18 TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
Expat living is a page dedicated
to the issues that affect expats'
daily lives. It is your page,
where you can share stories about
your life in Korea. Send story
ideas to Matthew Lamers
at mattlamers@heraldm.com
Korean and expat volunteers help prepare a meal for the homeless at the Resurrection Center in central Seoul. They are, from the left, Danny Oh (Korean-American), Baek
Geum-ja (supervisor) and Darryl Snook (Canadian).
Helping to feed Seoul’s homeless
By Rob York
Can one choose to volunteer
for selfish reasons?
American Danny Oh has
been living in Korea since last
May. He had begun volunteer-
ing before he left his home in
Los Angeles, California, and
by Chuseok 2007 he had start-
ed a volunteer organization,
PLUR (short for Peace, Love,
Unity, Respect), which visits
orphanages, hosts charity
fund-raising events and, on
every other Friday feeds the
homeless.
Also, he has helped with an
effort led by Korean citizens
helping the poor who camp out
in subways stations late at
night.
After so many years of volun-
teering, however, it’s still not
easy for him to explain why he
helps the needy.
Depth of field
I’m having a lot of difficulty understanding depth of field. Can
you explain it more clearly? — Peter, Seoul.
By David Smeaton
Depth of field is difficult to ex-
plain without diagrams and
charts. It’s more about math
and physics than it is about pho-
tography. However, I can give
you some starting information,
which is enough for most pho-
tographers.
DoF, simply, is the distance
between the nearest and far-
thest objects which appear to be
in focus. This is quite a subjec-
tive concept, because it’s diffi-
cult to always define the focal
range. Further, all photogra-
phers have different views re-
garding the use of DoF.
However, DoF is extremely
important to photography and
film.
Focal range is controlled by
the camera’s aperture. A small
aperture (e.g., f22) will have a
very wide depth of field. A small
DoF will result in large ele-
ments of the photograph ap-
pearing in focus. Conversely, a
wide aperture (f2.8) will have a
much smaller depth of field. As
a result, the out of focus area
will be quite big. Yes, it’s ironic
that these concepts seem in-
verse (small aperture — wide
DoF, wide aperture — small
DoF).
When it comes to understand-
“I just enjoy doing it,” he said
after a long pause. “I just feel
that it’s something we should be
doing.”
Oh can, however, cite a
Biblical reason for his actions:
Matthew 25, where the Son of
Man praises those that have
given food to the hungry, drinks
to the thirsty and clothing to the
naked, while condemning those
who have not done so.
“I assure you, when you did it
to one of the least of these my
brothers and sisters, you were
doing it to me!” reads Matthew
25:40 (New Living Translation).
He also feels that, through
volunteer efforts, PLUR volun-
teers can see the peace, love,
unity and respect the group was
formed in order to spread.
“That’s what we try to bring,”
Oh said. Like him, a lot of the
volunteers come to Korea as
English teachers after complet-
ing what parts of the photo will
be in focus, there’s a two-thirds
rule applied to DoF. One-third of
the area in front of the focal
point will be in focus, but two-
thirds of the area behind the fo-
cal area will appear to be in fo-
cus.
So it’s important to know that
much more of the focal range is
behind the focal point, not in
front. It’s not evenly split (50/50)
around the focal point.
There are a few other factors
which can make the focal range
either larger or smaller.
First, as stated, small aper-
tures give wider DoF.
Second, shorter lenses also
create a wider DoF. A 50mm
lens will give a much wider DoF
than a 200mm lens, if the same
aperture and settings are used.
Finally, the greater the shoot-
ing distance, the greater the
depth of field. This one is logical
really. If photographing moun-
tains, DoF can be read in kilo-
meters. If photographing bugs
(macro photography) DoF is
mere millimeters. So the further
away your subject, the longer
the DoF.
Generally, photographers
have two approaches to control-
ling DoF. In most cases, photog-
raphers prefer short DoF and
large areas which are out of fo-
COMMUNITY
ing their college-university de-
grees.
“A lot of them have never vol-
unteered before. I think within
that group a lot of people come
here to make money,” he said.
