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Year in Review Part 4 – 2021

Thompson Family Photos in Seoul

Welcome to the fourth, and final, section of my 2021 Year in Review series. In the final quarter of the year, things ramped up significantly as Korea’s vaccination program began to take hold and restrictions on gatherings finally began to relax. This quarter, I was able to photograph many more families, corporate events, and even a little editorial.

October – Family, Travel, Couple, and Event Photography

October means cooler temperatures and an eye towards Autumn for us here in Seoul. It’s one of the nicest months of the year for family photography and, thankfully, Korea had resumed its adoption program and I was able to work with several families across this period. To get things started, I had the opportunity to work with the Bishline family. Their daughter, HaEun, was still very cautious around her parents and the stranger they had brought into her life so soon. We kept our session respectful of that and stayed quiet and collected, taking moments when we could. It was a very different experience to be capturing such a calm set of images.

Seoul Family - Adoption Photographer
HaEun with her parents at Changdeokgung.
Seoul Family - Adoption Photographer
A tender moment from HaEun.

 

Following this, I saw an empty week before things kicked off again and decided to head down to Jeju Island and complete the so-called “Jeju Island Fantasy Cycling Path”. Jeju Island is still my favourite part of the country and I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone visiting Korea. The cycling path takes a ~270km loop of the island, mostly along the coast. It passes by many of the most spectacular parts of the island while keeping Hallasan on one side and the ocean on the other. The quality of the path itself isn’t really up to scratch in a lot of places, but the views more than make up for it!

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Setting off at sunrise from Gimpo Airport.

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Fishing town granny.

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Fisherman near Aewol.

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Sunset over the west coast.

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Sanbangsan.

 

Jeju Island Fantasy Bike Path
Drying the catch.

 

I got back to Seoul just in time to pack my kit and head over to the German School to shoot their annual school portraits. As always, it was a wild couple of days. Every year, we make almost 300 portraits of students, teachers, and classes during school hours. It is always great to see some familiar faces but also a fun challenge to work with the new students.

 

School Portrait Photographer Seoul

 

After editing and delivering these portraits a couple of days later, I headed out to Nami Island for an early morning family photography session with the McDowra family. Even with the situation the world is in, Nami Island is still crowded and we need to make the most of the early hours to use the popular areas. As always with Nami Island, I stayed out there the night before and was rewarded with a beautiful foggy river in the hour leading up to my session. This is another reason why autumn is such a beautiful season here in Korea. Once my family arrived, we scooted all over the island to make the most of the variety it has to offer before getting a much-needed cup of coffee and heading back to Seoul.

 

Nami Island Autumn
Ducks on the river in the early morning.

 

Nami Island Autumn
Fog and the wake of a passing boat.

 

Nami Island Autumn Family Photography
Obligatory metasequoia avenue photo before the crowds arrive.

 

Nami Island Autumn Family Photography
The final moments of this session were some of my favourites.

 

Arriving back in Seoul, I had quite a unique session with the Sensenig family. Due to the current restrictions on travel, they would be making two trips to Korea for their adoption. On the first trip, their first two children would be with them. However, they wouldn’t be coming along on the second trip for custody. Brittany wanted to do two sessions in the same location and later on, combine them into a single set of images she could keep as a memento of their time here. Being that we would likely have an abrupt change of season in between these two sessions that would give a different feel to the scenery and light, I decided to keep the session in locations I knew should work no matter the season or time of day. On top of that, we made a couple of unique images for the older children as we had open access to Changdeokgung’s “Secret Garden.” Here are a couple of photos from that first session.

 

Seoul Family Photography - Sensenig Part 1
A favourite set of doors at Changdeokgung.

 

Family Photos in Seoul - Changdeokgung
Changdeokgung’s Secret Garden has some very pretty corners.

 

Next, I took a morning off and cycled out to one of my favourite places to watch the sunrise, especially as the autumn fog begins to roll in, Yangsu-ri. The next day, I had a wonderful early morning session with Caitlin and Jay for their pre-wedding photos. We started with a walk through the streets of Ikseon-song before heading into Changdeokgung for the second half of our session. Look out for a full blog of this, as well as quite a few of the sessions here in the coming months.

 

Yangsuri Autumn Sunrise
The metro crossing the Northern Han River.

 

Yangsuri Autumn Sunrise
Yangsu-ri boatman.

 

Pre-wedding Couple Photos in Seoul
Ikseon-dong is gorgeous in the early morning when it’s not completely filled with people.

 

Pre-wedding Couple Photography in Seoul
We just had to make use of Caitlin’s favourite persimmons!

