Cliffhanger

[gckless]

These photos are taken at the same spot, the first on October 7th and the second the following weekend. This is after a hike up Gwanaksan, a 618m high mountain in southern Seoul, South Korea. From this view you can see Yeonjudae, a Buddhist temple, is built right on the edge of the mountain, with some awesomely formed rocks beneath it. In the background is Seoul, and that's roughly split down the middle, you're looking at the east half.

The first day we went up there, as we were going up it was very hazy, which is pretty typical of South Korea in the summer. A combination of pollution and dirt (sand from the Gobi desert, among other things) blows in from China with the easterly winds, and is a big reason why face masks are so popular here. I got to this point and was pretty disappointed with the view. Took a couple shots, then continued to the top where we went and saw the temple and sat on some rocks looking over the other side of the mountain and ate some food. As we were sitting up there, in a matter of like 20 minutes, most of the haze had cleared out. Walked back down, and captured this. Here it is during the day:

Cliffhanger by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr


So then the next weekend, which was this past Saturday, I went back, hoping for a light show during sunset. Clouds rolled in and there was nothing good during sunset, so I just waited for night to settle in. Took a few shots and then turned on the headlamp and headed down. Here is that shot:

Night Views by Gilbert Kless, on Flickr

This one was in Explore on Flickr, which impresses me, and is my most favorited photo on Flickr to date. I guess I'm pretty proud of that.

But shhhhh, don't tell anyone it was with a crop sensor!