Back in Korea

[thereyougo!]

I am staying in a slightly strange, but luxurious place. It is at the easternmost point of South Korea, and the hotel is kind of a cruise ship but built on a small hill above the sea.


Nikon D800 Nikkor 14 - 24 at 14mm f/8 10 seconds ISO 100



boat-hotel by singingsnapper, on Flickr


I woke at 0545 this morning to catch the light before sun rise and the sunrise itself for all of these I used photomatix to merge several exposures.


Nikon D800 Nikkor 24 - 70 36mm and f/16 ISO 50 15 mins before the sun rose



Before-sunrises-at-the-Easternmost-point-of-Korea by singingsnapper, on Flickr


As the sun rose: (a bit of flare was unavoidable as I was shooting directly at the sun)


same FL and settings:



wider-here-comes-the-sun by singingsnapper, on Flickr


and at 60mm and f/11



Here-comes-the-sun by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[jfrabat]

There are some REALLY nice images here... Some of the shots of the buildings look like architechtonic renders!

 

[thereyougo!]

More from Korea. Today I went to a farm in the North East of South korea, and we were driven to the top of the range at 1500m. We met quite a few different characters on the way:


This is Jeff - an English sheepdog brought out to Korea to move sheep. Korea isn't big on sheep - it produces great Beef, although not as famous as the US or Japan, it is very succulent and well tended.


Nikon D800 Nikkor AFS 80 - 200 at 200mm f/6.3 1/1000 ISO 500



Jeff-the-english-sheepdog-in-Korea by singingsnapper, on Flickr


and here he is in action:


same camera and lens: 200mm f/8 1/1250 ISO 500



sheepdog-trial by singingsnapper, on Flickr


This is Mr Ha, the best shepherd in Korea and the only shearer in the country. He spends time in the UK and NZ keeping his skills up to date. It sounded slightly strange hearing "come- by" in a korean accent!


same set up: 200mm f/6.3 1/800 ISO 500



Mr-Ha-the-shepherd by singingsnapper, on Flickr


At the end day this little guy was running around the yard and not sitting still for very long. Unfortunately I went for a wander with just the camera with the 24 - 70 attached. My other lenses were packed in the car, so I've had to crop this down a fair bit I had sprayed and prayed a little and he stood and looked at me for 4 seconds about a foot or two away. Unfortunately as sod's law would have it, I was waiting for the buffer to empty and missed the shot:


nikkor 24 - 70 @ 70mm f/6.3 1/160 ISO 800



Do-you-think-it's-Alvin- by singingsnapper, on Flickr


At the very end of the day we went to an excellent beef restaurant where you buy your meat first in a supermarket that is part of the restaurant and then they put the charcoal BBQ in and you cook it. Delicious. The best restaurants in Korea often don't look much to look at, but the food is fresh and tasty:


I only had my iphone with me so processed the shot in CS5


The settings chosen by the iPhone 4s were: 1/30 35mm equiv 35mm f/2.4 ISO 50



Korean-beef-restaurant by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

A couple more from yesterday and a few from today in various parts of North Eastern South Korea.


this is from the highest peak within Samyang Ranch at 1300m. Converted in silver efex pro2. I suspect I've overcooked the sky a little as originally it was fairly innocuous.


Nikon D800 Nikkor 14 - 24 at 14mm f/11 1/200 ISO 100



view-from-Samyang-hill-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


There are a fair few windfarms up there and I thought I would make the most of the wide end of my 14 - 24 to get some interesting perspectives:


Nikkor 14 - 24 at 14mm f/11 1/320 ISO 100



Electric-windmill-Samyang-ranch by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Nikkor 14 - 24 at 20mm f/11 1/160 ISO 100



ultrawide-windfarm-from-side-in-colour by singingsnapper, on Flickr


The Autumn colours are in full swing here, with deep golds and even reds. This is at the base of the ranch


Nikon D800 Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/8 1/160 ISO 100



autumn-leaves by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Today we went further North, (our hotel is within 35 miles of the North Korean border) and took a cable car part way up seoraksan mountain. At about 1600mm there were a few fingers of rock around. The climbing isn't the hardest, even so there are people speaking words of encouragement from a megaphone on the summit to get people to climb to the top. Before I did, I found an interesting angle between some rocks:


Nikkor 24 - 70 at f/11 24mm 1/60 ISO 100



cloud through the rocks by singingsnapper, on Flickr


converted to B/W in Silver efex pro2



cloud through the rocks bw by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

One more before I go to bed - it's 01.30 am here - here's one from our drive to our hotel in Yang Yang which is famous for my favourite vegetable, the mushroom. We had crossed one river bridge and I saw a stunning view with the light getting better and better. However there was nowhere to stop and it was a busy road without a pavement. Thankfully there was another bridge with a similar view where there was a pavement.


Nikon D800 Nikkor 14 - 24 at 20mm f/16 1/4 ISO 50



looking down the valley in sokcho, Korea by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

More from the last few days in Seoul. This was the evening we went to the Jazz club.


Waiting to cross the road to Bongeun-Sa temple


1.Nikon D800 Nikkor 24 - 70 at 24mm f/14 1/125 ISO 400



Gangnam-street by singingsnapper, on Flickr


A few inside Bongeun-Sa Temple:


2. Nikkor 24 - 70 at 24mm f/11 1/30 ISO 250



Bongeun-Sa-Temple by singingsnapper, on Flickr


3. 24 - 70 at 24mm f/11 1/50 ISO 500



Bongeun-Sa-Temple-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


4. Nikkor 14 - 24 at 14mm f/8 1/60 ISO 320



Bongeun-Sa-Buddha by singingsnapper, on Flickr


5. Looking back towards Gangnam from the back of the stone


Nikkor 24 - 70 at 24mm f/8 1/60 ISO 400



Gangnam's-high-rise-buildings-reflected-in-the-floor by singingsnapper, on Flickr


6. Looking through the trees towards the Seoul World Trade Center


24mm f/8 1/50 ISO 500



Looking-past-temple-and-tree-to-Seoul's-World-Trade-Center by singingsnapper, on Flickr


7. The last light was in the sky as I returned to my hotel:


29mm f/4 1/60 ISO 800



Gangnam-square-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


8. 24mm f/7.1 1/40 ISO 1000



Gangnam-square by singingsnapper, on Flickr


9. And my view from the car in Seoul on our way to the Jazz club. Seoul's roads typically jammed with traffic:


Nikkor AFS 50 1.8G f/3.5 1/50 ISO 1000



Seoul-traffic by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Some more from my recent trip to Korea. We climbed part way up a 5000 ft mountain, and the going was quite steep in places, but the views were great. There were a lot of people climbing too and it was fortunate that it was dry as the rocks would have been like ice when wet.


Here are some of the people heading up:


Nikon D800 Nikkor 24 - 70 at 24mm f/11 1/250 ISO 100



People-on--their-way-up-the-mountain by singingsnapper, on Flickr


Here is the view from the top through the AFS 300 f/4D lens: I have used the high pass filter to grab detail out of the haze:


AF-S 300 f/4 at f/8 1/400 ISO 200



View-from-the-top by singingsnapper, on Flickr


and much wider view:


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



View-from-the-top-of-the-mountain-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr


and converted to BW in Silver Efex pro2



BW-View-from-the-top-of-the-mountain-2 by singingsnapper, on Flickr

 

[thereyougo!]

Looking from U-do Island to Jeju Island, South Korea


Pentax 645N FA 33 - 55



Looking-to-Jeju-from-U-do-Island by singingsnapper, on Flickr