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[EDIT] WHAT THE FUCK. Firefox seems to have decided to bleed out a LOT of color from my photos. They're all considerably desaturated...T_T. Just a disclaimer...wow. [/EDIT]
I know everyone loves picture blogs, and especially ones of Korea, so...
So as some of you may remember, I went to Korea to visit relatives and do a bit of sight-seeing about a month and a half ago. I stayed in Seoul at a relative's apartment. I also took many, many photos: More than a thousand over the course of three weeks. It may not seem like THAT many, but midway through my stay there, I got owned by water leaking through an umbrella. The only lens I have for my camera is not weather-sealed, even though my camera is. Water got to the AF motor, completely shorting it. I had to manual-focus every shot thereafter.
The photos here are a handful of the shots I took from Jeju island, a small island off the south coast of the peninsula. It is a fairly self-contained island. It has its own dialect, that honestly is incomprehensible to a normal Korean and sounds more like Chinese. It is also like one big hick island. It's an island of farms, horses and lots and lots of green expanses. Honestly, it's a beautiful place, but lacks in the people department. They're all Korean hillbillies and country people, so to speak.
The place had an amazing amount of character though, which I unfortunately did not get to capture. It was too hard to take photos of the towns and city and of the people there in general without auto-focus. So instead I just focused on shots of the more natural side to the island.
This is the family I traveled with. I'm the bearded dude on the left. Next is my aunt, my cousin, and my brother (both play SC as well).
The population density is very low on the island. There is only one major city which sort of feels like a mini-Seoul, but the rest of it is very spread out and has a country feel to it.
I experimented on this one. Because of how featureless the sky was (see photo above this one), I tried adding some vignetting. I think it got overdone a bit, as I was having trouble setting it up (fresh install of PS on a new comp), but it definitely makes the photo a bit more interesting.
Another photo of the coast.
Rocks. And part of a building.
Jeju was formed by a volcano, which is currently inactive. A lot of the shore is just rocky volcanic cliff after cliff.
Tourism is apparently fairly big for Jeju. This was some place they apparently did events and festivals or some shit at. I don't remember, but it made for a decent photo.
After seeing the coastline, our next stop was a forest reserve. This is me dicking around with my camera.
The reserve had trails set up like this. It kind of felt like cheating...like not a real hike, but considering how fucking hot it was, I let it pass.
This is a mushroom farm inside the reserve. They grow mushrooms off of those logs.
A wild mushroom I found later.
A random concrete sewage thing that I thought would make for a good photo.
Rocks in the forest next to a paved trail.
Good lighting makes for good photo.
There were an overwhelming number of trees.
A rest stop on one of the trails. Probably my favorite composition. The lighting when we got there was incredible.
It was so good that I took a vertical version too.
And here's one that our tour guide wandered into. I also tried making the photo look warmer. I couldn't decide which one I preferred.
A man-made pond near the entrance to the reserve. Great lighting here too.
Our tour guide then took us to a museum that collects rocks and other random shit from the island. I think it was a scam. This is a bonsai tree that had another plant supposedly growing from it. Even the tour guide said that was bullshit. At the back, you can see the roots of that plant going down the trunk into the rock.
A wider shot of the museum place. It was basically a backyard with a grip of pretty rocks and rocks that vaguely looked like animals, people, buildings and penises strewn around.
A common sight on Jeju. Lots of green and mountains in the background (if you turn your back to the ocean). Beautiful place.
As I said, there are many farms. The cows there are mostly dairy cows, not meat cows. This is taken from a mountain road.
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of nightlife in Jeju. It's a fairly sleepy island. Most of the young people there out and about were tourists, not natives. This is a pier in one of the brighter and busier coastal areas.
As I said, it's a sleepy island. This is about as bright as it gets.
That's all the photos I have for now. The colors may seem a bit off, as I haven't been able to properly calibrate my monitor yet. My gamma is set correctly now, but the color balancing is still off. I think the blues are overpowered on this piece of shit. I gave up after around six hours of messing with shit. I kid you not, six fucking hours.
The next set I post will be of a very large Buddhist temple on Jeju. After that, I'll start slogging through my huge fucking pile of random Seoul photos.
Anyway, enjoy. Feedback and criticism is welcome and encouraged. (:
EDIT
There's a lot of weird aberration in a lot of these photos...weird purple fringing. Something is definitely wrong with my lens beyond the AF motor. T_T. Also, some of them may seem slightly out of focus. My eyes are bad and I don't like to wear my glasses when shooting, so I may have fucked that up, lol.
