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You feature a lot of people in your pho- tographs, but they’re rarely engaged with you. What are you looking for when you include people in your pictures? As with all photography, first and foremost it’s all about the light. Once I have found lighting I like in place, I will wait until something strikes me about someone. Anyone with a unique dis- position or interesting way of carrying them- selves will often translate into something gen- uine in print. I prefer candid photography and to focus on what is actually happening in the world around me. It is important to capture what first strikes me as fascinating to keep it interesting. If up close, I usually like to obtain at least a nod’s worth of consent. Often I will obtain it, take a few shots and wait for them to think I have fin- ished. Once they have lost interest in me and carried on with what they were doing, then I get that one last shot. This picture is often the keeper. What time of year best suits photograph- ing Jinju? The locals will all tell you May is the time to visit. Although Jinju is full of numerous verdant views in the spring, so are many places. My favorite season in Jinju is autumn. Visit the fa- mous Namgang Yudeung Lantern Festival in October when the Nam River is lit up by lu- minous, statuesque lanterns. Or come a few weeks after the festival and stay at one of the many hotels on the river at a reduced rate and you will still find the lanterns lining the area around the palace. Is there anything else near Jinju that could be visited on the same trip? In nearby Hadong, in a valley below Jiri Mountain, there are some wild tea fields, which was the first place in Korea to grow tea. It’s magic. Also in Hadong you will find a cultural village set on a mountainside above the Mar- ried Pine Trees, which stand alone in a field. This is a picture many photographers seek out in Korea, as the simplicity of the terrain inter- rupted by these lone trees casts a striking tone when taken at the right time of day. 91 GEttING tHERE c To get to Jinju, take a bus from Express Bus Terminal in Seoul (travel time is approximately 6 hours). Buses also go from Incheon Airport to Jinju’s Intercity Bus Terminal. Departures are at 10:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m., the travel time is 4 hours and 20 minutes and the cost is 35,000 won (jinjuterminal.kr). The KTX takes roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes. There are also daily flights to Jinju’s Sacheon Airport from Gimpo Airport in Seoul.