 

To wrap up the month, I had a couple of mid-autumn family sessions to make use of the best light we get all year. Starting off with the Liu family as they took custody of their little man. Somewhere in between collecting rocks and passing them back and forth (that story coming with the full blog soon), we got a collection of smiles to light up any day. To top it all off, we stopped by Fritz for a coffee and a chat afterward. It’s hard to beat a morning like that! A couple of days later was my last session of the month with the Melosi family. Again, the early morning autumn light treated us so well and we got some beautiful portraits to celebrate this family of three soon becoming a family of four.

 

Autumn Family Portraits in Seoul
With a smile that big, he certainly made mum’s arms tired!

 

Autumn Family Portraits in Seoul
Gorgeous morning light.

 

Autumn Family Portraits in Seoul
Gyeongbokgung can be beautiful when you have the place to yourself.

 

Autumn Family Portraits in Seoul
Final photos as a family of three.

 

November – Family, Event, and Travel Photography

I kicked off November with three quick family sessions with the McClauss, McMillian, and Wong tribes. Our autumn here means that the morning and afternoon light is absolutely gorgeous. The sun begins to rise a little later and set a little earlier. This lines up perfectly with the palace opening hours, so for those looking for a palace session, it is the ideal time of year. If you’re lucky, you’ll also have your session fall into that gorgeous couple of weeks (although this year was quite a bit longer) when all the leaves begin to turn and the world is ablaze with colour.

 

Changdeokgung Persimmon
The Changdeokgung Persimmon tree.

 

Family Photography in Seoul
Too much fun with the McClauss family.

 

Seoul family photography
Mother and son portrait.

 

Changdeokgung Family Photography
Getting started with the McMillian family. Changdeokgung in the morning light.

 

Seoul Family Photographer
When boys want to run, there’s not much you can do to stop them!

 

Family Photos in Seoul
Having fun with the Wong family.
Family Photography in Seoul
Father and son portrait.

 

With a day’s break between sessions, I jumped on my bike and headed back out to Yangsuri to test my luck with the fog again. The conditions looked good and the results were absolutely worth the freezing pre-sunrise ride. Heading back to Seoul, I had the pleasure to work with the Sarracino family again for their second adoption. It was great to see Jaden having grown up so much and have a chat with him about his love for cameras.

 

Yangsuri Fog
Autumn fog at Yangsu-ri’s river confluence.

 

Family Photography at Gyeongbokgung
Two boys!

 

Seoul Hanbok Family Photographer
Jaden all grown up.

 

The coming days were all filled with events and editorial work as Korea finally started to relax its social distancing rules. Starting with the cafe show for the Australian embassy, I got the chance to meet barista Caleb Cha and see firsthand his amazing latte art. I followed this up with a quick portrait of Professor Jinah Kwon for an article in the New York Post about Korea’s hit TV show “Squid Game” and the reality of Korean society that birthed the idea. Finally, myself and Roy Cruz joined the KGCCI again for their annual Innovation Awards.

 

Event Photographer in Seoul
Barista Caleb Cha’s award-winning tiger latte art.

 

Editorial Portrait Photographer in Seoul
Professor Jinah Kwon for the New York Post.

 

Event Photographer in Seoul
KGCCI’s 2021 Innovation Awards

 

Following this, it was time for me to revisit October’s session with the Sensenig family and continue the shoot with the newest member of the family. We had a blast running around, playing with blades of grass, and of course, a few rounds of peek-a-boo. Between the two sessions, Autumn had come and gone, but the warm weather and lovely light was still around. We started in the area we left off with the other two children and continued the session from there.

 

Seoul Family Photographer
Boys, I’ve found, typically have one speed. This is it.

 

Seoul Family Photographer
Peek-a-boo was an absolute riot for this little man.

 

To round out the busiest month of the year so far, I had a few events, including one for Tourism and Investment Queensland, who were celebrating 20 years of ties with Korea. Then, a couple days riding along the Han River, and a couple of fun family sessions were a great way to finish the season.

 

Event Photographer in Seoul
Trade and Investment Queensland with Austcham.

 

Cycling Seoul
The absolute best times to get out and ride in Seoul are sunrise and sunset.

 

Han River
A fisherman on the Han River.

 

Seoul Family Photographer
Father and daughther, Park family.

 

Family Photographer in Seoul
Big brother is the source of all the laughs for this little lady.

 

Family Photographer in Seoul
A mix of urban and tradition for this session.

 

December – Event and Family Photography

December was to be a month of family photos, with session after session of gorgeous moments to keep me busy. On top of that, the weather was still quite warm, so we were able to work outdoors without any issues at all! However, the very first session of the month was an event celebrating the 60 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Korea for the Australian Chamber of Commerce here in Seoul.

