18 WEDNESDAY
APRIL 22, 2009
PHOTO CHALLENGE WINNER — At Dong Yang Museum, near Samcheong-dong, Seoul, an artist takes
a break from helping to transform a traditional hanok-style house into a small museum.
In focus: the histogram
The Photo Challenge is spon-
sored by Hyosung Camera
(English: 010-7203-9599) and
Babo Shirts (www.baboshirts.
com).
Winners of the weekly competi-
tion receive a 50,000 won store
credit at Hyosung Camera and a
Babo Shirt. To take part in the
competition, simply upload your
photo at www.flickr.com/groups/
seoulphotoclub — Ed.
By Aaron Raisey
Over the past several weeks
we have talked about how to
gain a little more control over
the DSLR by using the different
manual modes available. Once
we are familiar with the differ-
ent modes, we can use a couple
of other features on our camera
to understand a little more
about the image we have just
taken and to get some finer con-
trol over our exposure. The his-
togram and exposure compensa-
tion are two of these features.
Q: What is a histogram?
A: In a camera, it displays the
frequency of tonal values in the
photo. Basically, it shows how
brightness is distributed
throughout your image. The
left-hand side of the graph
shows how much of the image is
dark, and the right, how much
is bright.
Q: Where can I find the
histogram?
A: You can probably access
Expat Living has scoured the inter-
net and called dozens of people to
compile the most comprehensive list
of community groups in Korea.
Whether you’re after a pool league in
Itaewon, a debate club in Busan or a
friendship club in Daegu, everything
you need to be happy in Korea is
here.
To add your social group to this list,
e-mail the group’s name, your name,
phone number and the group’s contact
information to Matthew Lamers at
mattlamers@heraldm.com. If you see
this list anywhere else, it was copied
from Expat Living! — Ed.
Adoptee Solidarity Korea
www.adopteesolidarity.org
African Women’s Group
(02) 536-0453 or (02) 797-2767
Animals (Animal Rescue Korea)
www.animalrescuekorea.org
Association for Teachers of
English in Korea
http://atek.or.kr
Association des Francophones de
Coree
www.afc-online.org
American Women’s Club of Korea
www.awckorea.org
Australian and New Zealand
Association of Korea
www.anzakorea.com
Baseball (Daegu softball league)
the histogram for a given image
by using the “more info” button
while you are reviewing your
pictures in-camera. All DSLRs
and most point and shoot cam-
eras have this feature.
Q: Is there an easy way to il-
lustrate how it really works?
A: You can easily demonstrate
by pointing the camera at the
sky and taking a picture and
then taking a picture in a dark
room. If you check out the his-
togram for both pictures, you
will see that the sky picture is
heavily weighted towards the
right (bright), and the dark im-
age weighted to the left (dark).
Q: Okay, but what use is
this to me when I’m taking a
real picture?
A: With reference to the his-
togram, we ideally want to have
brightness distributed reason-
ably evenly throughout the im-
age. Not too far to the left or
right. In reality though, bright-
ness is not evenly distributed —
there are bright areas and dark
areas — so the most important
thing to look for on the his-
togram is if the graph is touch-
ing either end of the scale. If the
graph touches the left-hand
end, dark areas become
blacked-out — solid black. And
chrisbolger@hotmail.com
Search “Daegu Softball 2009” on
Facebook
Basketball (this organization orga-
nizes weekly games)
www.kena.kr
Bible study (In Seoul)
011-359-1317
3 p.m. Saturday afternoons
British Association of Seoul
www.britishseoul.com
Buddhism (Seoul International Zen
Center)
www.seoulzen.org
Busan community information
http://pusanweb.com
Busan Foundation for International
Activities
www.bfia.or.kr
Busan International Women’s
Association
www.biwakorea.com
Busan Photo Club
www.flickr.com/groups/535889@N22
Book club
Search “Mokpo Book Club, South
Korea” on Facebook
Canadian Women’s Club
cwckorea@live.com
Chinese Women’s Club
COMMUNITY
Tomasz Roszkowski
upon reaching the right-hand
extreme, bright areas become
blown-out — solid white. A little
contact at the extremes is ok,
but the danger is in getting too
much of the image off one or the
other end of the graph. In either
case, any detail in those areas is
lost forever; you can’t get it back
using Photoshop or any other
image-editing program.
