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COMMUNITY

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2008

Basic camera metering By David Smeaton

As far as photography goes, I understand most basic concepts. However, I still struggle with metering and how to use it. I don’t know which metering method is best for getting the most out of my photos. — Paul, Seoul Metering is a side of photography that is often ignored by enthusiasts. Many people prefer to concentrate on shutter and aperture, letting the camera control metering. However, this can be a problem because we rely on metering to tell us that light readings are accurate. Metering is where the camera reads the scene and judges the lighting conditions. It measures the light and tells you the best values to use when working out your exposure. Obviously, metering is one of the camera’s most important functions. A lot of photographers struggle to meter shots properly. They tend to overexpose or underexpose photos too often. When metering, there are three systems that can be used to best estimate light settings: matrix (multi-segment metering), spot metering, center-weighted metering. Matrix metering is the most commonly used method. It combines the measurements from all of the zones in your camera’s sensor range. One of the problems with matrix metering is that it overcompensates in extreme conditions. When most of the scene is bright and the subject is dark, matrix metering will underexpose your subject because it’s compensating for the brighter areas. Spot metering is the technique I use the most. This is where you literally use a single spot to meter your photo. The spot is usually the center of the frame, or one of the AF points that your camera uses for focusing. If your subject is a person, use specific AF points to focus on his or her face. That same AF point will be the point your camera uses to meter the shot. This gives a very controlled result and precise meter reading. It’s possible for the background to still be under- or overexposed, but your subject will be perfect. Spot metering is also very useful when you need to meter mid-tones. Set the metering point on a nice mid-tone area, and your shot should be very evenly exposed. The final method is center-weighted metering. This is a good happy medium between matrix and spot metering. Center-weighted uses the entire zone, just like matrix metering, but gives more importance to the large zone in the center of the shot to meter the light, and gives you the appropriate exposure. Centerweighted can be handy when you are in a tricky lighting situation and require metering from a bigger zone. All metering methods are useful, and each has its benefit in different lighting environments. The important thing is learning to use these methods to your advantage, and to always get well-exposed photographs. Happy shooting. Send David a message at [email protected] or visit his website at www.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/seoulphotoclub).

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 [email protected]

PHOTO CHALLENGE — B&W — In central Seoul, near Myeong-dong, a man protests for immigration reform. Billy Gomez (www.flickr.com/photos/billygomez)

Do migrant workers deserve respect? Van had been working for a year and was liked by his female boss, male manager and other coworkers. His being able to put himself at the disposal of his superiors pleased them, making him believe that he had earned their respect. But time eventually proved his perception to be seriously wrong when he got two powerful slaps on the face from his manager in December 2006. The reason: ignoring the manager’s orders to attend to something. But the truth was that Van was already busy with work assigned to him when the order came, and he simply could not pay attention to two equally important tasks at the same time. “My female boss had also given me empty promises on higher wages many times to oblige me into working as long as she and the manager wanted,” explained Van, who was used to working 16 hours a day on average on many occasions for a mere 1.3 million won ($1,400) per month. He has, after two

Lairam Vapual on Migrant Worker Issues years of service, finally come to understand that his selfless contribution and faithfulness to his company could not earn him the respect of his bosses. Sam was too stunned to defend himself or be angry when his Korean coworker suddenly and unexpectedly hit him twice on the back with a bat while he was concentrating on his work in July 2007. Taken aback and not knowing how to respond, he simply felt humiliated. The reason for the beating, the coworker claimed, was that he wanted Sam to work faster. Though the beating itself was not hard, it was psychologically embarrassing enough to force Sam to leave the company immediately for good. “I don’t want to work at a place where I’m not treated like a human being,” said Sam, a soft speaking Asian. Richard and Robert, both

from an Asian country, had been offering one-tenth of their monthly wages to a religious service run by a Korean couple whom they and their comrades respectfully called Samonim and Moksanim. Samonim always kept herself busy looking for jobs for the hard manual laborers and helping to solve their various problems. Outwardly everything seemed to be fine and going well. But the help the beloved Samonim rendered to the laborers in the name of religion did not come without some strings attached and vested interests. In addition to the monthly tithes, regular attendance at services was also required. Defying the order could eventually result in the loss of their jobs. This obliged each member at the service to pay what they called the “one-tenth tax” not out of a sense of gratitude nor a feeling of gratefulness to Samonim, but out of fear of being fired from their respective companies with which she wielded unbelievable influence.

