Welcome to another instalment of what has become an annual tradition around here, the Year in Review. In this four part series, I’ll walk you through the various clients I’ve worked with over the course of 2025, give a little insight into Korea’s seasons, and share some interesting anecdotes from along the way. As with every year, this series serves to give you an overview of all the different sorts of work I do and how Korea looks and feels at different times of year. I hope you’ll enjoy this ride with me!
The first few months of the year and cold, but trending towards cool as spring approaches. All the trees have lost their leaves and our parks can have a bit of a forlorn feeling to them. But, if we’re lucky, there will be a little snow around from time to time and that can help to shake up the winter days.
January – Family , Event, and Proposal Photography
This January, a few brave families and a young couple joined me for some winter sessions.
First up was an afternoon with Edilyn and her family as they came back to Korea to visit their adopted son’s foster family. I was asked to photograph them as a family of three at Changdeokgung before joining them that evening with the foster family and documenting the moments they had together. Thankfully, the weather was quite warm for their outdoor shoot and we were even able to take our jackets off for all of the shots. It helped that they’re New Yorkers who know what to expect from winter!
One of the things I like to do during my winter time is head out and explore areas of the city I normally don’t have time to visit. This time around, I decided to head over to the trendy district that has taken over the former print district in the side streets off Euljiro. I’d seen photos of neon-filled alleys floating around social media and decided to get my own take on some of them.
My next two families were both visiting from Australia and were, notably, a lot less used to the cold than Edilyn’s family! Still, we managed to brave the cold together and get some lovely frames for them to take home from their experiences here. For one session, we even got lucky with some fresh snowfall the night before! For the second session, we were blessed with some beautiful winter light!
With this warmer weather, I took the opportunity to go out and see the frozen Han River on my bicycle. The winter light, both at sunrise and sunset reflects off the ice in a beautiful way and the cracking of that ice as the river flows beneath it is almost ethereal.
I also had my first opportunity of the year to work with Arcmont for their investment conference in Seoul. This is an interesting assignment as the directive is to get great shots of the speakers without allowing the guests’ faces to be shown clearly. When using these photos, Arcmont focuses on their speakers and the message rather than the guests. This is a big difference from a lot of the events I photograph, which specifically ask for as many photos of guests as possible!
Then, it was time for me to head out to Nami Island for Wei Jun’s proposal. Coming from Singapore, Wei Jun had really wanted to experience a winter day for his proposal to Stella and we got extremely lucky with some snowfall in the days leading up to it. One of the best things about snowfall is that it tends to happen when the temperatures are a little warmer than usual. You generally won’t see snowfall when the mercury hits -20 degrees, for example. It’s much more likely around the 0 degree mark. So, mission accomplished! We got or visually beautiful winter day and also some bearable temperatures for the big day! Of course, I took the opportunity to get a few additional images of Nami Island in the winter while I was there!
Our winter this year had its moments of severe cold, but for the most part, it was quite mild and that meant lots of coffee stops with walks around the city whenever possible. We also had quite a bit of snowfall, which is not typical for Seoul. Although the snow didn’t settle most times, it was still lovely to see the city with little white dots flitting through the air from time to time. The great thing about snow is that it signals warmer days. We don’t typically get snow when the weather is really cold.
February – Travel and Event Photography
This is usually the coldest month of the year in Korea and we don’t see a lot of photography jobs at this time. This is the month we have some respite and get to fly south for warmer places! This year, with my niece graduating high school, we decided to take a short trip down to Vietnam and enjoy the food and people of Hoi An for a week. From there, my wife and I headed to Singapore for very much the same reasons – lovely people and, of course, chicken rice! But, before all that, we had a cold-snap that froze the river again followed by a big dump of snow that sent the city into complete chaos!
In what has now become an annual event for me, I wrapped up February by covering the yearly ICEF conference here in Seoul. This conference is all about the guests and networking. My task here is to get as many candid shots of the guests as possible, as many camera aware group shots as possible, and create a series of portraits of certain members for use on the ICEF site. It’s an incredibly busy day but not one that I’m ever struggling for what to shoot next!
March – Proposal and Family Photography
As the long winter begins to thaw and our days get longer, there is an immediate uptick in enquiries on my end. If you’re looking to book this time of year, doing it well in advance is always a good idea!
I kicked off March this year with a winter proposal in Seoul Forest. During winter, the park is filled with bare trees that lend a very different aesthetic to the resulting images. It’s not for everyone, but I love it! Sam’s proposal was a gorgeously warm March day and lighter clothing made this one a nice easy shoot!
Following this, I had a couple of family photo shoots at Changdeokgung. Seoul’s palaces are beautiful and some of the only things left that truly scream “Korea” in the resulting images. If that’s what you’re looking for, they work in any season! But, they can get busy when the weather is nice and tend to be a little quieter at this time of year.
My next family wanted a Korean feeling, but with a touch of the urban in there as well. So, we decided to have our shoot in the streets of Samcheong-dong. It was a chilly morning, but we made it through with hand warmers and jackets in between shots. In the afternoons, this area is filled to the brim with thousands of tourists, but the very early morning is still workable!
Following that, I took a quick trip down to Busan for Alex’s proposal on Haeundae Beach. The beach is covered with parasols and beachgoers in the summer, but this early in the year, it is all but empty and makes for a beautiful afternoon proposal spot. Alex chose the classic beach/city view for his proposal and we had a lovely, crisp afternoon to work in.
I then headed back up to Seoul for a few family photo shoots to round out the month. Starting with the Hwang family, I visited Gyeongbokgung one morning for a hanbok photoshoot. Then, I was joined by a family I’d worked with several years ago as they revisited Korea. Updating family photos and catching up with old friends is always a pleasure! Then, to finish up, I worked with the Noto family and their four children. Four personalities makes for a fun morning!
Then, as the weather began to warm, it was time for the first cycling Gran Fondo of the year down in Goseong, the Dinoland Gran Fondo. I managed a time of 4 hours and 7 minutes, landing me in 14th place overall out of more than 1000 participants. Not a bad effort for a MAMIL! The real reason I did it, though? For a medal with a dinosaur on it! Some of us never really grow up!
And that wraps up the first quarter of 2025. I’ll see you next week for the second quarter, the time when things really ramp up! Take care, everyone!