Q: You mentioned expo-
sure compensation earlier,
how is this related?
A: Exposure compensation
gives us finer control over the
exposure of our image. Basically
it’s just a lighten (+) and darken
(-) control. If your image is too
far to the left on the histogram,
increase the exposure — lighten
it — a little using the exposure
compensation and take the pic-
ture again. Likewise, too far to
the right, use exposure compen-
sation to decrease the exposure,
or darken the next image.
The histogram is a very im-
portant feature on the modern
digital camera. We have very
briefly touched on its function
here, but I really recommend
you look into it a bit further. It
will help you understand your
images more and you will create
better exposures as a result.
Like any aspect of photography
though, the best way to become
better at it or more familiar
with it, is to get out there and do
more of it.
(raisey@hanmail.net)
complete community group list
http://ocwckr.spaces.live.com
Cigar Seoul Cigar Aficionado Society
http://seoulcigaraficionadosociety.blog
spot.com
Cricket (sport)
shane_kennedy_nz@hotmail. com
Club Italia
www.clubitalia.or.kr
Cycling (sport)
www.mtbk-adventure.com
Czech Club
irenasm@hotmail.com
Darts (Seoul Dart League)
www.seouldarts.net
Debate (Busan Socrates Cafe)
busanbusan@gmail.com
Democrats Abroad Korea
www.democratsabroadkorea.blogspot
.com
Daegu Artists
blankcanvase@gmail.com
Daegu International Women’s
Association
www.diwakorea.com
Daegu Friendship Club
craig@galbijim.com
http://www.daegupockets.com
Daegu Photography Club
craig@galbijim.com
RUNNER UP — A bird stops for a drink at ChangGyeong Palace,
Seoul.
Striking the right national balance
When I visited Seoul, I was
startled to find how the city
struck an amazing balance be-
tween tradition, moderniza-
tion and globalization.
The Ewha students embod-
ied this balance themselves —
many could pass as Americans
with their near-perfect English
— but at the same time they
were able to share many anec-
dotes and historical facts
unique to Korea that they re-
mained proud of.
Visiting places like
Gyeongju, Songdaemun
prison, and the DMZ made me
English Ministry Minister’s
Association
http://emmainternational.tripod. com
Europe Korea Foundation
www.ekf.or.kr
Football (American, KNFL)
www.kafa.org
Fencing (sport)
www.seoulfencing.com
French speaking expatriates and
Korean women
www.cerclefrancocoreen.org
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link
www.goal.or.kr
Gaelic Football (sport)
www.seoulgaels.com
German Club
www.deutscherclubseoul.de
Hiking (Seoul Hiking Group)
www.meetup.com/seoul-hikers
Hinduism (The Vedic Center)
www.krishnakorea.com
Helping Others Prosper through
English (HOPE)
www.alwayshope.or.kr
Hockey (Canada Ball Hockey
Korea)
www.cbhk.org
Hockey (ice, for kids)
www.jrkingskorea.com
Xu Xiaoqing
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Viswanathan Vidya, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
fully realize the extent to
which historical memory has
shaped modern Korea. The
theme of the conference was
global education, and at the
State House we learned a lot
about how the Korean educa-
tion system is trying to learn
from the American one and al-
low its students to gain global
competitiveness.
To be honest, I feel like it is
the American education sys-
Islam (Muslim Federation)
www.koreaislam.org
Indian Women’s Club Annapurna
Annapurna.seoul@gmail.com
International Friendship Club
http://ifckorea.com
International Spouses of Koreans
Association
www.iskakorea.com
Irish Association of Korea
www.iak.co.kr
Jewish Community of Korea
www.jewishkorea.com
Korea TESOL
www.kotesol.org
Korea Toastmasters
http://khtoastmasters.ning.com
Korean American Adoptee
Adoptive Family Network
www.kaanet.com
Language Exchange
www.iaminkorea.com
Lacrosse (sport)
www.lacrosse.or.kr
Migrants in Korea
www.migrantsinkorea.net
Networking (Korean English
Networking Agency)
www.kena.kr
Expat Living is a section dedicated to
the daily living of expatriates. It is printed
on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
To share stories about your life abroad,
send stories or story ideas to Matthew
Lamers at mattlamers@heraldm.com
Submissions may be edited for length
or clarity.
