credit all to: https://www.smartphotography.asia/nxtraveller/story/84

NX TRAVELLER

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Travel photographers relish the ride

On Day 4 of Samsung’s NX Traveller 2015 Light & Lines was the theme our photographers embraced on their tour across country. With both teams zigzagging their way across Korea by road, sea and air there’s no stopping momentum as they demonstrate that travel photography is all about the journey.

TEAM A LOCATIONS: Haslla Art Hotel - Jeju island

Team A woke early for sunrise at Haslla Art Hotel in Gangwon. Photo By Fraser Morton

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things,” American writer Henry Miller once said.

And when it comes to Day 4 for both NX Traveller teams they have embraced this philosophy. With a jam-packed itinerary of adventure it’s been one hell of a ride so far, and the photographers have embraced every minute.

“So who wants to wake up at 5am to see the sunrise over the East Sea,” Dany Setiawanto, Head of Regional Marketing, Samsung Electronics for Southeast Asia & Oceania, said the night before.

And the response from almost all photographers was a resounding “Yes”.

Blogfather of Singapore and experienced photographer Mr Brown (instagram@mr_brown) said the trip had been all about sharing creativity.

“The trip has changed all of us and we are only halfway. It’s not just the destinations we go to, it’s about 20 pairs of eyes seeing things in a new way,” he said.

“That’s something you only get when you travel with a group of creative souls who are driven by a need to capture humanity with a different perspective. That’s when the magic happens.”

Team A experienced photographer Chee Boon Pin agreed.

“We are all from such different photo disciplines, like fashion or journalism or street, and seeing the different ways we all shoot is truly inspiring,” he said.

“Each day I look at the photos we have all uploaded and I’m amazed by how varied and creative each person views the same subject. It’s a great experience to learn from each other.”

En route to Jeju Island. Photo By Fraser Morton

Team A had an arduous day of travel, flying from Gangwon province in the northeast to the balmy climes of the majestic Jeju Island off the southern Korean peninsula.

They rounded off the day with a sunset hike up Songak Mountain. Moral is high as the team prepares for another sunrise photo shoot on Jeju.

The guys made the tour guide pose for modelling shots. It was pretty hilarious. Photo By Fraser Morton

TEAM B LOCATIONS: Damyang Juknokwon Bamboo Park – Metasequoia Street - Nakaneopseong traditional village – Suncheon Bay - Yeosu

Jump Day! Photo by Michael Sainsbury

Sweaters and coats were off for the first time in days when Team B clambered aboard the bus, eager to get going to the Damyang Jukrokwon Bamboo Park, one of the sights that many were hoping would be one of the landscape highlights of the trip.

Nobody was disappointed: Seemingly endless towering stands of bamboo up to 10 metres high, twisting turning walkways and the odd waterfall created a photographer’s paradise.

Singaporean Instagrammer Yik Keat Lee, never seen in anything but black and a self-described “ninja”, jokingly described the bamboo forest as his “natural habitat."

“I am really excited about this,” Lee said upon arriving at the bamboo park, “It’s my first time. "I love lines and that’s what a bamboo forest is all about," he added neatly, summing up the day’s theme of Light and Lines.

Professional photographer Eric Ooi lying down on the job. Photo By Michael Sainsbury

While Lee stuck with his Samsung NX500 and the S18-50mm OIS lens, other professionals on the team like Singapore’s Wilson Wong, the Philippines’ Mark Marcelino and Malaysia’s Eric Ooi all spent plenty of time shooting with the Samsung F3.5 10mm fish eye lens.

“The fish eye gives you an expanded view that helps exaggerate the lines,” Ooi said.

There was an additional tree treat on the scenic Metasequoia Street: A kilometre-long canopy of 15-metre tall Sequoia trees that were just in bright green bud.

The vista lent itself to the F2.8 50-150mm telephoto S Series lens, Ooi explained. “Using the telephoto lens helps compress the scene and gives scale of the huge trees.”

Stephanie Lim only has eyes for Michelle Carter. Photo by Michael Sainsbury

Then the weather decided to start turning again, cutting short a visit to the Nakaneopseong traditional village, a small ancient town where locals still live a rustic existence, surrounded by gardens and fish ponds.

For a few hours it looked like a wipeout as the team hit the panoramic coastal flats of Suncheon Bay. Would they be defeated by the dark grey rain-swept skies? Almost, but patience won through and in the last 45 minutes before sunset, the team finally saw light break through the grey.

As the sun set behind the mountains through rapidly thinning clouds, it cast stunning hues over the wetlands allowing the team to capture some of the very best landscape shots of the trip so far.

“Was it worth the wait? A good sunset is always worth the wait,” National Geographic Indonesia editor Didi Kasim, said, smiling as he looked up from his Samsung NX1 with a F2.8 S51-150mm lens.

Don’t forget to check in for tomorrow’s report and find out what happened on Day 5 of Samsung’s NX Traveller Korea. Meanwhile, here’s a selection of just a few of the shots our photographers caught on Day 4 in the theme of Light & Lines.