Anapji Pond, Gyeongju (from SEOUL, April 2011)

April 2, 2011 by 19 Comments

For the April Issue of SEOUL, I returned to the ancient Silla capital of Gyeongju, a town I’d visited last fall for a Yonhap/SEOUL story on Yangdong Village, which had just been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This time, though, I went to do a travel piece on the town itself, virtually an outdoor museum of Korean antiquity. It’s also a fantastic place to visit in spring, incidentally, when the cherry blossoms and rape flowers bloom — if you’re visiting, be sure to check out Sherwin Jones’ outstanding Gyeongjublog for great travel information.

Anyway, to promote the April issue of our magazine — and because I really like the photo — I share with you the shot of Anapji Pond above.

It looks even nicer on a glossy two-page spread.

Oh, and as an added bonus, here’s a shot of the main hall of historic Bulguksa Temple that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor:

April was a fun (but very busy!) issue — production editor Ben Jackson and our exceptionally talented staff photographer Ryu Seunghoo team up for a wonderful exploration of some of Seoul’s hidden alleyways, and I got to talk with Korean lantern maker Jeon Youngil (the guy who builds the big lanterns they put in front of City Hall for Buddha’s birthday) and Newbery Award-winning children’s book writer Linda Sue Park, who was visiting Korea with Scholastic. And we also have a two-page photo of Bongeunsa by photographer Kim Sungjin that’s one of the nicest night shots of Seoul I’ve ever seen.

Map


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Filed Under: Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korean Traditional Architecture Tagged With: , , ,

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  • http://www.jasonteale.com JT

    Wow Robert that is one impressive shot!!! Damn! That is nice!

    • Robert Koehler

      Why thanks, sir. Got lucky.

  • http://travelinghawk.blogspot.com/ Traveling Hawk

    A wonderful photo, Robert!

    May be this is not the place but I bought through mail your book about Seoul. I am coming to Seoul toward the end of the month and I am researching the most interesting places to be seen. I want to let you know that you did a great job with that book. Thank you!

    Greetings from Romania!

    • Robert Koehler

      Many thanks for purchasing my book, and I hope you have a wonderful time when you come to Seoul!

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  • http://vmphotography.com.au hoju_saram

    Beautiful first shot – nice and clean and minimalist, and the lamps aren't blown out like they can sometimes be with long exposures. Just after dusk? And D300 still? Good stuff.

    • Robert Koehler

      Yep, just after dusk, and still using the D300. It's been treating me well.

  • http://www.sjkim.kr KODOS

    The night shot of Anapji is really awesome!

    • Robert Koehler

      Coming from you, sir, that means a lot.

      Really love that last set of Gangnam Station, BTW.

  • http://www.eslwriting.org eslwriter

    Outstanding pics, Robert.

    The first one has got real wow impact.

    The Bulguksa pic, well, hem, not much you could with that place.

    • Robert Koehler

      I don't think Bulguksa is that bad a place to shoot, but admittedly, I was rushing around a bit. And then there's I-still-don't-know-how-to-properly-shoot factor.

      I was hoping to get permission to shoot at Seokguram Grotto, too, but unfortunately, it didn't work out.

  • http://christopheranderson.information-here.com/ Chris Anderson

    Hi Robert. It's always nice to see Gyeongju on the web! I live in Gyeongju and absolutely love the city. It's a beautiful city to visit, and is filled with places to go. I learned just last week that the Gyeongju Museum is the 2nd largest museum in Korea. I also have a blog about Gyeongju, and it's got a whole bunch of photos (Not as great as your though!) and plenty of information too.

    Keep up the good work!

    Cheers, Chris.

    • Robert Koehler

      You're a very lucky man, Chris, to be living in such a wonderful town. Nice blog, BTW.

  • http://www.monster-island.net kushibo

    I need to make a point of hanging out over there after the sun goes down. The last time I was there it was a whirlwind visit, and it was too rainy for nice pics anyway.

    As usual, Marmot, your work inspires me to get off my arse and take some photos.

    • Robert Koehler

      You really can't "do" Gyeongju as a whirlwind visit. My last trip there was two and a half days and it was too, too short.

      • http://www.monster-island.net kushibo

        You're right, of course, but I wasn't in control of the itinerary. I had relatives from California visiting relatives in Korea, and they had allotted too much time for visiting with each other and shopping together, and not enough for sightseeing.

  • longlost

    Very nice work, Robert. Great site.

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