Mail Box and Flowers

 

Sangdomun Village, Sokcho.

I'm not good at getting up early to catch the dawn light, and even if I could get up at the Velvia hour, the buses here don't start running until seven o'clock or so, which means I can't get anywhere nice until about eight o'clock or later.
In summer at that hour, the sun is already washing out all colour and the will to live, but in late November when I made the above photo the light was still nice at nine-thirty. Which allowed me to get this pleasing picture of a post box and some hardy flowers.

Nikon D850, Nikkor 50mm 1.4G, and Standard picture control, for those of you are interested in those things.

Apartment Building and Traffic

 

As seen from a bus stop

Chesterton Hotel

 

Chestertons Hotel, Sokcho. Amongst all the brown and grey I like the little bit of purple between the buildings and the tiny bit of sky at the top.

Buddha Watching Over Child Monks

Out behind the main worship hall of Bo-gwang Temple are a few statuettes and figurines of Buddhas and monks. Was it an intentional decision by one of the temple monks to arrange some of the figures so it looks as though Buddha is watching over these child monks through the pine branches? Or is it my own interpretation? 
 

Unfinished Building

Unfinished Building, Sokcho.

 Two German-speakers passed me as I was photographing this building and crowded utility pole in the wasteland between Expo Park and the downtown hotels. I don't know what they were saying, but they kept looking up, perhaps trying to figure out what I found interesting.

Side Street

 

I think it was the long line of parked cars stretching into the distance that made me stop and take this picture. Balanced by the tree in the middle distance - a little bit of nature in a valley of concrete, metal, and asphalt.

Sesame

 

Yongchon Village

Some farmers have full fields of sesame plants and others plant a row along the edge of a rice field or a road. One of the nicest things about riding bicycle in Yongchon in the autumn is the scent of sesame everywhere I go. When the farmers cut the plants, dry them out, and then flail them to get the seeds, the smell is very strong and so wonderful. In the photo above, a farmer has covered the plants to protect them from the rain while waiting for the stalks to dry out enough to beat the seeds out.

I once helped a friend's mother take in the rice and sesame harvest by hand. We cut the rice stalks with scythes and laid the plants on the field for collection later. So many spiders in a dry rice paddy. My friend's mother had already cut the sesame and dried it. My friend and I laid the plants on tarps and used flails to get the seeds out. It was exhausting work. Luckily, my friend's mother was an excellent cook and we were fed massive meals of rice, soup, and side dishes. A great experience.

Photography Notes: Nikon F6 and Kentmere Pan 400 film. I did quite a bit of dodging and burning to get the look I wanted from the scan. A possible portfolio photo?