Last week I decided that despite the cloudy weather there were photos to be taken somewhere near me. I had the Yeomiji Botanical Garden in mind because it is very close to me and taking flowers is fun (they keep still and look great) and good for practicing lighting and composition skills, so I went there. It turned out to be a beautiful, interesting place and a serendipitous tour.
First a little about the place. It's divided into two sections, Indoor and Outdoor Gardens. I visited the Indoor Gardens first and spent the majority of my time there because I didn't like the light outside. Also, inside there weren't many shadows because the sun was hidden behind clouds so it made for a very photogenic place. The indoor garden area includes the Center Hall as well as five sub-garens (Flower Garden, Aquatic Garden, Cactus Garden, Jungle Garden, and Tropical Fruits Garden). At its center stands an observatory tower that is 38 meters high.
The Outdoor Garden is a large space (almost 100,000 square meters in total area) filled with thousands of plant species from warm and mild climate zones. There are many distinct areas and styles of gardens outside. One can visit the Japanese Garden, Korean Garden, Jeju Native Plants Garden, Italian Garden, French Garden, Lawn Garden, Herb Garden, Bog Garden, and Hosta Garden. I really didn't do the full comprehensive outdoor tour because my camera battery was low, the sky wasn't great and I was pretty exhausted after spending several hours inside taking photos. It was steamy hot and humid in some of the gardens (Jungle!) and I was soaked in sweat after about 20 minutes.
Anyways, I didn't have time to explore all of the outdoor garden, but I did check out a few. I went to the Japanese Garden first. I had my telephoto lens on so I couldn't really get any landscape shots. However, there was a woman with two children on the traditional bright red bridge. They were looking down at the koi fish and I thought it looked nice so I kind of slyly snapped a shot or two. Then a woman came behind me and snapped the same shot with her phone! I felt a little embarrassed because I should have just asked if I could take the photo. The woman told the kids to look so I also took the photo and then thanked her. She went back and sat down in a little pagoda behind me. I then turned around and shook my camera at her to see if I could take her photo. She obliged, so I took some snaps and then showed her the results. We got to talking a bit about photos and where we were from, etc. and I found out the kids on the bridge were hers and she was the wife of the General Manager of the plant department at the Botanical Garden! What a coincidence!
Soon we were exchanging information (her name is Ally) and waiting for her husband (his name is Nam) to arrive. They seemed interested to know that I was living in Jeju with my Korean girlfriend and was an aspiring photography. They both had great English. I found out Nam actually studied Business at Umass! They were both very friendly and generous people. She gave me some small oranges and he told me that anytime I wanted to take photos in the Garden I could call him and get in for free! I was certainly excited to hear that. I told them I would share my shots with them and if they wanted, they could use them for marketing or whatnot.
So that was my interesting and serendipitous day at the Yeomiji Botanical Gardens. I will be back, especially to get some nice sunset shots outside. Until then, below are my favorite shots from the day....CLICK any image to make it larger...thanks to those who have commented in the past, they are appreciated...next shots will include a sunset from a small mountain and more sunset shots from rocks on the beach, plus a story about a near-break for my camera!
First a little about the place. It's divided into two sections, Indoor and Outdoor Gardens. I visited the Indoor Gardens first and spent the majority of my time there because I didn't like the light outside. Also, inside there weren't many shadows because the sun was hidden behind clouds so it made for a very photogenic place. The indoor garden area includes the Center Hall as well as five sub-garens (Flower Garden, Aquatic Garden, Cactus Garden, Jungle Garden, and Tropical Fruits Garden). At its center stands an observatory tower that is 38 meters high.
The Outdoor Garden is a large space (almost 100,000 square meters in total area) filled with thousands of plant species from warm and mild climate zones. There are many distinct areas and styles of gardens outside. One can visit the Japanese Garden, Korean Garden, Jeju Native Plants Garden, Italian Garden, French Garden, Lawn Garden, Herb Garden, Bog Garden, and Hosta Garden. I really didn't do the full comprehensive outdoor tour because my camera battery was low, the sky wasn't great and I was pretty exhausted after spending several hours inside taking photos. It was steamy hot and humid in some of the gardens (Jungle!) and I was soaked in sweat after about 20 minutes.
Anyways, I didn't have time to explore all of the outdoor garden, but I did check out a few. I went to the Japanese Garden first. I had my telephoto lens on so I couldn't really get any landscape shots. However, there was a woman with two children on the traditional bright red bridge. They were looking down at the koi fish and I thought it looked nice so I kind of slyly snapped a shot or two. Then a woman came behind me and snapped the same shot with her phone! I felt a little embarrassed because I should have just asked if I could take the photo. The woman told the kids to look so I also took the photo and then thanked her. She went back and sat down in a little pagoda behind me. I then turned around and shook my camera at her to see if I could take her photo. She obliged, so I took some snaps and then showed her the results. We got to talking a bit about photos and where we were from, etc. and I found out the kids on the bridge were hers and she was the wife of the General Manager of the plant department at the Botanical Garden! What a coincidence!
Soon we were exchanging information (her name is Ally) and waiting for her husband (his name is Nam) to arrive. They seemed interested to know that I was living in Jeju with my Korean girlfriend and was an aspiring photography. They both had great English. I found out Nam actually studied Business at Umass! They were both very friendly and generous people. She gave me some small oranges and he told me that anytime I wanted to take photos in the Garden I could call him and get in for free! I was certainly excited to hear that. I told them I would share my shots with them and if they wanted, they could use them for marketing or whatnot.
So that was my interesting and serendipitous day at the Yeomiji Botanical Gardens. I will be back, especially to get some nice sunset shots outside. Until then, below are my favorite shots from the day....CLICK any image to make it larger...thanks to those who have commented in the past, they are appreciated...next shots will include a sunset from a small mountain and more sunset shots from rocks on the beach, plus a story about a near-break for my camera!
Indoor Garden Center Hall and Observatory
Flower Garden (taken with Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 lens)
Aquatic Garden
This was my favorite indoor garden...I first shot with the 50 mm, then came back with the Canon L series 17-40 mm to get nice still shots of the waterfall and boy with fish...then I put on the 70-300mm f4/5.6 telephoto lens to get some cool macro-style shots. I was pleasantly surprised with the sharpness and quality of shots I got with that...of course, using a tripod was essential for these shots.