Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 3

     This is the third installment of the story.  I have written blogs about coming to this place but failed to take pictures.  But this time, I took as much as I can.  From the first part walking around, to the second part going inside abandoned houses, and now on rooftops.


     There are so many things I noticed a bit too common with these houses.  Almost all of them are tightly close to each other, you could take small leaps from one roof to another.  Their alleys are really narrow and that also applies to their doors and most especially their stairs.  And stairs!  The rooftops have multiple access.  But all of them are seriously narrow, you could easily fall with just a slip.  It made me wonder what these people were thinking when they built their houses.  Are they all just very thin people?

At Your Own Risk
I was on a ledge and made my tripod to a monopod so I was swaying.  Climbing up these steps alone is risky.  What on earth were they thinking?

     But on to the roof!  Climbing one stinky stair after another, I saw a lot of traditionally designed housetops.  But from all the times I've seen one, I didn't find any good angle/view to take pictures of them.  I like these oriental roofs.  But photographing them is not as easy as I thought.

Photobucket
Hidden Message
I don't know what the characters mean.  I couldn't read them much in the dark.  But it's the first time I saw such written roof that seemed to be customized.

City Beyond
As much as I like taking pictures that shows generations, this one makes me sad.

     I finally got to the top and searched around for a good spot.  Last year, when I was searching for a WA lens, for landscapes, one person (almost scoldingly) suggested I rather get a good 85mm and take panorama shots.  I didn't have the chance to do this before.  So when Fred and I saw this view, I already had planned to shoot a panoramic shot with my Samyang 85mm.

     Once again, I'm glad I came here alone.  If I was with someone, it'll make both of us uncomfortable.  Why?  I still haven't figured out why my camera is working slower than before.  It's probably my memory card.  But whenever I shoot long exposures, I get longer buffering time on each shot.  Back home, I tested all my cards (don't remember when and where I got them... they're all probably old) and I end up with the same results.  But I'm alone now.  And I got lots of time with no people forced to wait for me.

Lights And Life
There's a bigger version on flickr but it seems to look worse. 

     I knew I was going to have a hard time getting used to shooting panorama with my new tripod.  I really wished I brought my heavier one with the right 3-way head for the job.  But I made that decision and like I said, no excuses.  The problem with this image is how I took it.  I did my best to be precise.  But I forgot that precision is a little overrated when it comes to this type of shooting.  I neglected shooting a bit more sky and the image suffered.  There was also the issue that I discovered while processing this image.  Samyang 85mm has some flaws I didn't consider.  Light falling off from the edges of the lens showed a little on each frame I took.  But all-in-all, I'm still happy with my results.  It's quite rare for me to shoot with a satisfying outcome on each frame.

Overhead Access
I kept imagining what would have been before the people here were moved.  The couch tells me this could have been a relaxing place.  A good view, and a little isolation.  All gone now.

     One of my biggest issues here in Korea is the cable lines.  Sure, they make interesting architecture.  Sure, they even go as far as landscaping their mountains.  Sure, there were so many beautiful scenery outdoors.  But most of them are completely ruined by these stupid electrical posts and cables.

     After the panoramic shot, I still wasn't satisfied and wanted to shoot more.  It was such a nice view of Seoul that I couldn't resist but look for a different position and take individual shots.  I climbed up the edge of another roof (image above) figuring out how to set my tripod.  I wanted to avoid those cables and this is the only position I could think of.  Besides, time was running short.  I can feel at this time, the sky was starting to turn blue.

Cold Dawn Coming
The city about to wake up with a hangover.  I thought if I was to wake up after a long Friday night party, I'd rather see the city this way.

     One of the biggest things that caused me a lot of trouble was what happened after this shot.  I was about to cover my lens and the cap, along with the filter attached to the cap, fell off and lost amidst the dark, very narrow, long-way-to-go, smelly, and broken glass filled corner.  I stared at that space for about a minute or two, then gave up.  It shouldn't be much of a loss, to tell the truth.  But just wait for the next blogs.

     With a sigh, I just went on and thought of a silver lining.  Maybe there is one.  As dawn arrives, I thought of shooting the scene differently.  I haven't done this in a while but with my lens's capability, I sure would like to try shooting at a wide aperture.

Sigh Of Dawn
I feel it's like a cinematic shot where softness and bokeh appeals more than still image's sharp bite.

    All good pictures and that, what I didn't stress enough was I was still doing a balancing act at the edge of this rooftop while shooting.  I didn't want to be the next one to fall so I got off and started climbing down.

     Daylight has come and my job is done... or do I?
There was more to this and I ended up with more pictures.  This time, urbex in daylight.

     Thanks for reading and hope I could deliver more on the next chapter.

2 comments:

  1. I think out of all your pics here the one that really stands out to me is City Beyond. It's got that old Korea beauty with the new Koreas harshness .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that's why it makes me sad. The modern part is taking over, harshly.

      Delete