Back in Korea

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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

[Singing snapper]

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