Unique Photography for Unique People
August 13th, 2009| Trey Ratcliff
Towering Above Seoul

Seoul is one of those cities that keeps going in every direction to the horizon. Those mountains in the distance are really really far away, and it’s non-stop activity between here and there. I’ve always wanted to try taking the subway to the end, but never quite had the opportunity to do so. But, while there, I did get to know the subway system pretty well.

I was amazed at how the girls on the subways would take non-stop photos of themselves with their mobile phones. They would look at themselves, make a few adjustments, show their friends, then do it again and again. You don’t see that here in the states… (yet!)

I believe (the smart readers here will correct me if I’m wrong) that this is facing north. Seoul is right on the border of North Korea, so it’s just a short distance to the edge. In fact, it’s so short that they occasionally find tunnels that come up near the outskirts of Seoul as people are digging their way out. Crazy.

Towering Above Seoul

July 17th, 2007| Stuck In Customs
Seoulset… Evening Falls in Seoul

This photo is a little deceptive in that it shows less than one quarter of the city. I took it from about the center of the city in the World Trade building and just went towards the pie-piece of the city that had the sunset.
Seoulset... Evening Falls in Korea

December 31st, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Brake Lights of Seoul

This shot was taken close to sunset, and everything was perfect to grab some sharp colors along with the brake lights of long exposures.

Brake Lights of Seoul

December 19th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
The Pictures are Hung

Over the weekend we hung pictures up at the gallery. Everything looks pretty sharp and those of you are coming to the gallery opening should see something a bit different, perhaps. I don’t know… impossible to be objective, but I do know it is different than what is usually shown there at Halcyon.

I’ll be showing about 45 pieces. Here is a sampling of the ones at the show. You will notice the first three are exceptionally pointy.
Dark Storm over Vancouver:

The Rainy Season of Vancouver

Intricate:

Intricate

Spires of God:

The Duomo, the Heaven Side

Farewell Holland:

Farewell Holland

Fourth on Lake Austin:

Fourth on Lake Austin

This is Nathaniel:

This is Nathaniel

Rush Hour in Seoul:

Rush Hour

One Night in Bangkok:

One Night in Bangkok

December 7th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
U-Turns

Here is Seoul at sunset – check out the U-Turn trails on the large version.

U-Turns

November 28th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Kolorful Korea

Here is an HDR shot of the COEX area of Seoul taken around dusk.

Kolorful Korea

November 26th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
What’s on Television

Here is an interesting atrium of an office building in Seoul.
What is on Television Tonight

November 20th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Rush Hour in Seoul

Seoul’s traffic is just about as bad as all major Asian cities, but when looked at from this vantage, it looks almost poetic.

Rush Hour

November 17th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Farewell Seoul

I am leaving Seoul after a busy week here. I stopped at the top of the World Trade Tower after work yesterday to grab this HDR shot, which turned out pretty slick and Blade-Runneresque. If you click on it, then All Sizes, you can see it larger, which looks much better.
The Seoul of a Sunset

November 16th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Seoul Sky

Seoul was rather cold, but clear yesterday, so after lunch I stopped at the World Trade Tower to take this shot:

Seoul Sky

February 6th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Cute Kid Pictures

I just uploaded all my pics to Flickr and here are a few cute shots I grabbed while in Korea last week.

DSC02577.JPG
DSC02576.JPG

February 5th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Strange Pastry

Look at the name of the pastry on the right… You’ll probably have to zoom.

I Love Netherlands

February 5th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Korean Pharmacy

I grabbed this interesting shot of a Korean pharmacy. I really like how everyone is standing in attention, ready to help the customer. You don’t see that in the US.

Korean Pharmacy

February 4th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Found in Gustaf’s Korean Love Pad

Yesterday, while rooting around Gustaf’s apartment to find some razors or Lysol for the bed, we came across his book collection. Below, you can see what Will found… curious.

Found in Gustaf's Apartment

February 4th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Interesting Stores in Myeongdong

Myeongdong is one of about a dozen shopping areas of Seoul that are constantly packed with people, day or night. South Koreans seem to have an insatiable desire for shopping for clothes. North Koreans seem to have an insatiable desire for shopping for fissile material. This is a key difference I have noted.

Here is a picture of a three-story Dunkin’ Donuts.

Three Story Dunkin' Donuts

And here is a typical department store in Seoul – this one is the Lotte Department Store. There must be (seriously) over 200 this size throughout Seoul.

Lotte

February 4th, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Good Dimsum – Is Dimsum one word?

Chris recommended we get some dimsum at a very famous place called Din Tai Fung. It was pretty good and had a good variety of dumplings, but they were out of crab, redbean, AND sesame. How is that possible? I thought those three things just naturally replicated themselves throughout Asia like Moses’ bread.

Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung
Dumpling

After we were done, we saw Sweet Buns, and knew it was made for us.

Sweet Buns

February 3rd, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Plush Pillows

We walked into a nice, high-end department store called “Avatar” in Myeongdong to duck out of the freezing weather, and in the bedding/home decor area, we found this unusual display strewn across the bed. The one with the black “dots” smelled mildly of kimchi.

Boobie Pillows

February 3rd, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Snowing in Korea

Well, there was a little bit of snow. Behind me you can see the B&B coffee where we have been having most of our meetings. Yesterday we were meeting with my friend from Bear Stearns in Hong Kong and he brought along a couple of guys from Cenergie that are building fuel cells. They had some first hand inside information on carbon trading in China, so it was it was interesting to hear about some of those business models based on virtual gaseous commodity trading.

Snow in Korea

February 3rd, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Crazy Korean Movies

Here are some of the movies that were featured in the in-flight magazine. How did these get green-lighted?

Korean Movie
Train Man

February 2nd, 2006| Stuck In Customs
Taking a Break at B&B Coffee

There are a ton of super-nice coffee shops all over Seoul. People go in there and just hang out in very comfy chairs and couches. Will and I went over yesterday evening after work and we spent some time reading our George RR Martin and playing some Advance Wars on the DS.

Here are some pics. That one of Will is kinda weird.

Feast for Crows
Strange Picture of Will

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