Friday, October 28, 2011

Calvin's Final Quiz

[ Calvin ]

Quiz Night
[ 10/27/2011 - 수원 (Suwon) ]

Last night, I went out to the Big Chill for Calvin Kohlbacher's final quiz before leaving for the States in December. I really appreciate the time and effort he puts into these things. You can tell that he does a shit-load of work crafting his questions. Hats off.

This event was a reminder that things are about the change around the work place. Calvin and Erik are both going to be leaving Avalon on December 9th. It's kind of a sad thought. I'm sure that things will remain great; I will still be working with a great group of people. All I know is that there will be one person replacing two great people in December, and he/she sure as hell has a lot to live up to. Good luck future friend!

[ Harry & Paul ]

[ Justin & Connor ]

[ Kasia ]

Monday, October 24, 2011

New Fisheye Lens


[ Cool building by 합정역 ( Hapjeong Station ) ]



I've had my eye on a few different fisheye lenses for awhile now, but I finally did something about it. Yesterday, I took a trip out to 용산역 [Yongsan Station] to do some price scouting. Of course, I'm terrible at playing with toys and not buying them, so I obviously left with a new Samyang fisheye lens. I'm extremely happy with it. It really gives my photos a whole new perspective. I snapped a few shots in the area, then I headed out to 홍대 [Hongdae] for coffee and some more test shots.

It was a nice, cool day full of photo fun. After 홍대, I went out to 이태원 [Itaewon] to meet friends for a birthday get together. We ate at a fancy restaurant, called Macaroni Market. I didn't actually eat; I just had two beers, but I used this and the following bar outing as an opportunity to test out the lens a bit more. The photos came out very well.

Today, I went out to 홍대 yet again to meet 은경 for dinner and a movie. I snapped a few more shots with my new toy and called it quits for the weekend. Take a look and let me know what you think.


Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
[ 10/22/2011 - 용산, 서울역, 홍대 & 이태원 ]

samyang-lens
[ New Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens ]

[ 용산 crossing ]

[ 서울역 ( Seoul Station ) ]

[ 홍대역 ( Hongdae Station ) ]

[ Street Shopping in 홍대 ]

[홍대 graffiti ]

[ 홍대 ]

[ 상상마당 ( Sangsang Madang ) ]

[ Castle Praha in 홍대 ]

[ 홍대 ]

[ Like Des Moines International... HA ]

[ Another Shot ]

[ Dinner: Paul & Tim ( the new teachers ) ]

[ Bathroom ]

[ Paul in 이태원 ]

[ 지선 ( Ji-sun ) & Calvin ]

( ME )

[ Subway Fun ]

[ Another ]

[ Connor ]

[ Laura ]

[ Justin ]


Sigma 30mm f/1.4
[ 10/22/2011 - 용산, 서울역, 홍대 & 이태원 ]

[ 지선 & Justin ]

[ Tim ]

[ Connor ]

[ Paul ]


Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
[ 10/23/2011 - 홍대 ]

[ Awesome cotton candy dog in 홍대 ]

[ Streets of 홍대 ]

[ Tis the season ]

[ Yep ]

[ 은경 ]

[ Flea Market ]

[ Another ]

[ Another bathroom ]

Monday, October 17, 2011

설악산 [Seoraksan] Trip Two


IMG_9565
[ trying out a new pose ]



Yeah Yeah, I know that I'm doing repeat posts lately. I have just enjoyed so many of the things that I've done in Korea that I'm doing some of them again. Now that fall is in full swing, I figured it was time to defeat 서락산 once again. This was my first hike ever, and it was about time for me to return for take two. I will say that it was considerably less intimidating this time around, having hiked it once before. I was less discouraged by the great length of time it takes to hike this beast. The thirteen hours came and went, and I was just as sore as last time. I can't take so much time between big hikes in the future. I may have defeated it once again, but I left with an equal number pains. I think that if I go back again, I'll have to conquer the more difficult, Dinosaur Ridge hike.


Day 1
( 10/15/2011 - 설악산 )

Like last time, we departed from Seoul around midnight, but this time we began hiking around 3am. Being the foolish person that I am, I managed to drop my flashlight off a bridge about 15 minutes in. This made the first few hours of my hike considerably more interesting than last time. The ascent was pretty difficult; 45+ degree rock faces without a flashlight, but 은경 and I reached the peak about an hour or so behind JC and Katrina. Because of the ridiculous number of people on the hike up, we were considering taking the cable car down to chill out, eat & drink while everyone else finished the hike. This wasn't actually an option; when we asked people about this path down, we realized that we would have to hike 5 hours to another peak in order to catch a ride. It's alright. I'm glad it wasn't there; the valley portion of the hike is too beautiful to miss. We finished up hiking around 4pm and immediately order some 전 and beer. It was a well deserved treat.

IMG_9474
[ an example of the lines we were waiting on ]

IMG_9477
[ the foggy mountains ]

IMG_9484
[은경 at the peak ]

IMG_9488
[ me and my AWESOME hair at the peak ]

IMG_9492
[ that was one hell of a decent from the peak down to the shelter ]

IMG_9505
[ a beautiful view ]

IMG_9510
[ the leaves are beautiful this time of year ]

IMG_9516
[ a view from in the valley ]

IMG_9540
[ look where I am!!! ]

IMG_9550
[ Jinsoo & David ]

IMG_9559
[ Jinsoo on his tiny chair ]

IMG_9579
[ Giant Buddha at the base ]


Day 2
( 10/16/2011 - 낙산 [Naksan] )

The second day of the trip was much more relaxing. We woke up pretty early and headed down to the beach in 낙산. On the way, we stopped for some batting cage fun. After this, 은경 and I decided to pay 10,000원 to ride little electric motorcycles for 30 minutes. It was pretty fun; we also got to try out these silly three-wheeled vehicles. Then, we went down to the beach for a few drinks. Shortly after, 은경's sister, brother-in-law & nephew came for lunch and hanging. This was really pleasant. We departed for 서울 [Seoul] shortly after this for a very sleepy bus ride back home.

IMG_9587
[ JC hitting ]

IMG_9593
[ me ]

IMG_9603
[ Katrina taking some swings ]

IMG_9616
[ 은경 hitting some balls ]

IMG_9642
[ 은경 getting ready for some riding ]

IMG_9645
[ pretty badass, i know ]

IMG_9658
[ the sweet three-wheeler ]

IMG_9665
[ JC's ready for some drinkin' ]

IMG_9666
[ 은경 & Katrina ]

IMG_9668
[ 은경 & Honey ]

IMG_9677
[ Katrina & Honey ]

IMG_9681
[ JC & Honey ]

IMG_9696
[형님 & Honey ]

IMG_9712
[ Honey & 은정 ]

IMG_9719
[ Katrina ]