No one ever questioned how much money was collected every month and how, where, when and for what it was spent. But the “one-tenth tax” collection finally came to a stop after one and a half years when the beloved couple moved to the United States in early 2007. Gone with the pair were the money that had been accumulated and both the material and spiritual services. However instead of feeling abandoned the laborers expressed their heartfelt gratitude at being set free from paying the “taxes.” “We’d had to pay the taxes every month, you know,” recounted Robert with a sense of relief. Experiences have shown that migrant workers have not been treated and recognized as human beings on many occasions. The inconvenient and sad truth about migrant workers, whether we want to accept it or not, is that there is a general misperception of them and we let ourselves indulge in what

Amnesty International secretary-general Irene Khan called “a huge hypocrisy involved in dealing with the issue of (illegal) migration in (South) Asia.” The Bangladesh-born official added, “The sending and receiving countries do not acknowledge the migrants’ fundamental rights — although they benefit from it. The countries are even reporting contradictory statistics about the number of illegal migrants. But the large number of people on the move can be considered assets, not liabilities.” In its report in October 2005, the Global Commission on International Migration said, “The nearly 200 million migrants around the world contribute over $2 trillion to the countries where they work and send about $240 billion home yearly, a significant engine of growth for the global economy.” With an increase in the number of the laborers over the years, the amount of money people on the move contribute every year to both their respec-

tive host countries and back home is undoubtedly also increasing. That, of course, includes all migrant workers in South Korea. But it is very regretful to see that most migrant workers have too often suffered physical, verbal, psychological and financial abuse at workplaces and even in a religious environment. “Countries are urged to use factual knowledge about the positive impact that migration has to fight the xenophobia about migrants,” added GCIM, launched by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Anan and a number of governments. Now the real and moral question is not whether migrant workers deserve respect, but rather how and in what ways we can give migrant workers the long overdue respect they truly deserve. The writer is a foreign resident in Gyeonggi Province. His e-mail is [email protected] — Ed.

Contracts and culture in Korea Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that a Western-style contract is best for any sort of international business relationship or transaction. An unambiguous, detailed contract is the best way to ensure a great working relationship with your employer anywhere, but it’s especially important when there are language and cultural barriers between parties. Ideally a formal description of reciprocal duties and responsibilities, the primary purpose of a written employment contract is to ensure the transfer of services and that money runs smoothly, minimizing the likelihood of disputes. I can’t wait for the day when the concept of using the contract as a conflict-prevention tool enters the understanding of Korean employers. If you are a migrant worker — such as an ESL teacher or a factory laborer — your employment contract may very well not be desirable. In Korea, an employment contract is drafted by the employer, and most employees are either not in a position to negotiate the terms or unaware that they should negotiate. The drafting of these agreements is usually left up to employers, who often have limited awareness of their responsibilities under Korean law. The result, of course, is pre-

Lucy Johnson on Law dictable. Korean contracts for migrant labor are riddled with ambiguous language, omissions, errors and illegal clauses. The conflicts that arise from them keep Korea’s overburdened labor boards and civil courts very busy all year round, with the state footing the bill in most instances. Contracts usually reflect the culture of the country from whence they originate, and many of the problems faced by migrant workers stem from the fact that there are many unfamiliar things which form part of the Korean working relationships, which are taken as a given by the employer. In Korea and other Confucian cultures, the employer generally has a much greater degree of involvement in the life of the employee. Far more details are worked out between the parties orally than in a Western business relationship. Generally speaking, these details are dictated orally by the employer rather than being a true negotiation. Absolute obedience is expected by the employer, who, in the traditional Confucian model, also has absolute, paternalistic responsibility over the employee. Under such circum-

stances, an employment contract constitutes the formalization of this Confucian relationship with all that that implies. With foreigners, however, the Confucian model breaks down. Absolute obedience is still expected, of course, but the responsibility side of the social equations is not generally thought to apply to non-Koreans, as the cultural concept of foreigner in Korea is literally “outsider”: one to whom normal mores do not apply. This is an accident of history, as foreigners were generally occupying military or the agents of aggressive empires coveting Korean territory. This has caused a peculiar dichotomy to emerge in the national psychology which means that a different set of social and cultural mores apply to foreigners. This dichotomy can creep into the working relationship. In addition, few foreigners can tolerate the levels of paternalism present in normal Korean employment relationships.

The potential for conflict or discomfort on both sides — even where substantial goodwill exists between the parties — will be very high with this kind of agreement unless both the employer and employee are aware of how their respective cultures affect

the way they approach the relationship, underscoring the need for clarity, and detail in their working arrangements. This basically means writing it down, Western style. Lucy Johnson has an MA in

international law from Handong International Law School in Pohang. Nothing in this column should be interpreted as legal advice. You can comment on this article at www.scottishboomerang.com. The opinions expressed here are her own. — Ed.