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3861 Posts
those are beautiful! i haven't been to jeju yet... defo wanna go!!
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Those volcanic rocks look like lion heads! and those forest/reserve photos are amazing. Great job
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good pictures. I will travel here as soon as possible. I think it's wonderful!
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
Those are some really beautiful photos. I've never actually looked at pictures of Jeju before and now I *really* want to go there and take some of my own. I miss the countryside (and especially the sea.)
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Wow I remember last time I was there (like 6 years ago) I did this interview for some thing  it was pretty awesome... I miss that place haha
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@Epic: Thanks!
@lilsusie: Thanks!
If you go, I'd recommend getting a tour guide (expensive), or at least going with a tour. Either that, or get a group, rent mopeds, and tour by GPS coordinates. That's apparently popular.
@Marine50: lol really? I never thought of that.
...and thanks. (:
EDIT
@GoSu: Read what I wrote to lilsusie. To be honest, Jeju was the low point of my trip to Korea, lol.
@NeverGG: Thanks...I'm glad my photos make the cut with you. (:
I had no idea what to expect with Jeju. You'll have a blast taking pictures there, though...especially if you want to try for street/national geographic-esque style photography. Oh, but if you do go, make sure you have a wide-angle lens. I only had that broken 50mm (80mm on my camera body), so taking landscapes (which you'll want to take a lot of there) will be an absolute pain in the ass...especially with that giant telephoto zoom you've got. :X
@GhostKorean: Even though I've been talking a lot of shit on the island, I would actually love to go back just to take more photos. lol.
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Ok PH I read what you said to lilsusie.
Thanks for informations. My girlfriend didn't go there too so we will make the travel as soon as we can or what.
Great pictures again!
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They are building a train from S.Korea to Jeju island.
I hope that train finishes up so I can visit next year ^_^
awesome pics!
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
looo o oo hi some of thep hotos are really nice :d i want to go to jeju one day too
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Your family is from korea? Or your realtives moved to korea?
Do you think a trip to korea is cost effective? I mean is a good trip or you go there only for your relatives issue?
However some photos here are extremely amazing...you work with photos in you life or you are just an amateur??
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On July 30 2009 19:20 LimitlessSky wrote:
They are building a train from S.Korea to Jeju island.
I hope that train finishes up so I can visit next year ^_^
awesome pics!
Holy shit really? I would love to ride that just to see what it's like. lol.
On July 30 2009 19:26 LuDwig- wrote:
Your family is from korea? Or your realtives moved to korea?
Do you think a trip to korea is cost effective? I mean is a good trip or you go there only for your relatives issue?
However some photos here are extremely amazing...you work with photos in you life or you are just an amateur??
My family is from Korea. I'm a full blooded Korean born in the US. My parents immigrated here.
It depends on why you're going. If you like to travel, then Seoul is a great place to visit. It's the 2nd largest metropolitan area in the world, haha. If you love SC on top of that and have an interest in Korean culture, then that's even better!
The cost of foods and other goods are cheaper in Korea than in the US (though I don't know about Italy), but any stay is going to cost you, and the plane ticket will bust your balls. You're better off asking other people about the price of lodging, though. I stayed with my relatives, so it didn't cost anything.
I used to shoot "professionally"...I worked for a little over a year for the newspaper my university runs. I quit after they shafted the photographers with a pay cut. I also did some portraiture and covered events independently of the newspaper on the side on my own, but nothing major.
Right now, I'm just an amateur enthusiast, though. (:
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Nice shot, Did you go to Halla Mountain area? People said its like the best attraction area there. I went to jeju last week but didnt have enough time to drop by Halla Mt. Great to see some pics of that
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I like looking at wild mushrooms
they just amaze me
*sighs contently*
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konadora
Singapore66359 Posts
Aaah looks so beautiful.. I always go to Korea and want to go to Jeju but end up being unable to because my mom wants me to visit my relatives (who are scattered around Korea) every time I DO go to Korea T___T
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is awesome32278 Posts
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the pictures are great.
i never went to jeju and it's my first time seeing it...thanks for sharing
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oo jeju island? I think i saw it on family outing :D
looks beautiful
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Korea (South)17174 Posts
god damn i hated my trip to jeju
not cause of jeju though
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So beautiful...
