(I wrote this almost two weeks ago and then forgot about it. Oops.)
I like to visit the tomb of King Myeongju from time to time because there are few people and no sounds of traffic, spitting, or screaming children (a few of the delights of apartment living). At the bottom of the tomb site are a number of buildings where the king's ancestors do ancestral rites, probably once a year. There is also a large lot, which provides parking for people visiting the tomb, participating in the ancestral rites, or going up the hiking trail that goes past the tomb. There is a park nearby, but I've never seen anyone in it besides myself. When I visited in August it was mostly grown over.
I made the photos on my Fujifilm X-T4 and used a Kodak E100G film simulation on them in Lightroom. I'm not sure it really looks like E100G (my favourite film until it was discontinued), but it's easy to make decent looking photos with just one click. I'm really bad at post-processing, so I'm grateful for any help I can get.
There are a number of statues at the parking lot level of the site. Royal tombs usually have warriors and scholars. If I remember my history correctly, these were the two main branches of government at the time. Though I might be wrong.
A detail from the statue of the scholar.
Two views of a smaller scholar statue next to the tomb.
The tomb's altar seen through a stone lantern.
This scholar held my bag while I took some refreshment.
This looks like a statue of a monk. This king lived before the Confucians decided the Buddhists had too. much power and started tearing down their temples and stripping them of power.
A view down the hill from the tomb.
One of the parking lot scholar statues.
And his warrior mate across the way.
The overgrown park.
It's the season for these tiny blue flowers. I wish I knew the name of them. They are my favourite flowers.
When you're feeling fierce and pretty at the same time.
I found what I think are interesting new perspectives of the tomb this time. I'd like to go back again soon before the grass starts to die. I might take colour film this time. I have some Kodak Proimage 100 and I think it'll look good.
A very decent set of shots. These places can be difficult to photograph but I like the fact you got in real close to some of the figures...the stonework looks superb. The small Scholars are funny little fellows. And for some strange reason the shot of the statue supporting your backpack works for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm no plant expert but the blue flower looks like it could be from the orchid family. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will chip in with a definitive answer.
Thanks. There's almost no choice but to get in close on some of these subjects because the backgrounds are so distracting. Or I haven't figured out how to organise the backgrounds yet.
DeleteNow that you mention it, the little blue flower does look like an orchid.