In this post, we’ll explore a couple of common challenges with preparing an autumn proposal (or spring, for that matter!) in Seoul to the backdrop of Flavio’s beautiful proposal to Vanessa. We’ll look at location and seasons in Korea and how we overcome the associated challenges.
I’d say that four out of five discussions I have with regards to a proposal start with the desire to have a beautiful place, beautiful light, and few people. That’s a tough thing to find in a tiny country of 58 million people that is the focus of world tourism right now. But, there are things we can do to make that idea as close to reality as we can. Let’s dig into those!
This proposal was planned for the autumn season in Seoul’s most heavily trafficked park, Seoul Forest. We’d chosen it among several options Flavio and I had discussed, and this is the one he liked the most. Seoul Forest can get extremely busy in autumn and on the peak days, it might feel a bit like trying to propose at a shopping centre during the end-of-year sales. But, we discussed ways to manage the crowds.
The two basic ways we can avoid crowds are through choice of timing and location. As a general rule, mornings are quiet in Korea. The locals are not early risers, and even when they are, they take quite a while to prepare themselves and leave the house. So, if you’re open to it, a sunrise proposal is the absolute best way to ensure you’ll be all alone in a gorgeous location.
In this case, Flavio was not open to a sunrise timing to completely avoid crowds as he didn’t think he could get Vanessa there. So, that left as with sunset and trying to avoid people as much as possible. Thankfully, it wasn’t as big a challenge as we expected, and we’ll see the reason soon.
During my recce at Seoul Forest for this shoot, I visited on the same day of the week and time of day that the shoot would be held at to get the most realistic idea of how things would be that I could. I concentrated my location scouting on areas that were transient. I looked for spaces where people wouldn’t stop and picnic, for example. That would help us to minimise the chance of having others around. It would also mean that Flavio could just stall for a minute or two on the way over if people arrived and then we’d have a clear space.
In the end, he chose this bridge. It’s a great spot visually because of the natural frame it creates and the way the afternoon light hits it. It’s also great as it’s off the main thoroughfare and isn’t a place people tend to stop for any amount of time. There’s also a bench right next to it where I could wait to blend in inconspicuously. Thankfully, on this day, the crowd was minimal and everything went off without a hitch.
That brings us to the season. In any given year, the timing of autumn in Seoul can vary by days, weeks, or even a month some years. The beautiful autumn leaves we hope to see only last a little over a week most years and they could be towards the end of October or even towards the middle of November some years.
When I checked our location a few days before the shoot, the leaves had barely started to come through, despite it being the end of October. Autumn would be late this year. No matter, though. Our choice of afternoon golden hour meant that the light would also lend its colour to the changing leaves and give them that little boost into the autumn hues that we would need to give it the feeling of the season.
As an added bonus to the challenges of autumn, the trees in Seoul don’t change all at once. We can usually find a pocket of autumn feeling somewhere, even if the rest of the location still feels a bit like summer or like it’s headed into winter. In the case of Seoul Forest, the fields of Silver Grass change much faster than the rest of the park and last a lot longer, so we can guarantee those for a good 6-8 weeks every year.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed the images of Flavio and Vanessa’s proposal and will join me in wishing them all the best! I also hope that this post has been helpful to anyone looking to propose in one of Korea’s gorgeous, but very short and unpredictable, transition seasons. Please reach out to discuss how I might help you make it a reality.