six hours of rangefinder-style shooting in Seoul

Okay, so I wasn't using a rangefinder, but I don't think the "style"

of the shots is significantly different than what I get shooting with

my Leicas.<P>

 

I made a trip into Seoul to meet a friend I hadn't seen in about a

month. She wanted to go see an exhibit of designer chairs at the

Seoul Arts Center (which was fine with me--I like chairs). After

that, we went over to Gangnam to find a place where I could buy more

minutes for my cell phone and to have a cup of coffee. After she

headed off to meet some friends, I walked around a bit photographing,

had dinner, then took the bus back to the university where I work and

live.<P>

 

All images were shot with a Canon digital Rebel and 28/f1.8. Don't

remember all the specific shutter speeds and apertures (don't care

enough to check the EXIF data), but the night stuff was mostly wide

open. ISO setting ranged from 100 to 800.<P>

Here, in chronological order, is some of what I shot:<P>

<center><img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korrunning02.jpg"><p>

 

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korartsctr01.jpg"><p>

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korartsctr02.jpg"><p>

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korartsctr03.jpg"><p>

 

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korcafegirl01.jpg"><p>

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korcake01.jpg"><p>

 

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korjesus01.jpg"><p>

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korbeggar03.jpg"><p>

 

<img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korbus01.jpg"><p></center>

Say what you will . . .

#s 1 and 3, keepers for sure

#3 for me too! How are you adjsuting Mike? Running out of hard drive space yet? Burning lots of dvd's? Want more ram? Is your butt sore yet?

Nice photos Mike, I was in Korea several time in the winter, It seemed colder than your photos show.How do the people react to your shooting street photos,more or less interested that here in the US?

Wow, Mike. Not your usual style at all, but it's definitely up to your usual standards of

quality. The only one I don't really like is #7. The cross is definitely an attention-grabber,

but I think you were hypnotized by the potential & didn't do as fine a job on this one as on

the others. In addition to #1 and #3 which are outstanding, I really like #2 (which has

beautiful quiet colors and a peaceful composition) and #6. #5 is striking, but I haven't

fallen in love with it yet.

chik on the bench, chuck the rest.. :D

I like the bench shot a lot.

 

I'm wondering, however, what's up with the bench? If a sumo wrestler sat on the other end, wouldn't she be sticking out of a window somewhere?

yeah, the bench shot is the one........nice. Think the rest have that "same camera position look" to them. The "jesus" one is close........would look cool closer and "tilted"...IMHO....and darker

Thanks for the comments so far. Yes, if a sumo wrestler plopped down on the other end, it would launch her into the air.

 

The weather was relatively mild yesterday--around freezing. It had been much colder earlier in the week. The temps in Seoul are usually a few degrees higher than surrounding areas because of all the heat generated in the city.

 

I don't seem to get much of a reaction when photographing (well, not much more than I get for a being a six-foot-tall redhead in Asia), and when I do, it's usually people wanting to pose for me. Of course, one of the defining features of Seoul is the general indifference of the inhabitants to what's going on around them. You could spontaneously combust, and most people would keep walking by as if that was nothing out of the ordinary.

 

My basic post-exposure process is to fine-tune color balance and maybe make minor exposure adjustments in Photoshop's RAW processor. Then, as needed, I adjust levels, curves, and color balance, and do any dodging, burning, or local levels/curves corrections. Finally, for web images, I downsize and apply a weak unsharp mask. Yes, my butt gets tired sitting in front of the computer. I enjoy moving around in the darkroom more, but I don't have a darkroom here. I do like having the ability to make custom prints without having my own darkroom. I've been storing images on an external hard drive (my laptop's drive would have been filled in a few weeks).

clean and smooth digital images.

Having lived in Seoul for several years quite some time ago, all of these images convey a lot of the feeling I had while there. Thanks for reminding me of past memories. I must say I like 5 and 9 the best. BTW, the girl in #5 looks too familiar..creepy. This thread provided me with lots of inspiration for my trip to Seoul this summer.

Wishing you were using your M3/summilux/film combo instead for 7 & 6...because the equipment does matter. Cast out the digital devil, next thing you know you'll be using Fred Mirandas summilux plug in on your canon images. Is nothing sacred?

#1 and #3 i like. Convert to B&W, add grain and I'll like it more.

"Cast out the digital devil, next thing you know you'll..."

 

...the next thing you'll know is you wont know what he's contributing with.

<center><img src="http://mikedixonphotography.com/korjesus01film.jpg"></center>

took a second, but that's funny.

we all know what Mike's using. is there anyone here who doesn't recognize Dixon's m3/summilux combo, 72dpi and all. its obvious. but i keep forgetting that you're not supposed to see the difference between leica glass and brand X at 72dpi. "digital's calling to the imitation zone

Forget it, brother, and go it alone.

digital's calling upon the zombies of death

quit holding out-and draw another breath" join the resistance. silver halide salts rule. PS - if Dixon starts to photograph car bumpers and flowers with his digital rebel, i'm out'a here.

geeze doug i dont think we'll be able to go on without ya....

there, there grant don't fret. i'm not going anywhere. here, pull on this.

summicron hp5 filter

<i><blockquote> silver halide salts rule </blockquote> </i><p>

 

Like Ozymandias.

I think the question is whether *Mike* like his clean and butter

smooth images compared to film. Do you Mike? I would just

HATE to switch back and forth from a M3 finder to a drebel finder

image quality aside. How is one suppose to see/catch people's

faces /expressions in that tiny light at the end of the tunnel

especially in portraitures in which Mike excel?

All great shots but I don't buy the style argument. You could easily have done all those with a Leica RF, or the Canon digital Rebel. It just shows that you can get great shots with a wide variety of equipment if you know what you're doing. With a few exceptions, most of the photos on this forum could have been done just as well with other equipment. The Leica is more of a choice. There are a few low light shots that might have been more difficult with an AF SLR, but other than that, to a large extent, the skill of the photographer is more important.

I haven't read a style argument here. Where was someone mistaken otherwise? These look digital without a doubt so lets just stop it right now.

 

All that phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust...

I find the bench shot interesting, but only because of the bench. I miss your wide opened model(shots) with black negative borders.