“Once you explain about vol-
unteering they come here with a
changed attitude. It just brings
a whole different perspective.
It’s not just about making mon-
ey; they feel like they’re giving
back.”
Justifiably or not, Oh calls
these sentiments the “selfish
reasons” that result from inter-
acting with the grateful recipi-
ents.
“They talk to us, they try to
speak English,” he said. “And
they smile.
“A smile is really rewarding.”
After a Korean friend re-
searched where Oh and his
PLUR friends could contribute
their time and efforts, they set-
PHOTO CHALLENGE — Open to all entries — The beautiful pavilion called Hyangwonjeong is reflect-
ed in a pond at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul.
cus. This helps control the view-
er’s attention by blurring the
foreground and background ele-
ments, while keeping the sub-
ject in perfect focus. Portrait
photography is a good example
of this. Most portrait photogra-
phers use longer lenses and
wide apertures.
Small DoF also creates more
“bokeh” which is one of photog-
raphy’s most important attrib-
utes.
However, there are many
times when a wide DoF is desir-
able, such as in landscape pho-
Matthew Lamers/The Korea Herald
tled on the Resurrection Center,
near Sookmyung Women’s
University in Seoul.
There are usually between
five and 10 foreigners who meet
at the center on every other
Friday at about 6 p.m. Serving
begins at 6:40, with the volun-
teers dividing duties such as
washing dishes, serving food
and collecting trays. They only
work for about an hour, but
within that time, they can feed
about 200 people.
Because of space limitations,
the number of volunteers is
capped at 10 per night. On
nights other than Friday, high
school- and college-age Korean
volunteers donate their time to
the shelter.
Being a Korean-American,
Oh can communicate in Korean
“a little,” he said, which is
handy for the PLUR members
looking to help out. Due to po-
David Smeaton (davidsmeaton.com)
tography. A good landscape pho-
to should appear to have every-
thing in focus, from mountains
at the back to rocks in the fore-
ground. This can be achieved
with wide lenses, small aper-
tures and focusing to infinity
(which all cameras can do).
Those are the basics to depth
of field. The important thing to
remember is that DoF is easy to
control because the aperture,
lens length and focal length all
play a simple part. Combine
them well and you can be a mas-
ter of controling DoF, producing
tential communication prob-
lems, PLUR members are the
shelter’s only non-Korean vol-
unteers, and those who speak
Korean are preferred.
The expats who join him on
Fridays are a fairly diverse
group, however. They are most-
ly teachers, and mostly North
American, but have had partici-
pants from places such as
Africa. Their ages range from
early-20s to 50s.
Around 8 p.m., when the vol-
unteers have cleaned up and
changed out of the aprons and
rubber shoes provided by the
shelter, they often meet togeth-
er in Itaewon for dinner and so-
cializing.
For more information on
PLUR and how to contribute,
contact Oh at oh_daniel21@hot-
mail.com or visit the Volunteer
for PLUR! page on Facebook.
(rjamesyork@heraldm.com)
great photos with very high im-
pact.
Happy shooting!
Send David a message at
davidsmeaton@gmail.com or
visit his website at
davidsmeaton.com. If you want
to be a part of the weekly Photo
Challenge, join the “Seoul Photo
Club” group at flickr
(flickr.com/groups/seoulphoto-
club) and for more information
see Seoul Photo Club on
Facebook. — Ed.
An exclusive
with Death
Cab for Cutie
Summertime in Seoul, as in
most cities, is a great time for
concerts and festivals. Seo Tae-
ji’s 2008 ETP Festival didn’t
disappoint; a wide range of
rock acts were brought to
Seoul. On the same day, there
was Marilyn Manson, one of
PETA’s 2008 Worst Dressed, on
the same stage as the PETA-
friendly band, Death Cab for
Cutie. For this band, which has
been on tour to promote their
latest album, “Narrow Stairs,”
such a study in contrasts isn’t
new.
They also played at this
year’s Pemberton Festival in
British Columbia, Canada,
which featured acts from
Coldplay to Jay-Z.
After consistently recording
and touring for over 10 years,
Death Cab has finally reached
rock-star status.
