Today was one of those days I didn’t get out as much as usual. From yesterday afternoon to evening I spend a considerable amount of time exploring and documenting my journey in Gwanghwamun, including the newly reconstructed Gwanghwamun Square. I walked toward the beautiful sky as the sun set over the Jongno 1(il)-ga, Jongno 2(i)-ga, and Jonggak Station area, where I continued to explore as many office workers set out to their favorite restaurants and bars to begin their weekends with friends, girlfriends/boyfriends, or colleagues.

I’ll be sharing some of my results in the upcoming days. For today’s journal, I’m continuing my chronological review of photography. I’m picking up from late August 2015 with a couple of photographs from Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace Photograph #1

The first image I think looks quite good, despite being an older image. I can certainly tell that I have over-saturated the colors too much in post-production. The yellows, greens, reds, and blues are overdone quite a bit. Although the architecture looks really good that way, the Haitae statue is a little less attractive being saturated, and although rather small the saturation of the people on the bottom left of the image is quite distracting. These are all things that we learn as we gain more experience. Getting colors to appear natural and properly is a difficult task. It will require a good eye, and even stepping away from the image you’re editing to come back with a more objective approach to the editing process.

Gyeongbokgung Palace Photograph #2

My comments on the first image also apply equally to the next image. The saturation is a little overdone! Although I do love the appearance of these trees and lotus leaves on the water, a more balanced approach to editing the color would have been better in my opinion.

Gyeongbokgung Palace Photograph #3

I am very proud of the following image. There are flaws of course, but I still see something very special in the photograph, something that I think is very important for any photographer. That is to really ‘work the scene’ of whatever you’re photographing. You can take that main photograph, the straight-forward, plain, direct, postcard shot. But then make sure you spend the time to play around and observe your surroundings. Consider the foreground, the background, and any additional elements that may add to the photograph. Although I photographed this image so long ago, I can see that even back then I was starting to get into the habit of doing that. I captured this beautiful image with the tree in the foreground and the pavilion in the background. I’m surprised to look back and find this type of image and it brings me much joy.