One of my favorite things about the Internet is its seemingly infinite ability to surprise me with awesome things. Take this drop-dead gorgeous photo essay by Canadian photographer Tyler Stalman, for example. I ran into it while researching the properties of the Kodak Ektar 100 color negative film for shooting landscapes and people. Well, what better way to find out than seeing it in action in one of the most vibrant and exotic places on the planet?

Even if the Ektar film ultimate proved disappointing for shooting people, this amazing story more than made up for it — and whatever you do, don’t miss part two, which contains plenty of images shot in the trendy Gangnam. So cool.

Whenever you hear someone say “film is the medium of the masters”, this is what they’re talking about.

On a side note, Tyler’s story is definitive proof that high-quality photo gear doesn’t need to be expensive: all pictures in this story were shot using a Canon Elan 7e film camera and two prime lenses, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens — also known as the “nifty-fifty” — and the EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. You could pick up all three for under $500, which is less than the cost of just one good Micro Four Thirds prime lens.