On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Gyeongbokgung was the first palace built and was in later years used more for cerimonial purposes as opposed to a living quarters.
Changgyeonggung is a smaller palace just to the east of Changdokgung, which is several blocks east of Gyeongbokgung.During the Japanese occupation of Korea(1910-1945), some changes were made: Gwanghwamun was moved from the south entrance of Gyeongbokgung and moved to the east wall and just behind where it stood was built the colonial administration building(later the first ROK National Assembly building). Changdongung was turned into the city zoo.
Processing Note: These pictures were processed from scanned 35mm negatives shot with a Canon SureShot Ace so they’re not quite as good as pure digital photograph shot with a high end camera. The sky has been darkened in all photos(those with sky present, of course) and in some cases I’ve added a blue filter since the air quality in Seoul at the time made LA look good. Also, these pictures were processed in Korea and they didn’t do a very good job, so I’ve had to so some restorative work. In some cases, I’ve also removed people from the photos.
All photos were originally taken in May of 1989.
Gwanghwamun
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea.
This is Gwanghwamun(mun is gate in Korean), the main gate to Gyeongbokgung. The street leading up to the gate has ROK government offices and the US Embassy.
National Museum of Korea
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea.
When we visited in 1989, this was the National Museum of Korea; it was previously the National Assembly building(sort of like their capitol building). It was removed in the mid 90’s; the top of the dome was kept and put in the new National Museum of Korea on the north bank of the Han river.
Processing Note: In addition to fixing the sky, the original shot only had the left and center portion of the building, the right portion was copied from the left portion.
Gyeonghoeru Pavilion with lake.
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea.
This is a pavilion in the middle of a lake where the king could entertain.
Hyangwonji Pond and Hyangwonjeong Pavilion
Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, Korea.
Hyangwonji Pond and Hyangwonjeong Pavilion was also used for entertaining guest to the palace. Here the bridge is on the south side of the island, but it was originally on the north side being moved in 1953.
Myongjeonjeon
Changgyeonggung, Seoul, Korea.
Myongjeonjeon was the throne room for Changgyeonggung.
Binyangmun
Changgyeonggung, Seoul, Korea.
Binyangmun is a gate behind Myongjeonjeon.
Royal archives.
Changgyeonggung, Seoul, Korea.
The royal archives building was built by the Japanese to house the Korean royal archives. This building was demolished in the mid-90’s.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
OzarkHillbilly
Nice, love that Hyangwonji Pond pic.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
VERY interesting.
Baud
매우 흥미로운, Bill
JPL
Thank you Bill for the photos. It’s nice to go online and see beauty.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: I like it as well, I’ve got it framed and on my wall here in the den.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That is a great photo, love the colors.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Thanks.
@Baud: Thanks, making me think at this time of the morning…bad Baud!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Thanks, another case where I’d wish I’d taken a better camera. I had my old Olympus OM-1, but I really never used it after 1982, sad. Madame and the kid are planning on visiting Korea next year, they should get some better shots(the kid has a DLSR).
@eclare: Thanks, I do tend to bump up the saturation a tad.
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Beautiful! But, back to your Milky Way shots, have you ever thought about doing this?
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s a keeper.
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’ve still got my OM-1 somewhere around here. I thought it was a great camera, back before all that fancy stuff showed up.
Quinerly
?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: I’m still learning how to take pictures of the Milky Way, we can’t see it here since there’s much too much light. Now that I’ve found a location that offers pretty good darkness about a hour away, I might be better able to get some proficiency. I did shoot a picture similar(though earlier the same night) as their ‘pic of the day'(Milky Way with a meteor). In my picture the meteor is streaking across the Milky Way, so it’s much less distinct and even I didn’t notice it at first(it’s slightly up and left of center).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: I’ve still got mine as well, but it got wet so it sits as a relic.
ETA: If got a collection of many of my old cameras on a shelf in the bedroom, including my very first camera(Kodak Instamatic X-15).
Debbie(aussie)
Beautiful! Thanks Bill and everyone else for these photo threads (Alain & Majorx4).
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Well, you captured the light from the setting sun better than that guy.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: The light to the left of the picture isn’t the setting sun, that’s the light from LA.
rikyrah
The pictures were great.?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Debbie(aussie): Thanks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Thanks.
arrieve
Beautiful pictures. I hope to make it there someday.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: It was a great camera. I had 2 bodies and I forget how many lenses. Took the little f’rs everywhere. They disappeared during divorce, and all the pics I took too.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@arrieve: Seoul is quite a bit nicer now than when these pics were taken, the air quality is better.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: It was a nice lightweight camera; I like small cameras, good for hiking. My NX-500 looks like a toy when I go out with the photog group, but it takes great pics.
MomSense
Beautiful photos, Bill. I especially like the way you framed Gyeonghoeru Pavilion with branches and the way you captured how Hyangwonjeong Pavilion is situated so harmoniously with the landscape. How cool is Binyangmun!
Thank you.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense: Thanks, it’s hard to not take a good pic there. I just wish I’d had a better camera. Binyangmun is pretty, it’s one of the pics where I did people removal.
Elizabelle
Great photos. I don’t know enough about Korean history — did they tear the archives building down because it had been built by the Japanese?
And they seem to be good with improving sites; relocating features, etc.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Funny, i’ve got an OM-1 (and a Mamiya-Secor 500TL) sitting in a box. They’re worth nothing but I just can’t toss them in the trash. A camera store suggested I donate them to the local college since students need manual cameras to learn f-stops and exposures.
Great pix. I enjoyed the processing explanation as much (or more) than the travelogue.
satby
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
I was wondering why they tore down the archives building too?
Spanky
I have an old Spotmatic from the late ’70s that I’m considering donating to the local high school photo club, as I hear the teacher uses the old ones to teach the basics.
(ETA – subject change as I dropped the original content on the wrong thread.)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
@satby:
Yup, they tore it down because it was built by the Japanese. The saying goes the only thing that North and South Korea agree on is their hate for the Japanese Government.