Every now and again, I get a request to use Korea’s Garden of Morning Calm as a location for a family or couple session. It can be a lovely spot, but there are some logistical and crowd-size considerations to make when thinking to use the arboretum for a photo shoot. So, in this blog, we’ll explore some points surrounding these while looking at Richard’s beautiful proposal to Jolyn.
Richard had reached out quite a few months in advance of his travel dates, which is always a good idea, especially at the busy times of year – spring and autumn. He was hoping for autumn leaves in a natural setting for his proposal. We discussed several different locations, finally settling on the Garden of Morning Calm for his proposal.
The first and probably most important clue to how to make the Garden of Morning Calm work is in the name. Morning is by far the best time to be there. Since the arboretum is nestled in a valley in Gapyeong County, we’re unable to make use of the golden hours in this spot. The surrounding mountains and also the opening times of the arboretum do not allow for those hours to be used. So, it’s best to be there right at opening and take advantage of the thinner morning crowds as well as the best light available at the location.
To make this happen, Richard and Jolyn followed my recommendation and booked a hotel room nearby the entrance. There are a few, significantly overpriced, options there and they’re worth it unless you’re planning to take a private car from Seoul to get there early. Public transportation out that way isn’t nearly as convenient as Seoul.
I arrived early the day before our session to make a final recce of the arboretum and provide Richard with some potential locations for his proposal. We quickly decided on the perfect spot for him and I whipped up a step-by-step guide that would lead him there. All that was left then was to get some sleep and be at the gate before the hordes the following morning.
The spot we’d chosen would not get sun for the first 30 minutes of our session, so that would be the perfect timing to capture all the colours of autumn without the harshness of the late morning sun. Knowing this, Richard had made sure Jolyn would be ready to go and at the gate early without letting his plan slip. After a short walk into the arboretum, Richard and Jolyn arrived at our pre-determined spot at around 9:15 before too many people trickled into the area.
Once the couple had spent a few moments together, Richard introduced myself and the video team and we headed up the hill a little to enjoy the morning sun for our couple session. Autumn in Korea isn’t cold by any means, but for our equatorial brethren, it can feel a bit nippy towards the ends of day. With the sun on your skin, though, it feels much warmer!
There are some beautiful scenes in the Garden of Morning Calm that work really well for a couple session, even if they don’t shine quite as much for a proposal itself. Richard and Jolyn were also extremely lucky that they came during the peak of autumn, so all the trees were covered in colour and we even had some pink muhly grass!
After about an hour of shooting photos and video, it was time for us to wrap up. Not only was the light starting to get harsh everywhere, but the tour busses had begun to arrive and the place was teeming with people. There were so many people leaving, even at this time of the morning that we couldn’t all fit into the public bus! Myself and the video team ended up waiting nearly 45 minutes for a taxi to get us out of the valley and down to the nearest metro station. Definitely keep transportation times in mind when visiting this area!
Thanks for taking the time to look over this post! If you’re interested in having your own pre-wedding or proposal photographed at the Garden of Morning Calm, or anywhere in Korea, please get in touch. Don’t forget to follow my Instagram for more photos and information as well!