Welcome to the third installment of my year in review here. With MERS in full swing here in Korea, and travel warnings popping up everywhere, we had a quieter than usual summer here. But it did give some space for more personal work, and respite before the end of year rush.
After a couple of international trips in June, it was great to start July back in Seoul with a local expat family. With the trees finally in their full summer greens and a few of the clearest day’s we’d had, it was the perfect time to spend a day in the park with Sarah and her family.
It was also great to have a chance to get out with my pals John Steele and Marco Devon and spend some time capturing Korean life. Being far removed in the styles we capture makes for a great day of walking around the city and collecting moments of life in Seoul. I encourage you to check out both of their works for some beautiful perspectives on Korea.
Then it was time to meet the Smith family and spend a day with them as they brought their second son into the family. It was a wild ride through the heat of summer with Samual and Henry, but we managed to squeeze in some apartment time, along with fried chicken on the Han River and a palace. Here’s a frame from our play at the end of the session.
I also had the pleasure of working with the Grosso family as they brought their second daughter into the family. A good portion of our session was spent trying to stop her from eating all the greenery!
We also squeezed in another cover for Seoul Magazine; this time focussing on the small businesses of Yongsan’s entrepreneurs.
Just before heading to Australia for a quick bit of family time, I picked up the Hasselblad 500 I’d been wanting for so long. Shooting in square format through a waist-level viewfinder has been a treat again, and I’ve put a good many rolls through it so far. A couple from the first roll.
Then it was off to Australia, back to the town I grew up in. To me it’s incredible to think that the average Seoul apartment complex holds about the same number of people as my town. Houses are few and far between and everybody knows everybody. We’re also an hour’s drive from the coast. Not many things compare to spending a day sitting on the Australian coast staring at the big blue with family. Good times were had.
Arriving back in Seoul, I spend a few more days with some wonderful adoptive families again. First up was the Herris family. We had a great day in the sun as Jackson took us for a walk around the palace.
I also got to work with all the smiles in the world with the Doss family.
Then, I had the chance to work with the Brennaman family again as Henry joined their family. I had worked with them a few years ago when they adopted the shy, reserved, Lucy. Not so now, she was only challenged in her outgoing nature by her little brother Henry. With all three children so excited to know each other, the day was a wild combination of jumping on beds, running around a palace, and endless energy at the park. Head over the the previous post for more images from that amazing day.
Following this, I spent a day with the Grandbois family. They were in Seoul on a short term contract, and wanted to capture what their life had been like in Seoul. We started in their apartment, and then hit up a few of their favourite weekend visits, like Children’s Grand Park, Changgyeong-gung, and Tomatillo for dinner. Here’s a few frames from an upcoming blog post about the day.
To break up this run of family sessions, I had the opportunity to work with a young couple from Singapore, Ting En and Zack, and another from Malaysia, Kricia and Keith. We used a combination of Gyeongbokgung and Yeouido park for these shoots, and the weather couldn’t have been better for both days. It was so nice to be able to include sky in our frames for a change! 
It was also time for me to meet my old friends Lori, Steve and Davis again as they returned to Seoul to adopt their second son (and little brother!), Park. They would be staying in Korea for the duration of the adoption process, which meant we had much more time to get together this time around. Not only that, but I got to work with them for this adoption as well. More to come in future posts, but here are a couple of images from our time together.
Next up was Jennifer, Rohan, and Hannah from Malaysia. They were back in Korea visiting Rohan’s family for Chuseok, and wanted to get a quick family session in during their time here. We managed to get an afternoon together with at Changgyeong-gung before they left.
While Steve and Lori were over here, they also had a visit from a couple of friends and families I had worked with in the past. So much growth and progress from Davis, Joshua, and Nell!
Wrapping up this quarter couldn’t have been better, with a trip down to my new favourite shooting location, Jeonju, for a pre-wedding shoot with Seo-in and Kwang-woo. We had a great day mixing the beauty of the location and light with a lot of raucous laughter as we navigated the streets of the Hanok town. Needless to say, there is a full write-up on this session coming soon. For now, enjoy the images below. 
That’s all for this week. Stop by next week for another few months of shooting on the peninsula. Until then, stay safe, and Happy Christmas to all.