Day 116

I bought myself a new toy. It arrived on Saturday, and I delightedly opened it and attached it to my camera only to discover that it didn't work. WHAT? I didn't get too upset though, figuring that I was probably doing something wrong. I had the whole of Sunday to work it out, however, and still didn't manage to find a solution. In a bit of a panic, I posted onto some photography websites asking for some advice and was told that there was nothing wrong. I didn't believe them! I had seen what this toy could do! I did receive one piece of advice that I took to heart however. "Get closer," someone said. It turns out that this person was exactly right. As soon as I got close, everything came into focus, and I am pleased to say that I have finally figured my toy out. So today's picture was taken with my new set of extension tubes!! JOY!! You may notice that there is no aperture. That is because the camera could not communicate electronically with the lens and could not detect the aperture. It didn't stop me from taking this pic, however!

Shutter speed: 1/50
Aperture: f/00
ISO: 2500
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II

Day 110

When looking around my room on Wednesday for something to photograph, I remembered the fan that I bought in the summer and decided that would make a great subject. So here is the fan that I haven't had to use in months.

Shutter speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 100
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II

Day 108

Walking home from school on Monday it was so cold that when it finally came time for me to go to dinner, I made a decision. I knew that this time would come eventually, but I was dreading it. Yes, that's right. I have finally resorted to taking out the outer-coat of my jacket and am now walking around looking rather alot like an eskimo. So, today's photo is of the inner and outer, together at last.

Shutter speed: 1/15
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 200
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II

Day Ninety-Five

Tuesday night saw me going to Hungry Eyes for dinner. One of the things that I love about the restaurant is the decor. There isn't much to it - just a couple of lanterns, some colourful tableclothes and some art across the walls, but it is enough to make me smile everytime I go there (as if their curries weren't reason enough.)

Shutter speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 250

Day Ninety-Two

As I said in my previous post, Saturday was spent lens-hunting, and I managed to find one lens for a decent price. So, I ended up adding a Canon 50mm 1.8 II to my lens collection (which now consists of two) and I spent Saturday night playing with my new toy. This is one of the random shots that I absolutely loved, taken of the curtain that separated our table from the next one at the Hof that we ended up drinking at.

Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/1.8
ISO: 500

Day Eighty-Six

When Grant came to visit me from South Africa, he did not come empty handed. He brought me a gift that he had commissioned an artist in New Zealand to draw. I have been very homesick recently, and looking at this picture tends to remind me of what I am going back home to in three months time.


Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 160

Day Seventy-Nine

I am a looooong way behind with my photo updates, and while I was very tempted to just shove them all into one blog, I have decided to divide them up purely because it is the simplest way to do it. So here we go, starting with not last Sunday but the one before.



On Sunday I went to dinner at Neil and Geri's house. While I could have taken photos of the marvelous meal that I had there, I neglected to bring out my camera during the meal and was forced to find something photographic on the way home. I stumbled across this gate with the street lamp and neon signs reflecting off its surface and decided that it would have to do.

Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 3200

Day Sixty-Six

Yesterday was another fail of a day as I arrived back home from Taekwondo and realised that a photo of the day had yet to be taken. I scoured my room for something to photograph and my eye landed on my shoes waiting at the entrance. I quickly lined them up and snapped this shot. Back home, I was not much of a shoe person - I tend to get one pair and wear them until they are in such a state of disrepair that they cannot possibly be worn anymore. Here has been different and I find myself with a bit of an abundance of shoes, though some are still more worn out than others, as you can tell.

Shutter speed: 1/20
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 3200

Day Sixty-Four

Saturday saw me staying at home the whole day and even though I was invited out on Saturday night, I really wasn't in the mood. However, not leaving home all day left me with few choices for photo subjects, and I ended up taking this very boring photo of my potpourri. Sorry for the boring subject.

Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 2500

Day Sixty-One

I have always been one of those people who love fluffy toys. I have a large collection of them in my room at home, and even when I moved to Grahamstown, I kept a few of my favourites on top of my computer in my residence and in a corner of my bookshelf in my digs. I am NOT one of those people who piles them on her bed and then takes them off every night - I am not nearly neat enough for that. I just like having them nearby. Looking at them makes me smile. I came to Korea with three of my favourites - Fudgie the dog was given to me as a ten-month (or so) anniversary gift, my Love teddy bear followed the next month for Valentines and my sister brought me my crab from one of her trips in America. While I have been here, my collection has grown to include some cats, a weird thing that I cannot possibly put a name or species to and a blue heart given to me by Patrick who is obsessed with the crane games. I had a photo shoot with them all yesterday, and the photo of the day is the best of the lot. Enjoy.

Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 125

Day Fifty-Eight

Lately there has been a lot of construction work being done on my street, and yesterday as I walked down I noticed these silver construction cylinders. I remembered one of the assignments from earlier this year revolved around circles, and even though the assignment is over, it still made me want to take today's photo. I think that it might have been cooler if the surface had been more reflective. Either way, here it is.

Shutter Speed: 1/20
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 3200

Day Fifty-Six

(Only 300 to go)

On the way back from school everyday I pass what I thought was a flower shop in my street. It turns out that it isn't a flower shop at all, but is rather a Korean restaurant. In any case, they have beautiful flowers of all sorts outside the shop and these two caught my eye, so I decided to test out my macro photo-taking skills and get this shot of them.

Shutter speed: 1/160
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1250

Day Forty-Six

Last night was my yellow belt test, but tonight was when I found out the results. The master made us all sweat in anticipation as he came out with only three yellow belts. There were five of us doing the test. Then he made us do our stretches first, then went and checked on the soccer score and puttered about leaving us to worry about who had failed. Thankfully, it turned out that I wasn't one of the ones to fail, and though Adriana didn't pass, she also joined us two or three weeks after we started. So today's photo is of my uniform together with my new yellow belt and my old white one.

Shutter Speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 400

Day Forty-Two

I am tempted to lie about this photo, but because this project is supposed to be about honesty, I am going to tell the truth. I completely forgot to take my camera with me when I went out with Jess and Angelina on Friday night and was kicking myself all night as photo opportunities kept cropping up. I got home after midnight and was so angry with myself for not having managed to take a photo on the Friday itself. However, since I hadn't gone to sleep yet, I did take a couple of pictures of the collection of scarves that were lying on my bed. Now that autumn has arrived and winter is around the corner, I have been finding myself donning scarves a lot more often, and having a collection to choose from is not something that I am really used to. So photo 42 is of my scarf collection. Thrilling subject, I know.

Shutter speed: 1/25
Aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 1000

Day Thirty-Nine

Today before Taekwondo I decided that a quick shop in Shinae was well overdue, so I called up my friend Jodie and we headed there in our separate taxis, meeting for a quick catch-up, a brief shop and a stop in at Kraze Burger for some takeaway dinner. Kraze Burger makes the best burgers that I have tasted in Korea, and I haven't had one in months. Desperate to find something to photograph, I put some of the stuff on the table together and snapped this shot, which ended up being the best of the day despite my finding some other things to snap up a little later. This picture is of the Kraze Burger menu, my wallet and my bag from the Body Shop.

Shutter speed: 1/10
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 250

Day Twenty Four

Today's photo is kind of lame because it is raining and miserable outside, so I decided to take a photo of my closet filled with all the new colourful clothing. Autumn is approaching and I won't be able to wear a lot of it until I come back home, so I decided to do this before I pack some of the clothes away and possibly ship them back home. The photo was taken with a 1/25 shutter speed, a 3.5 aperture and a 3200 ISO.

On another note, I am going away for three days (yay Chuseok!) and won't be able to post a daily picture while I am away, so you can expect four updates on Friday.

Day Twenty Two

Yesterday I went to Seoul with Shaina to get her hair done. If you have ever seen or experienced a braiding or twisting session, you will know just what an ordeal that is. It took two people about five hours to get the job done in a small, badly lit room with six little children running in the background and occasionally popping in to see what was going on. At the end of it, it was all worth it though. The picture is not quite of the end result, since it was curled after the photo was taken, but it is beautiful none-the-less. My only disappointment is that the ISO had to be so high because of the terrible lighting. In any case, the photo was taken at 1/25 shutter speed with a 5.6 aperture and a 3200 ISO.