singingsnapper, on Flickr


A young couple walking along the beach


f/11 1/400 ISO 400



Korean-couple-at-Pohang by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Some jetskis and their riders


f/8 1/640 ISO 200



Jetski-at-Pohang by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/8 1/1000 ISO 200



Jetski-at-Pohang-1 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


f/8 1/800 ISO 200



Jetski-at-Pohang-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Today in fine weather we went to Seokguram Grotto and the nearby temples in the mountains above the town of Gwanju in South Korea.


The view over the valley:


Nikon D800 Nikkor 14 - 24 at f/8 and 14mm 1/125 ISO 100



looking-across-gwangju-valley by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Looking from next to the grotto itself (we weren't allowed to take photos of the buddha - some temples allow it but these specifically ask you to refrain.)


nikkor 24 - 70 at f/8 and 38 mm 1/200 ISO 100



looking-from-the-top-of-the-temple-over-gwangju by singingsnapper, on Flickr


The large bell at the lower temple - the higher one you could pay 1000 Korean Won (about $1) to strike the bell with the hammer - this meant there were too many people around it to photograph it.


Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/8 and 29mm 1/60 ISO 200



The-bell by singingsnapper, on Flickr


The bridge over the small lake


Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/8 56mm, 1/125 ISO 200



bridge by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Toured the Hyundai motor factory today in Ulsan - the largest single factory in the world - The single building we were in viewing the assembly of Hyundai i30's for Europe and the Elantra for North America produces 80 cars an hour for 20 hours a day. The plant is 80% manual 20% robot operated. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photographs. We drove 4 hours along the east coast of Korea and stopped at a service area with what would be frankly disgusting toilets in the west, but what is fairly normal in the far east. There were steps down to a rocky beach and we were there close t sunset time. The weather has been glorious and there was some nice light. Here are a few shots all handheld with the D800 and Nikkor 24 - 70:


1. 24mm f/8 1/50 ISO 400



Gwangeung-coast by singingsnapper, on Flickr


2. Same settings



Gwangeung-coast-1 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


3. 24mm f/11 1/40 ISO 640



Gwangeung-coast-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


4. 24mm f/13 1/40 ISO 640



Gwangeung-coast-3 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


5. 24mm f/8 1/50 ISO 640



Gwangeung-coast-4 by singingsnapper, on Flickr