Welcome to Part 3 of my 2025 Year in Review series. This time, we’ll be making the long slog through the summer heat and enjoying some of the best light that Korea offers all year. I hope you enjoy this ride and join me again for my final instalment next week!
July – Family, Commercial, and Proposal Photography
Kicking off July, I started with some family sessions, one in Gyeongbokgung and one in Changdeokgung. Both had some real personalities and it was great to see people not only braving the summer heat, but still having fun in it!
Then, I had to skip a day before my next session as my mother arrived in Seoul for a visit. We took a walk, had some coffee, and stopped by the Ghibli store to welcome her back to Korea. You might recognise the gazebo below from my shoot with Arron and Keerthana.
No rest for the wicked, though, and I was quickly back on with Mayerling and her family at Gyeongbokgung. The summer sun can be extremely harsh during the opening hours of the palaces, but there are still some photographs to be made and some shade to hide in.
With a quick two day window to take mum out of the city, we got on a bus to Sokcho, the city that never disappoints. With the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other, Sokcho is an absolute pleasure.
Next up, I made my way down south to work with Volvo Construction Equipment again. As usual, we’re photographing machines that haven’t hit market yet, so you can check out the blog of my previous work here and enjoy this placeholder in the meantime.
With this shoot being so close to Busan, I had mum come down and join me there for her last couple of days in Korea. Busan is a lovely city with a much more relaxed demeanor than Seoul. It made for a great last stop. For just nine days in country, she managed to see a good bit of it!
After heading back up to Seoul, I took mum out to the transfer station that would get her to the airport and got on a flight from Gimpo myself to head back down to my second home, Jeju Island, for Jason’s proposal at Jeongbang Falls.
The rain that hit us on Jeju had made it up to Seoul at this point and threatened to wash out my session with the Michas family, but nothing was going to stop us from catching up in the park and having some fun before their flight home!
After that, I headed over to the New Seoul Hotel for a type of shoot I don’t do very often but enjoy the meditative quality of, hotel rooms! I’d worked with this hotel on a couple of shoots years ago and their recent renovations meant that they needed some updated images. We got through a massive 14 room types over the course of the day!
The next morning, I had my last session for July with the Xiong family at Changdeokgung. With the sweltering summer sun in full swing, I was surprised that Lesley maintained her desire to wear a full hanbok for the shoot! We kept things light and fun to ensure we didn’t lose the kids to the summer sun!
August – Proposal, Family, and Event Photography
My first port of call for August was Jeju International Airport again for Marvin’s proposal to Sierra. He’d really hoped for the sunflowers to still be around and, up until my last visit, they had been. But, as with all flowers in Korea, they’re incredibly short lived and were completely wilted by the time his date arrived. So, we pivoted to a beautiful scene looking over Hamdeok Beach nearby.
Back in Seoul, I headed over to see my good friends, the Yan Family, and meet the latest addition to their family. Young Daon warmed up quickly and we were able to create a few lovely moments before they headed home to get settled in together.
As the you may have noticed, there’s a bit of a flip-flop pattern going on here. Back to Jeju it is for me! This time, I was there for Patrick’s beautiful proposal at Seopjikoji. With the bright summer sun hitting the rocks behind, it was a gorgeous scene for the couple and we had one of the nicest sunsets of the year to work with after the proposal.
Following that, I flew up to Seoul, jumped on a train and headed south for another shoot with Volvo Construction Equipment. Again, here’s a placeholder until the new machines hit market! It might seem like a daunting task to photograph heavy machinery, but it’s a lot of fun working with these amazing people!
Back in Seoul, I staked out Yeouido Park waiting for Anthony to arrive and make his proposal. It was a beautiful summer day with the lovely stream in the background. Summer is also the time when Korea’s national flower, the Rose of Sharon is out in full bloom, so we made use of those for a few images after the event.
After a long day working with the trade division of the Australian embassy, I headed over to Seoul Forest again for another proposal. Alex had booked a couple session for Crystal to celebrate their trip to Korea and had secretly plotted with me to propose in the middle of it. The full blog will come soon and bring the full story of how this happened for you. Follow my Instagram to get notified when that goes live!
September – Proposal and Event Photography
September is an absolutely spectacular month for outdoor sessions here in Korea. The late summer heat and light are beginning to give way to the autumn warmth and the greens are taking on a more bronzed hue. This is the time of year that I can say never fails to deliver, even when we get a little rain!
For my first session, I found myself at Seopjikoji again with Gavin for his beautiful sunset proposal. We had that gorgeous September sun for this session and the full story will come to the blog at the beginning of next year.
The following morning, I flew back to Seoul, switched out my bag, grabbed some lunch, and headed over to photograph an event by PMI about the state of Artificial Intelligence as a tool. It was great to see people discussing its benefits and dangers rather than simply hyping it up as the most wonderful thing to ever happen. We need more discussions like this!
My next shoot was a “show up and shoot” proposal with Edwin. He’d taken the opportunity to visit the Pixar exhibition in Seoul during his visit as Toy Story was Joyce’s favourite movie. This shoot involved me turning on the charm and getting the staff to agree to send me ahead one team so I could be in place when they arrived. A few quick moments later, I offered my congratulations and we parted ways.
From there, I grabbed my bag and headed to the airport in the rain, knowing full well that tomorrow would be absolutely spectacular as the sky cleared. In stark contrast to the proposal above, this one was intricately planned and all Chris had to do was remember what he wanted to say! The full story of this day can be found here.
Next up was my first event with Nuveen for the season. These events are a great challenge because I’m tasked with creating a series of images to show off the feeling of the event without clearly showing the guests. This allows the images to be used without worrying about who might be seen where.
My next session was an early morning proposal in Seoul Forest Park. There was so much emotion involved in this proposal and I can’t wait to share the full set on my blog next year.
Next, my second event with the Arcmont/Nuveen team. Not only are these events a challenge to photograph, but they’re very interesting to listen to. The sorts of considerations that go into fund investments are well beyond the scope of what most of us will ever think about and it’s fascinating to hear.
It wouldn’t be a week in business this year if I didn’t go back to Jeju Island, right? So, here we are again for Chester’s proposal. While they were a few minutes behind for the gorgeous sunlight to be hitting this scene, we did head back up the mountain afterwards and make some lovely images with that light afterwards.
Then, I headed back to the mainland for another shoot with Volvo Korea. This time, here’s a placeholder for what a good portion of every shoot looks like for us. Getting the machine as clean as possible for each shot is key to making these images.
Then to wrap up this quarter, I had one final trip down to Jeju Island for Sengly’s proposal. We had a gorgeous, if incredibly windy day for this one. On Jeju, wind is par for the course, but this day was one step above that. Still, we had beautiful moments and beautiful light to work with, including a lovely pink sky at sunset that washed the landscape in a beautiful magenta light.
With a few days of downtime left in September, it was on to editing and making preparations for the madness that October brings. See you next week for that onslaught! Thanks for joining me here.