I really want to go to jeju island. I saw it on family too ^^
It looks like a fantastic place to visit, although I wouldn't want to live there.
I hear the oranges are really good and there are a lot of couples who go there for their honeymoon. Truth?
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On July 30 2009 20:54 economist_ wrote:
Nice shot, Did you go to Halla Mountain area? People said its like the best attraction area there. I went to jeju last week but didnt have enough time to drop by Halla Mt. Great to see some pics of that
I'm not sure...we might have, lol. I can't speak Korean very well, so I didn't really talk to my tour guide.
On July 31 2009 03:38 Refrige wrote:
oo jeju island? I think i saw it on family outing :D
looks beautiful
hahaha I love that show. I was watching it ON family outing, lol.
On July 31 2009 03:58 Rekrul wrote:
god damn i hated my trip to jeju
not cause of jeju though
Why'd you hate it, then?
On July 31 2009 04:20 ghostWriter wrote:
So beautiful...
I really want to go to jeju island. I saw it on family too ^^
It looks like a fantastic place to visit, although I wouldn't want to live there.
I hear the oranges are really good and there are a lot of couples who go there for their honeymoon. Truth?
I wouldn't want to live there either. The entire place is like...run down. Our hotel had holes in the wall, chipped paint, and mold growing on the grout between the tiles in the bathroom. -______-;;
There were definitely a lot of couples visiting from the peninsula. I don't know if they were married or not. Korea is fucking confusing because of that "couple ring" bullshit, lol.
I didn't try any oranges while I was there, but I had some grapefruit...which was bitter like grapefruit should be, I guess. If you ever do go there, try some oranges for me and lmk. (:
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
Thanks for the advice - I'm so excited about checking out Canon's range of lenses and there are some nice vantage points in Seoul for shooting the city - so a wide angle lens is next on my shopping list after the 70-200mm and a decent flash.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
Thanks - that site is exactly what I need. I'm thinking of the following basic kit for my Canon (and some other goodies.)
Canon EOS5D body (Already bought.)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens (buying on the 10th hopefully.)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens (or a nicer type from another manufacturer - I have to research.)
A good Canon wide-angle lens (Research on this too.)
A decent Speedlite flash (I'm going to buy whatever Mr.Kang has in September.)
A tripod.
A new camera bag (probably one of those hard-shelled backpacks.)
A lensbaby with some filters.
The 18-55mm cheapy kit lens for my Nikon D40X (so it can become my daily use camera.)
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Mystlord
United States10264 Posts
:O PH wow. You're a pretty good photographer. The sky seriously looks like a big gaping void in all of those photos, but other than that, very nice!
Jeju looks pretty cool too. I'd want to go there.
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Thanks for the photos.
I really wanna go to Jeju too, been to korea like 8 times now and never been there.
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Wow nice pictures.... I want to go to Korea so bad now -.-
I think im gonna use some of these pictures as my desktop background... SO NICE LOL.
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On July 31 2009 08:14 NeverGG wrote:Thanks - that site is exactly what I need. I'm thinking of the following basic kit for my Canon (and some other goodies.) Canon EOS5D body (Already bought.) Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens (buying on the 10th hopefully.) Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens (or a nicer type from another manufacturer - I have to research.) A good Canon wide-angle lens (Research on this too.) A decent Speedlite flash (I'm going to buy whatever Mr.Kang has in September.) A tripod. A new camera bag (probably one of those hard-shelled backpacks.) A lensbaby with some filters. The 18-55mm cheapy kit lens for my Nikon D40X (so it can become my daily use camera.)
The lens babies look like they'd be a lot of fun. They're basically tilt-switch lenses, though, aren't they? Well...either way they're cheaper than tilt-switch lenses from Canon. ):
And you already got your 5D?? Holy shit! Do you have a lens to use on it yet? How is it??
On July 31 2009 08:44 Mystlord wrote:
:O PH wow. You're a pretty good photographer. The sky seriously looks like a big gaping void in all of those photos, but other than that, very nice!
Jeju looks pretty cool too. I'd want to go there.
Thanks a lot. (:
And the sky really was a big gaping void there. It was all sun with just a tinge of overcast making it all like...white...everything both felt and looked hot there, lol.
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Great pics PH!
The pics I took when I went look horrible in comparison lol
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