Mississippi to Korea » 화성행궁

Suwon Festival 2009| Performance Near the Gate

JR — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:04:18 +0000

Derek and I left the civil service exam and went to grab some lunch at a kimbap restaurant. After lunch we moved on to Holly’s coffee right in front of one of the gates. I really felt like I bugged the hell out of Derek, but he was a good sport and gave me some really good tips and recommendations for books on photography to read.

We noticed that they were beginning to have some type of performance in the middle of the street in front of the gate. We both started photographing it and I noticed that Derek had moved into the middle of street with a bunch of Korean photographers. I got up the nerve to join him and at one point was sitting on the ground with a bunch of other photographers having a blast. We stayed here until the police asked/told us to get out of the middle of the street. One of the many things that I learned with shooting with Derek was to be more brave. He was the one that first said we should shoot from the stage at the exam and he was the first to move into the street. I really need to stop worrying about what others think and just try to get in there and get the best shot. Saying all of that, there was one photographer that was pretty much set up behind the dancers. I have him in a ton of my shots. He had to know what he was doing. There was also a staff photographer that everyone had to shoot around. She had a press pass, so she had free reign.

I was going to clone the photographer that got into the background of a ton of my shots out, but decided to leave him there for posterity’s sake. We took a bunch of photos here and then moved back to the fortress to get ready for the parade.

Suwon Festival Civil Service Exam

JR — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:13:33 +0000

I have wanted to take photos of the civil service exam reenactment at the Suwon Festival for a long time. I was not disappointed. I hate that this was the first year that I attended the festival. There was a lot going on that day and when I arrived I spent some time photographing the guards that were getting ready for a processional. It was cool to see them while they were just hanging out, smoking, chatting and preparing their costumes.

The test takers were all business and were intent on finishing as soon as possible. There was a proctor that was walking around and checking out their work.

Derek and I shot from the stage until we were asked to leave. We then moved to the sides and shot for awhile.

This guy was watching the group of test takers. This shot didn’t quite come out like I wanted to. Having to change lens throughout the day was no fun either. I see why people go with two bodies.

More to come later. The parade was full of colorful characters and I got some good shots.

Suwon Festival Weekend

JR — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:45:52 +0000

I luckily was able to wake up for the Suwon festival. JJ and I stayed up late on Friday night drinking coffee and talking about Paris and our roadtrip. I have been looking forward to the festival for a month or so now and almost pulled an all nighter, so that I would be up to be able to take pictures of the civil service exam at the fortress at 10:30. I went to bed around 5 and woke up about 7:30. I think I ran off of adrenalin all day. I took the bus to Suwon and as soon as I arrived at the fortress I saw a familiar face. I realized that a member of the Flickr in Seoul group was waiting on the exam to start as well. I had seen Derek’s work before, but had never met him. He is a super nice guy and an awesome photographer. You can check out some of his photography here. This is the first time that I have really shot photos with some one who was really full of knowledge that they were willing to share. We ending up shooting together till about 4 when I was plan wore out. Derek, if you read this, I owe you lunch for all the knowledge today!

The festival was awesome and I will post more about it later. I just started processing the photos and look forward to trying out some new photoshop actions on them. Here are a couple of shots from the day.

Test Takers

Bellydancers at the Fortress