Making of a Photograph: Part 1 – Gyeongbokgung Palace (South Korea)

So, I’m also starting a new series called “Making of a Photograph” where I post my best images (personal favourites) and share behind-the-scenes stories. The first up is a photo of Gyeongbokgung Palace that I captured in Seoul, South Korea back in December 2018.

One thing I still remember vividly is how freezing the weather was. At minus 10 to 15 degrees, it was the coldest ever experienced in my lifetime. 😅 After shooting in the extreme cold for a full hour without having gloves, I couldn’t even put my lens cap back on the lens, because my hands went completely numb. 😂

As for the technical aspect, I used a 3 stop ND filter for this shot, extending 4 seconds of base shutter speed into 30 seconds (at f/8). For waterfront cityscapes, I always use a 6 stop ND filter to expose for a few minutes and smooth out the water, but for light trails, I typically expose for 20 to 30 seconds only by using a 3 stop ND filter.

One benefit of using a 3 stop ND filter is I can shoot quite a number of photos during blue hour (unlike using a 6 stop ND), as each exposure is much shorter. In fact, this particular shot was the last photo taken on the day at the very end of dusk (17:51 pm).

Those light trails running in the sky are the lights of a bus. I saw the bus waiting for a traffic light to change to green, so I started the exposure upon the traffic light turning to green in order to record those lights, which I believe added more interest to this photo. 😀

Hope you enjoyed the story. This is one of my most favourite photos taken to date (probably in my lifetime top 5 so far). I’d love to revisit Seoul, but not in winter! Too cold for someone living in the tropics. 😂

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About the Author: LASTLIGHTS.NET is a passion project of Joey J, a Singapore-based Japanese photographer primarily shooting cityscape photography with long exposure at blue hour. Visit his Home Gallery (30 most favourite photos taken) or download his free eBook, Getting Started with Long Exposure Photography.