spring forward...

 

Spring is my favourite season in Seoul. More or less the reason is because I've actually been able to experience spring. In Canada the weather usually sprints from winter into summer, without pausing to wait for the pleasures of spring. 

The temperatures in Seoul this time of year are also the best. It starts to get warm, and we can actually get to enjoy the sun's rays. The humidity that plagues the summer months has yet to arrive, along with the rain. 



  Within a week of warmer weather the trees spring to life. It's insane how quickly a bare tree can sprout to life. The first trees to flower are the magnolias (a purple one pictured left). The first weekend the temperature reached the double digits these trees erupted with life. 

The most common type of magnolia in Seoul is the white magnolia (pictured below). These flowers are by far my favourite to both look at and photograph. They look like stylized radar dishes, or a venomous animal.
















 
  The size and shape of the magnolias are what makes them my favourite to photograph. I've found that my camera, although great, isn't the greatest at taking macro shots of small clustered items. These large flowers are spaced out with more tree branches showing. That allows me to take photos like the ones above (and right), where I get underneath and above the flowers. With the sunlight they glisten beautifully. I can get great contrasting images with the branches, and other items (the sky/ground).

   Cherry Blossoms

This weekend marked the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival. We have had gorgeous spring weather for the past couple weeks, and the trees have been taken over by the small white flowers. (shown below)

Individually the flowers are tiny, no larger than a loonie (pictured left, and below left). They group together in tight bunches, and these bunches appear to take over small branches. It's amazing that each tiny branch can support so many tiny flowers.


The first trees that I saw were stunning, yet still not fully covered in flowers. Two trees in particular blew me away. The trees (pictured below, and below left) were two trees that I snapped countless photos of. The sunlight and backgrounds were amazing. yet these trees were nothing compared to what I'd see next.
















A few hundred yards down the road I came across the trees near the river. They created  an archway of solid white (pictured right, below, and from across the streed below right). If you had any allergies these would create a tube of death. I don't have allergies but I could feel how thick the air was with pollen. I also actually feel that these pictures do not do the scene justice. It was breathtaking, it was something out of a fairytale.












  

The whole day was amazing, the weather was gorgeous, and I've never truly seen anything like these flowers. For those few hours I really felt like I was in a strange world. The buildings and construction in the background of the photo (right) were reminders that I was in the middle of a sprawling metropolis. 


Please check out these photos & more on my Flickr page (link along the right side of my blog). Comment if you really like them.