Before their show in Korea, I
was lucky enough to get the
chance to sit down and speak
with two members of the band,
Jason McGerr and Nick
Harmer. The group took its
name from a satirical song of
the same name by the British
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Death Cab started in
Seattle over 10 years ago.
Because I’ve been abroad for
most of that time, I missed
their rise to fame, until I ran
across a video of theirs on
YouTube and put it on my
blog. I also missed the OC phe-
nomenon in which Seth Coh-
en, one of the main characters,
named Death Cab for Cutie as
his favorite band. The OC fea-
tured the band’s songs, and
eventually the band appeared
on the show.
When I asked them to de-
scribe their music, Harmer
said, “At the core of our music,
I guess, we’re just kind of a
rock band. We’re just playing
melodic songs. There is really
nothing too overtly aggressive
about the music that we play. I
think that the themes of our
music tend to be around rela-
tionships and the interactions
between people and the jour-
ney that happens as you get
older and figure those things
out.
“I’d say that we’re a little
bit more intellectual than not,
at times. I guess the hardest
thing is to capture what ex-
actly you sound like. We’ve
been really fortunate to see
our audience grow over the
years since we started 11
years ago.”
McGerr added that he sees
Death Cab as a career band.
He explained that the guys in
the band have known each oth-
er for 13 years. “And, as much
as we’ve been placed with cer-
tain lifestyles or television
shows, we’ve still been that ca-
reer band that spans beyond
those things. It doesn’t seem to
be slowing down, and I think
we’re going to continue to do it
as long as it makes sense,” he
said.
Harmer and McGerr played
together in a band for three
years before joining Death
Cab. McGerr mentioned how
“the Pacific Northwest is, in
general, is a very small music
community. We would be in
other projects, passing in the
night, playing the same shows
Death Cab for Cutie in Seoul
Regina Walton’s
Expat Interviews
and venues together, and it
was only a matter of time be-
fore there was appropriate tim-
ing and our schedules lined
up.”
After their show in Seoul,
the band immediately headed
to Australia for a few concerts.
While they were there, they
also helped MySpace TV
Australia launch their online
TV channel by playing an on-
line concert. Harmer ex-
plained: “It’s definitely for
Australia. Australian MySp-
ace is just getting started in a
lot of ways, so our connection,
and the reason we’re doing it,
is mainly for the Australian
fans.
“It will probably be available
on MySpace worldwide be-
cause that’s how MySpace is.”
That led me to ask them a
question about Death Cab
telling their fans to download
music when they signed with
Atlantic Records in 2004. “I’ve
always encouraged download-
ing. I’ve never encouraged
stealing, and I think there is a
difference. A label sells al-
bums.
We live in a world now
where everyone is using the
computer to discover music
and to share music. That’s an
integral part of any band’s ca-
reer, any musician’s career or
any entertainer’s career,” said
Nick. “You can’t really ignore
it. The internet has been in-
valuable in helping us grow
and helping spread the word of
our band.”
The band also has blogs on
their website, and both McGerr
and Harmer admit that they’ve
not really been able to keep
them current.
McGerr adds, “We’ve been
fortunate enough to be savvy
enough to understand how im-
portant it is. But, for us, we’re
fortunate that we became a
band before all that mattered.
We actually had to work hard
before anyone found out about
who we were. We needed to
physically drive across the
country for someone to hear
about the band. One writer
called us a “pre-blog” band. I
understand. I totally get that.
You can have so much notori-
ety with a click of a button,
but do you have staying pow-
er?”
However, for their autumn
tour, Harmer said he’ll use try
to use Twitter for updates.
“Twittering would be a lot easi-
er because I can just do it when
I can do it.” That way, fans can
keep up with what this hard-
working career band is up to
next.
You can find clips from
Death Cab’s Australia concert
at my blog: expatjane.blogspot.
com
For more information on
Death Cab, see their website:
deathcabforcutie.com, and
their MySpace page: myspace.
com/deathcabforcutie
Regina can be reached
through her blog at expatjane.
blogspot.com — Ed.
ETP Festival