Chris and Annie – A Summer Proposal on Jeju Island

If you’ve ever wondered how nice weather can get, the days after storms, especially in summer, on Jeju Island are absolutely spectacular and are a good example of peak weather. The rain clears the air and visibility reaches its best. For several hours after a summer storm, we’ll also get those beautiful cumulus clouds that look like a child’s drawing.

The day I did my recce for Chris’ proposal to Annie was one of those days. The day before had been a blue-sky day and there had been a little rain overnight. I honestly wished I could have transported Chris right to this time and place for his proposal, it would have been spectacular. Alas, those are skills I don’t possess and so I simply had to hope for the best on the day of.

When I landed on Jeju Island ahead of Chris’ big moment, it was, would you believe it, raining and forecast to clear in the afternoon. I quietly allowed myself to feel a flutter of hope and excitement, but didn’t allow it to build or influence what I would capture. It’s always best to wait and see. That way, I’m open to making the most of what I’m presented with and can present my subjects with a faithful representation of their moment.

Both Chris and I were watching the weather and were prepared to change things up if it was not looking good. It’s always best to leave your big day as open as possible so you can be flexible if needs be. In the end, this turned out to be the perfect strategy as a cloud band and Jeju’s usual sea haze had started to form on the horizon, so we were able to sneak this in before the sun got low enough to be obscured.

I messaged Chris and gave him a window that I thought would work best for the proposal. He and Annie got out of the pool and got themselves ready to visit the coast. To his credit, he was within a couple of minutes of the time we’d discussed and I had everything set ready to go.

He and Annie walked onto my set, Chris had them admire the wind turbines, ocean, and gorgeous sky for a moment while he got himself ready and stood them where I’d suggested. Then, the rest was history.

Annie had absolutely no idea this was coming and Chris took all the time in the world to savour this once-in-a-lifetime moment. This was absolutely perfect from my perspective as I had time to capture a lot of different emotions from different angles and get a really nice collection of images for them.

Once their moment was through, we got to know each other for a moment and then made the most of the softer afternoon and early evening light for a post-proposal couple session. Annie mentioned that she loves the ocean, so we tried to feature it in as many images as possible while keeping elements of the Shinchang Coastal Windmill Road in to remind them of where this amazing day happened.

And finally, here’s a video of this beautiful moment! A warning, the lead in is quite long, but the end is worth it! Thanks for sticking around and please feel free to reach out to discuss having your own proposal photographed.