Because I'm a princess and I got a new camera.

About two months ago, I got a new camera. It's a Nikon Coolpix L810. It's so pretty! It's red and fancy and ... I don't really know much about cameras, but it takes quality photos! My friend Marli is a photographer, so she agreed to give me a lesson with my new camera. We set out to find a fun place to take photos and experiment with all the settings. She'd been wanting to go see the Gochangeup Fortress, so off we went to Gochang for a day trip. I had been once before, in the spring when the azaleas were blooming, and I loved it. We were hoping that this time we'd see the autumn leaves in all their glory, but we were about a week too early for Gochang's fall color. Even with its plain late summer greenery, it is beautiful. It's seriously one of my favorite places in Korea. I just think it's breathtaking. 

We were there for a mid-week holiday, but we saw a big to-do going on in the area outside the fortress. It turned out that we were there the day before the Gochang Moyang Fortress Festival, which includes the Dapseong Nori walk around the fortress! DANG IT! I want to go to that festival and do that walk! I suppose I'll just have to go back next fall and see the fall leaves and walk around the fortress with a stone on my head. That's a must on my Korea Bucket List. (Legend has it that the walk is supposed to heal your legs and prevent diseases and give you long life, but I really just think it would be all kinds of fun to walk around the fortress wall with all the pretty Korean ladies in Hanbok!)

It was so beautiful watching the sun sink through the bamboo forest, milling around at dusk, finishing our walk around the wall as the night surrounded us. We had a picnic outside the fortress afterwards and people-watched. It was simply lovely! We had a lot of fun. I'm glad I have friends who appreciate singing loudly in public places. We might have been belting out Disney songs on the back wall... and by "we"... I mean...  

I tell you what. Princesses belong in cool places like fortresses. 

I finally got the photos on my laptop (since the SD card reader on my laptop broke), so without further ado, here's the result of my first photography lesson! 

I think this one looks like a monster with his mouth open.
RARRR! I WILL EAT YOU! 

If you're in Korea and you're are thinking of taking a trip to Jeolla province, make sure you stop in Gochang for a few hours! It's definitely worth a side trip (or two!) and it's a great place to practice with all the settings on your camera ;)