Story House Guest House

 

The story here seems to be that everything human-scale is being flattened to make way for real-estate-investment scale. The plot of land in the foreground will soon have a hotel built on it. I hope the guests in Story House don't mind not getting any morning sun.

Impulsiveness

I've started posting photographs to Instagram again. I usually only upload photos that are already in my portfolio or that have been through my long evaluation process. On Thursday I was waiting at a bus stop and noticed a bicycle leaning up against a building. I made a snapshot with Hipstamatic and immediately posted it to Instagram. I was happy with the photo at the moment and it got a few likes (yay for me), but the next day I looked at it on my computer and wished I hadn't shared. Here is the photo:

The bicycle is too small in the frame and I've shown too much concrete, building, and construction site barrier. Also, the wire hanging off the building in the top left of the frame is distracting. Here's a crop that might be an improvement:

But not much of one. Taking a snapshot and sharing is fun, but not satisfying in the long run. Better to wait a week or more until I'm sure I like a photo before posting.

Market Alleys

I went to the market to buy some dakgangjeong (닭강정), fried chicken in sweet and spicy sauce. Before braving the tourist crowds in the main market area I looked around small side streets for some photo opportunities.

Wanggok Village

Sokcho doesn't have a lot of things within easy bicycle range that I like to photograph, but the local buses go quite far out of the town centre, even into neighbouring counties. When I moved to Sokcho, I was pleased to learn that Obong-ri bus stop on Route 1 is just a twenty minute walk from Wanggok Village, a place I visited some years ago. Wanggok Village is designated a National Important Folk Material because all the houses are built in the traditional style and some are quite old. There are no coffee shops or other things that most tourists love, so it's quite peaceful during the weekdays, even during the holiday season.

Traditional wall with loose support stick

I attached a wide-angle lens to my camera when I arrived, but a number of Very Poor Photos Indeed reminded me that the Broad View is not my strong point. So the 28mm lens went back into my bag, a 50mm lens went on the camera, and an 85mm lens got put into an outside pocket for easy access. I feel comfortable using standard and telephoto lenses, but it might be worth going to the village some day with just the 28mm lens and force myself to practise with it. The discomfort might open up my mind to new ways of seeing things.

Rice Mill Doors

As well as not being a wide-angle guy, I'm also not great at documentary photography. I don't think I would be able to visit a place and come back with a set of pictures that would explain the location and what happens there. As a result, most of photos tend to be details of buildings or narrow scenes. Again, it would be worth visiting the village someday with a wide-angle lens with the intent to photograph the buildings, people, and scenery as a virtual tour for the benefit of pen friends.

Crumbling Wall, Thatched Roof, and Rice Mill

Summer in Korea is not a good season for photography because of the harsh sunlight, and in late summer the humidity is so bad that I'm constantly sweating on my equipment. And I'm too miserable to concentrate much on making pictures. But there are a couple of months before things get that bad, and I'm hoping to make a few more trips to the village. Every visit to a location reveals something I hadn't noticed before and a new way of looking things I have seen before. It's one of the pleasures of photography.