Summer in Seoul can be a hot and sweaty affair. The heat and humidity tend to drain us adults and cut into children’s patience reserves. But, if you play it right, summer can also be a lovely time for family photos, especially with the soft summer clouds and subtle blues in the sky surrounding Korea’s traditional architecture.
Seoul’s palaces are open from 9am to 6:30pm during the summer months. This means, unfortunately, that we’re not able to work during the best light of day and the sun is usually quite high in the sky. It also means that the hottest hours of day, 2-6pm, are right in the middle of our potential afternoon session time. So, I always recommend going for a morning session in summer, no matter the location you choose. But, this is especially true for the palaces.
Thankfully, for this shoot, we had a mostly cloudy sky. Occasionally, the sun would pop out and we’d get a sense of its stinging heat for a few minutes. But, for most of the session, we had the soft and comparatively cooler light being filtered through the clouds. Many of our summer days here are like this and they always make for a better experience and more flattering photos than the hot, harsh sunlight that comes with clear blue skies.
Sharon wanted to have her family in hanboks for part of our session as well as regular clothes for half of our time together. I always recommend starting the session in hanboks as they can take a little while to get on and get comfortable in. Also, if you’re wearing them, you’ll get free entry to the palaces as a bonus. So, we started our session in the hanboks and got a few frames around some of the colourful palace buildings.
Then, we slipped out of the hanboks and stored them in a bag for the rest of the session. This whole process takes only a minute or two, so we didn’t lose any momentum with the children at all. Since the family had decided to wear subtle whites and blues for the rest of the session, we moved up into the unpainted section of Gyeongbokgung so the palette wouldn’t be too overwhelming and take away from their expressions.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this summer family photo shoot from Gyeongbokgung. If you’re visiting Seoul in summer, please keep in mind how hot and humid it is and reach out with any questions you might have about getting your own family shoot! Take care and stay cool!