Yolanda Adams
in Daegu concert
DAEGU — Gospel singer
Yolanda Adams brought her
powerhouse vocals to Daegu on
Sunday. A native of Houston,
Texas, Adams comes to Korea on
a tour sponsored by the Morale,
Welfare and Recreation depart-
ment of the U.S. Army.
She calls her music “joyful”
and hopes to bring encourage-
ment and support to the com-
munity abroad.
“We were approached with
this opportunity and we decided
that it was the right thing to
do,” she said. Adams has also
toured in Osaka and has plans
to visit Australia and France.
Backed by a band of key-
board, synthesizer, bass and
drums, Adams performed her
Grammy award winning single
“Be Blessed,” as well as
“Victory” and “This Too Shall
Pass.” Her performance was
marked by awe-inspiring might
and impeccable control.
The oldest of six siblings, she
cites her strong family back-
ground and musical upbringing
as a prime factor in her success.
“This is more than just a job
to me,” she said. “This is a way I
hope to make peoples’ lives bet-
ter, to encourage and support
them.”
She calls Korea a “beautiful
country” and said that “(Ameri-
tem that must try to learn a
bit from its Korean counter-
part, in terms of the value
placed on teachers and the
value of learning about the
world.
Korean history, not to men-
tion the history of other non-
imperial countries, seemed to
be virtually ignored in my
American public education.
One thing I learned from this
trip is that just as Korea
Non-denominational Book Club
elizabeth@elizabethpatchinsoutter.com
010-6412-3815
The Nordic Women’s Club Seoul
www.kolumbus.fi/hannu.ruhala/nwc/a
bout.html
Pool (Itaewon Pool League)
www.itaewonpool.org
Pride Korea
http://kqcf.org
Republicans Abroad Korea
www.gopkorea.blogs.com
Royal Asiatic Society
www.raskb.com
Russian Community in Korea
www.russiankorea.com
Rugby (touch)
http://touchtagrugby.blogspot.com
Sailing (Busan Expat Sailing
Association)
www.busansailing.com
Seoul Art Collective
http://seoulartcollective.tk
Seoul International Women’s
Association
http://www.siwapage.com
Seoul Players (theater group)
www.seoulplayers.com
Seoul Photo Club
By Christianna Lee
cans) can learn a lesson from all
those small cars.”
When asked how her faith in-
forms her career decisions,
Adams said she believes that
“God gives us liberty to do what
(we) want, but when we choose
to do things that help and en-
courage others, He blesses us
and what we do.”
Having won four Grammys,
one American Music Award, sev-
en NAACP image Awards, one
Soul Train Music Award and
three BET awards, Adams said
that her greatest accolade is her
daughter Taylor.
“It was an honor to be part of
the creation of such a beautiful
child.” Adams said. “I try to
teach her the importance of giv-
ing, sharing and other people’s
feelings.” When asked about
her source of strength, Adams
replies: “My daughter, my nana,
my family and my family here
on the road.
“I believe in the importance of
community,” she said. “And the
need to make what you’re doing
count for something.”
(christianna.lee@gmail.com)
strikes a balance between tra-
dition and globalization, we
Americans too must find
some balance in a globalized
world.
I look forward to visiting
Korea again — not only be-
cause I miss the street food,
but also because there is so
much more to learn from the
friends I have made on the oth-
er side of the globe.
Viswanathan will graduate
with a degree in social studies
in 2011. — Ed.
www.flickr.com/groups/seoulphotoclub
Seoul Tennis Club
http://seoultennis.com
Soccer (SSFL)
www.ssflkorea.com
St. Andrews Society of Seoul
(Scottish Society)
mackay@korea.com
Surfing club
seoulboardriders@hotmail. com,
Search “Seoul Boardriders” on
Facebook
Swedish Women’s Educational
Association
www.swea.org/seoul
The Join Together Society (volun-
teer)
www.jtsint.org
Ultimate Frisbee (sport)
www.koreaultimate.net
Vegetarian (Seoul Vegetarian Club)
seoulveggieclub.wordpress.com
Volunteer (PLUR volunteer group)
oh_daniel21@hotmail.com
Search “Volunteer for PLUR!” on
Facebook
Wine and Women Korea
http://www.ekf.or.kr