 

60 Years of Australia-Korea Relations
The ambassador to Korea, Catherine Raper.

 

60 Years of Australia-Korea Relations
Australian wines for the event.

 

Then it was time for the first family photography session of the month. This one was with with the growing Thompson family. They were adding their fifth child to the family and were in Korea for the duration of the adoption process. Speaking with Jenni and Dan, they were extremely happy to have all their children together for such a long period of time before they all head to various schools and begin lives of their own. This would not only be a special session because of the new little man, but because of the time they were able to spend together. No pressure at all on my end!

 

Thompson Family Photos in Seoul
The Thompson family all together.

 

Thompson Family Photos in Seoul
The latest member’s idea of how things should go.

 

With a couple of days until my next session, my wife and I took our final bike trip for the year out to Chuncheon. Unfortunately, our favourite dalkgalbi place was closed for the day and we ended up ordering in, but the ride was gorgeous and the early winter frost made for a beautiful start to the morning ride.

 

Chuncheon Cycling Path
Morning frost on autumn leaves.

 

Chuncheon Cycling Path
Morning over the North Han River.

 

My next two sessions were with the Watts and Schuyten families. We began the Watts family session with about as many laughs and smiles as it was possible to pack into the moments we had. We got so many portraits in such a short time that it was all our little man could do to stay awake. After our second mini-location, he looked at us all with an “I’m done” face and promptly fell asleep in his father’s arms. That gave us a chance to make a very different kind of photograph to commemorate the day. The Schuyten family was about the polar opposite of this session, with the little lady taking a bit of time to open up and let her smiles flow. With a bit of patience, we were able to get some beautiful moments when she was ready to give them.

 

Watts Family Portraits
Smiles and laughter were almost too easy while we were awake!

 

Watts Family Portraits
I was pre-warned that our little man napped hard. It was no joke. “Out like a light” is absolutely appropriate for how it went.

 

Schuyten Family Photography
The Schuyten family.

 

Schuyten Family Photography
It took a little doing, but that’s a smile worth waiting for!

 

The next day I spent some time with the Yan family. Jennifer had let me know that Bomi was a little shy so we decided to meet the day before our shoot and get a coffee together. I stopped by a store on the way over and bought some chocolate mushrooms to share with Bomi in an effort to get her on my side. While she didn’t immediately open up to me, I did get a little smile and a wave goodbye when we parted. Little did I know how much of a hit those chocolate mushrooms would be. At our session the next day, they became the feature of everything we did. More on that when the full blog goes live, but it should be easy to spot them below!

 

Seoul Family Photographer - Yan Adoption
Bomi and her jar of snacks.

 

Seoul Family Photographer - Yan Adoption
Despite the drizzle, we had a great time chasing each other around the courtyard.

 

In my final family photo shoot before Christmas, I met the Ford family on one of the most beautiful days of the year. The air was reasonably clean and the sky was blue. In the early winter, this means warm light towards the end of the day and we got very lucky at this session. Once we discovered the little lady’s love for peek-a-boo, there was nothing we could do to stop the flow of smiles we would get. I’ve got plenty more images coming in the full blog, but here are a couple to get us through here.

 

Ford Family Photographer - Seoul, Korea
Keeping it fun as the afternoon gets cool.

 

Ford Family Photographer - Seoul, Korea
Swings brought out the biggest smiles of the day.

 

After Christmas, I had just a few more sessions left to round out the year. However, as we got closer to the dates we had scheduled, the weather forecast took a turn for the worst. We would lose more than 10 degrees Celcius overnight, which would mean that who of my sessions would be plunged below freezing. Especially when it comes to post-custody sessions, this is just not ideal. So, I contacted all the families and scheduled the sessions back to back on one day. It was going to be a long, tiring slog with plenty of coffee and sugary snacks for me, but such a better experience for my families. Here we have the Fliflet family and two solo dads, including Andrew (who I worked with a few years back), who were here to bring their children home.

 

Palace Family Photography in Seoul
With the few moments of light we got between the clouds, we were able to make some beautiful moments.

 

Palace Family Photography in Seoul
That beret, though… Winning!

 

Seoul Family Photography - Dorsey
It was a joy to see this little man smile.

 

Seoul Family Photography - Dorsey
I believe I mentioned earlier that boys like to run…

 

Family Photography - Wallace
Father and son.

 

Family Photography - Wallace
If I haven’t mentioned it yet, boys run.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this final post in the series. Please do follow both my Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date. Happy New Year, all. See you again soon with some full blogs of these sessions soon. Stay safe and healthy!

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