Climb Every Mountain. Is it worth it?

     Frederick Mount invited me to another photo op.  Knowing what he does, I expected another enjoyable night of going through abandoned buildings and another good talk.  Boy, was I in for a different experience!

Insisting Subject

     There's another subject that's been bugging me for a long time (even today) that makes me want to keep going back to the scene.  Good thing it's not so far.  But let me paraphrase something that kept me going when I I'm about to give up:
"When something caught your eye, there must be something in there.  Don't give up and keep looking." --Scott Kelby
     Let me also add one thing that I told my friend, Frederick Mount (Check him out!), while we were talking about our media:
"Sometimes it's not what you just see in there but what you put in there (to complete the scene)" --Jackson

Gamers Night: When too many fun stuff collide.

     I know I have not posted anything for some time. But I have taken pictures once in a while. Some of them really worth writing with pictures I'm proud of. But some events have gone ahead that need to be posted first.

     But here's the thing: I'm not really good with people and spontaneous shooting. Almost all the shots I took needed work, and still I'm not too happy after all. And these shots are "moments" which can not be redone.

Lens Caps and some Yelling

     Last part of "Let me do it right this time" was just half of the last day I spent in Seoul (to take photographs).  On my quest to get a replacement for my lost lens cap, I got a bit more lessons on the street that I wasn't really prepared for.

Macroteers!

     I was never fond of macro shots.  Most of the times, I get sick of Facebook pictures of close-up shots of flowers with cheesy captions in it.  People like them a lot!  I don't!

A Short Video

     It's been a while since I made a short video.  A friend of mine is a serious videographer and has been trying to get me to work with him, but I always refused.  I'm scared that I actually end up embarrassing myself.  I have a camera.  I can video edit.  But I never really worked for someone with this.

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 6

    This is the last set of pictures I took from this place.  My little adventure in Buk-Ahyeon, abandoned area for improvement.  From night shooting of the places the group spotted, to shooting indoors of other houses for the first time, then going on top of roofs for a panorama shot, to shooting in the alleys in daylight, to  shooting indoors again but in another area (and daylight), and now, just a couple more shots I took on the street while leaving this place.

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 5

     Part 5 of my still long-winded blog about this place.  It's daytime.  No more light painting.  And more challenging scenes for me.  I'm not so good with day shots, but I have to make the best of it.

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 4

     Part 4 of the long-winded photography session I had on this location.  This time, it's daylight

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.

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 2

     This is part 2 of my blog about me finally getting some work done on the abandoned place near Ahyeon (아현).  A little lazy and a bit overwhelmed, I'll keep the "less talk, more pictures" theme for the rest of this particular story.

Let Me Do It Right This Time part 1

     With so many pictures and so many things that happened within less than a 24-hour session, I have to divide this article.  Otherwise it'll be a very long read (I almost forgot no one likes that anymore).

     I was upset about last week's meeting with Fred.  I was very disappointed with myself.  What I hate most is that I'm becoming one of those people I resent: All Talk People.  So I have an excuse.  I work alone.  I can't perform as much with people around me.  And yet, I claimed I feel comfortable with Fred.  Well, I still hate what happened.  And I owe it to these photographers I've met to come up with better pictures than my test shots.

2nd Meet With Fred

     I got a mail from Fred (the Urbex guy) to meet on Sunday evening for re-shoots.  That's why I ended up in Gunja the night before.  The plan was to take a few pictures on Saturday night, sleep in Gunja, get to the location hours earlier to pre-shoot, then get into serious business when Fred arrives.  Well, it was just a plan.

Follow My Path: A walk on the streets of Gunja

     Gunja Station. I've been here a few times. There's a cheap place I could sleep in whenever I'm close by. But whenever I come here, I go straight to the motel. No roaming around. No scouting. No photography. In fact, I might come here after a long night's session. But I'd be too tired to venture out. I found this place dull. That is, until I took a cab (I almost always take the subway) and found myself in the middle of the busiest area of this place. There was life after all! Since I could be a regular here, I searched for places to eat first. It was easy. So I started looking for interesting subjects. It was night time. But I'm not in the mood for cityscapes. I found myself looking at subjects as an individual instead of the whole picture. It makes street photography easier for me.

Follow My Path: A walk on the streets of Taereung.

     Lugging my gear the day after meeting Urbex photographers, I felt like I did not accomplish much.  Sure, I've taken some pictures.  Sure, I have some mental notes.  Sure, I've learned some by watching them.  But since I was used to taking pictures alone, yet was on a group that night, I felt like I have not done what I was meant to do... take pictures.

Close Encounters of the Real Kind

     On one of my earliest blogs, I talked about meeting a group of people regularly doing photo-walks in Seoul.  I had a blast with them during my first time.  The problem is I was more interested on talking to them first, taking photos second, and never really observed them or how they work.  It's been a year now (I think).  And this same group announced another photo walk.  But this time, they have subjects that I'm very interested in, lately.  The group I joined before were a bunch of street photographers.  This time, it's different.

