One of the most photographed locations in the country, the Hyangwonjeong (“Pavilion of Far-Reaching Fragrance”) of Gyeongbokgung Palace was built at the behest of King Gojong in 1873. As is typical for Korean architecture and garden landscaping, it harmonizes sublimely with its surroundings, including Mt. Bugaksan, which forms its backdrop.
The pavilion is attached to the mainland by a wooden bridge. Originally, this bridge linked the pavilion with the north side of the pond (see the photos in the link above and here), but it was moved to the south side after the Korean War.
I shot these photos in RAW and post-processed in Bibble 5 and GIMP for Linux. I’m just learning this whole RAW post-processing thing, so as always, successions are welcome.
Ah, one of the few times of year when I envy people back in Korea for the weather. Here in Hawaii, nothing changes, ‘cept the grass changing from brownish to greenish when the relatively-rainy season comes.
The first would make a suitable postcard (I like the second as well, but it’s just not as postcardy).
I think there have been a ton of post cards made from that angle already
But yours manages to be nearly devoid of people, and the reflection in the unrippled water is almost mirror-like.
Amazing pictures, so beautiful. As a native Korean, it is strange to see same sight of my hometown with different angle.! Thank you for sharing pictures. I’ve been looking forward more pictures of yours.
Thanks, sir. BTW, I couldn’t help but notice you were a GIP man. I imagine Gwangneung must be gorgeous right about now…
Hey Robert, cool pics as usual. Have you ever taken any night sky shots? I’ve played around with that alot. The other day the sky was as clear as can be but I couldn’t get a great shot of the stars and the moon at the same time because the brighter I made the stars the more glare there was from the moon. Very annoying. In the end I satisfied myself with a shot of the moon (third pic down, obviously: http://strange-lands.com/2011/11/our-week-in-pictures-week-one.html) .
Do you or any of the other readers have any tips for glare reduction at night?
That’s a lovely moon shot.
I don’t take many nighttime sky shots, so I don’t have much in the way of tips. This site has some good info, in case you haven’t read it yet:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/night-landscape-photography/
The man you’re probably going to want to ask is Kim Sungjin, who recently took these shots in Cheolwon:
http://www.sjkim.kr/503
Thanks a lot for the links.