Ok Kyong Hanrahan Around Town Art Scene
Birdwoman of Benicia
n Jean Purnell
If there’s a crowd of people on a Saturday afternoon outside the doorway of the HQ Gallery on First Street, chances are, popular nature photographer Ok Kyong Hanrahan is on duty and has hung her remarkable wildlife images outside for visitors to see. Her crisp, vibrantly colorful photographs capture images of hummingbirds in flight, ospreys and redtailed hawks catching their prey, a rare bald eagle feeding its young, and other local scenery. Hanrahan first began sharing her photos two years ago on Facebook in the Benicia Beauty group. She was surprised by the positive feedback she received, which motivated her to work hard improving her craft. In 2020, she accepted an invitation to join the HQ Gallery, where she has increased her following. “I am so flattered to know that so many people now have my work hanging in their homes.” “I have always been interested in photography, but it took me a while to get into it seriously,” said Hanrahan. “My early motivation was around photographing 24 • Benicia Magazine
rock concert performances, but these opportunities did not come often, so I began shooting nature scenes and found that bird photography was what I really enjoyed the most.” Friend and fellow gallery member Ebbie Navas admiringly calls Ok Kyong the “birdwoman of Benicia” for her extensive knowledge of the local bird species, which she gained mainly through internet research. “While I also enjoy shooting landscapes and wildlife in general, birds are the most fascinating to me because of the incredible variety of species in our local area, and the different behavior patterns they have,” says Hanrahan. A Benicia resident since 2003, Hanrahan grew up in a suburb of Ulsan, in the southeast of South Korea. She attended the Pusan University of Foreign Studies where she majored in Japanese and English. After graduation she worked at the Officer’s Club at the US Army base in Pusan, where she met her husband Kevin in 1989. They moved to the US in 1991. Hanrahan is mostly self-taught. She got her first serious DSLR, a Canon
70D, in 2013, and now uses the Canon R5. Her favorite lens is the 600mm f/4L lens, as well as the 70-200mm f/2.8L and 24-70mm f/2.8L lenses. “I have not taken any formal photography classes, but I do learn some skills and get some
“She calls her van the “Vogelfanger,” which is German for “birdcatcher,” the character in Mozart’s Magic Flute. ”
