When it comes to Seoul’s palaces, the heavy-hitters of Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung see the most foot traffic and also find themselves chosen as a locations for family photos more often than the others. But, there are a few more palaces that make for wonderful settings, as well. So, in the next few posts here, we’ll explore those, beginning in this post with Deoksugung.
This is a much smaller palace that finds itself nestled between Seoul City Hall, The Plaza Hotel, the British Embassy, and dozens of other institutions. It is most well known for its avenue of cherry blossoms that draws thousands of visitors every hour while the flowers are around. But, it can also make for a great spot for family photos, especially with younger children since it’s so small in comparison with the others.
Getting started on this summer morning with Jennifer and her boys, I knew that was going to be a boon for us. Our little one wasn’t quite ready for interaction with a new person and we’d need to work quickly and efficiently to keep him and his big brother on our side for the session. As you can see, a bottle for comfort was where we needed to start. But, it only took a few moments to bring him out after that, then it was game on for us adults to make sure we could hold onto those emotions.
From there, the sun was beating down on us a little too much, so we skipped under an awning to avoid its heat and harshness. Knowing we wouldn’t be able to move around too often without losing our flow, I decided to keep us there for several different images. Also, switching between the boys allowed us to give each of them a break and create a variety of images in the meantime.
Finally, to wrap up our time together, we went for a walk and climbed some stairs to keep the boys entertained. Then, it was clearly getting close to feed and nap time for our littlest member, so we decided to pull the plug before he got too hangry with us. The small size of the palace grounds allowed us to get quite a bit of variety in a limited time and have shorter distances for the young kids to traverse between shots.
Please send me a message if you’re looking to have your own family photographed in Seoul or anywhere else in Korea. I’d love to hear from you.