Flash vs Flashlight

     Ok, so I got a speedlite.  Big whoop!  I never thought learning about flash was this hard.  I read people say it's easy.  And I had a couple of shots using it.  But really, it's mostly frustrating.

Hangover

     People who know me well, knows that I've been sober for years now.  I never counted how many 'cause it's not really a big deal to me.  I never considered myself an alcoholic in the first place.  But I still remember how it feels like, the day after drowning myself in gin.

     Apparently, I was suffering from it again.  I had too much urbex the day before, and gave me so much headache but wanting for more, a couple of hours later.  Yes, it's a photography hangover.  No, "UrBex" is not gin... although a bit intoxicating.

     On one of my blogs, there was this one particular image that really bothered me.  I mean, I like what I was seeing, but whatever's on my mind was not transcending through the picture.  Maybe it's the way I composed it.  Maybe it's my POV.  But I'll start with the background.  I want some heavy clouds in it.

     Fortunately, the day after shooting this, I saw some very nice nimbus clouds hovering over my work place.  It was noon, I had work.  But the most upsetting part was none of those beautiful clouds are near that abandoned factory that I took pictures of.  So instead of hoping for it to come near that place, I just thought I'll make the clouds my subject.

     For some reason, I'm also addicted to reflections.  Time and time again, I've been attempting shots of mirrors but I always fail.  Well, during those earlier times, I was happy with my results.  But looking at them again, I feel it doesn't really make so much punch.  Kinda needs more gin in it.

     Fortunately, as connected to my urbex hangover, I found this board from a pile of garbage.  What makes it interesting is the handles attached to it.  I think it was supposed to be for display or something.  Didn't matter much to me.  I just had my eyes on how shiny those handles are... reflections!  Clouds!  urbex-ish!  Headache!

Skies On My Mind
I've always wondered why some photographers are fascinated with these type of subjects.  Some take a picture of a door-knob and they get raves most of the time.  I still don't get much of it until I saw these handles.  Aside from the range of textures, I see those blue reflections of the sky.  Something I enjoy more.

Not So Obvious
It's a sarcastic title.  Of course everything is obvious!  The texture, the reflection.  The treatment.  And it's very HDR.  The thing is, didn't run through HDR software.  And the tones came straight from the camera.  It just happens to be nearing sunset.

I See You
I think I failed on this one.  But I was trying to make it look more street photography -ish.  Or at least film -ish.  But I'm having difficulty bringing that out.  So out of frustration, I saw myself on the reflection again.  I guess I could just fool around with this and hope it's not a crime.

Three Sides of Me
Now this is something I stared at for a long time.  I'm studying how bent objects reflect light in many different ways.  In this image, the effect is subtle, but still different.  As it shows, I'm standing in a single spot and at the exact position.  Yet the reflection shows three different points of view on each.

     Before I took any shots, I already anticipated these images will give me problems with dynamic range.  I know a lot will simply use Photomatix to fix that.  But I've never had much luck with that software.  Besides, I'm more interested on how people do things before these HDR software came about.  But that's another story. Next time, I'll be talking about how I'm coping up with Photoshop.

     Until then, let me tell you about my last image.

Rusty Wall
Since today I was talking about my urbex hangover, I remember seeing an abandoned container (sort of a trailer with no wheels).  One side of it is totally rusted.  And I also observed that many photographers take pictures of rusty stuff.  For some reason, I still don't get much of it.  I mean I like the texture and colors.  But that's about it.  So I took a picture of this... strangely enough, I like it.

Darkness Within

     Urbex.  The first time I read this word, I was already hooked.  What the hell is "urbex?" I ask.  Going through the internet, I find it fascinating how there's just so many takes on this field of photography.  Some thrive on actual shots, location is the key.  Some go for the feel, where post-process is definitely needed.  I simply go for it being unconventional.  Besides, I see a lot of garbage around me.

It only takes one person

       I've heard about a cosplay held in SETEC, Gyodae, Gangnam.  I've heard about these events happen in other places but I never knew I could have the chance of seeing one.  So I got a bit more info about the place and time, prepared my gear and asked around how to do picture taking in such occasions.

       Now I have been a fan of some anime and comics when I was a kid.  I never had the resources nor the funds to delve much into it though.  So with regards to what's happening in these types of gathering, I really have no clue but some youtube videos of vloggers talking about these stuff.  I'm pretty excited, despite not knowing what's out there.

       Saturday, it just so happened that I'm to buy a laptop that afternoon.  So I really was on a tight budget.  Starting with the "buyer's remorse" I can't afford to spend much for anything.  So yeah, I get to brave the heat this day and just hope me going to the cosplay is worth it...