Biding My Time

 

Nikon F6, photographed on iPhone

I set up my camera at the park and waited for a cloud to pass over the sun and even out the lighting on this bush and stone marker. The clouds were slow so I walked around a little and used the Mark II Viewfinder app on my phone to check other compositions.

The clouds came and I made six photographs before rain followed and I had to give it up for the day.

A great afternoon out.

Café Window

 

Nikon D850

Ayajin Harbour Seen From Afar

 

Nikon F6, AF-S Nikkor 50mm F1.4G, Ilford XP2 Super 400

There are rays of light coming through the clouds, but they don't form an interesting pattern and they don't contrast much with the surrounding sky. The clouds aren't naturally that dark and my adjustments make them look, well, adjusted rather than natural. Not one for the portfolio, but not too bad. Also, there is a story to go along with it.

Three fashionably-dressed women showed up while I was photographing the sea and one of them had a mobile phone on a thin tripod for taking selfies of her group at the seaside. They made a few pictures and stopped by a café with outdoor seating. The photographer of the group left her seat and approached me. She mimed pressing a shutter button with her index finger.
"Picture?" she said in English.
I wasn't sure what she wanted. She mimed taking a picture again.
"Picture?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean," I said to her in Korean.
"Would you like me to take a picture of you?" she replied while pointing at my camera.
"Oh, no, I'm okay, thank you."
She smiled and went back to her friends.
"He says he's okay," she told them.
I suppose for people who feel the need to be in all their photos, anyone without a selfie stick or an obliging friend looks pitiful.

Bed

 

Everyone likes a nap. My wife thinks the cat looks cute and the first picture looks creepy.

Waiting for Buses

 A few photographs made over a couple of days while waiting for buses in downtown Sokcho.

I posted this same scene not too long ago, but this time I composed a little better for the left side of the frame and waited for a bus to enter the reflection.

If you're standing at the Sokcho Market bus stop and you turn around, you'll see a dingy, dirty alley where smokers often go while waiting for a bus. They seem to think that cigarette smoke doesn't move more than a foot from their bodies when, in fact, it sails right out of the alley and into the bus shelter. I looked up on this day and made a picture of the walls, the roof of the house at the end of the alley, and the street light.

Made at the same bus stop. I composed using the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone and waited for a bus to pass by. Perfect timing on the first attempt! Someone get me a hero biccy. (What's the proper spelling of 'hero biccy'? As in 'biscuit'? It was said all the time when I was young, but I can't find the phrase in my dictionary or on the Internet.)

Cherry Blossoms Visual

Someone in a comment to my last post asked if I had any pictures of the cherry blossoms. I only had a couple of snapshots to show some friends, so this morning I made this photo from my balcony window.

iPhone 6s Plus, Hipstamatic.

Cherry Blossoms

The cherry trees in front of our apartment are in full bloom, so I've taken to sitting in the balcony armchair to enjoy the blossoms while I can.

I am fortunate - some people drive hundreds of kilometres through frustrating traffic to look at the flowers in Sokcho and other cities. Why they would do this, I don't know. All Korean cities have flowering trees, but the blossoms are pinker on the other side, I suppose.

The cherry trees around nearby Yeongnang Lake are impressive, but there are crowds and young women yank on the branches to make 'blossom snow' while their boyfriends make Insta-shots for them. A must-avoid for me.

The trees are probably happy when they have dropped their flimsy spring gowns and can start feeding from the sun with their newly-grown and non-socials-worthy leaves.