Nancy and her family were visiting in the heat of Korea’s summer. The summer days are hot and sticky, but we avoided the toastiest parts of day by working right as the palace gates opened. Thankfully, we also had a cloudy day that kept the heat to a minimum, as well. Nancy had let me know that she wanted to mix the session up between images in hanbok to honour their heritage and images in their everyday clothes for a […]
Here, we’ll explore some rainy spring family photos with the Tans. Spring in Seoul is quite an unpredictable season. Firstly, there’s the changing temperature and the cold-snap that often comes with it (fun fact, in Korea they call this “Winter is Jealous of the Flowers”). Then there are the fleeting flowers. And, as we’ll explore today, the spring rains. Rain doesn’t tend to be heavy at this time of year, but frequent showers help the trees grow their leaves back […]
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, […]
Cherry blossoms. Oh, cherry blossoms. These fleeting little blooms drive even the most stolid heart wild once a year. For the few days, maybe a week, that these little white beauties offer us their presence, the crowds descend and the world turns to chaos. Still, they have a drawing power that brings couples and families alike knocking at my door to capture themselves at this especially transient time of year. In this post, we’ll explore a session where the couple […]
Dozens of times a year, I get contacted for spring family photos in Seoul and I often have to share the same information. So, in this blog, I want to share what spring is like here in Seoul while sharing these fun photos of the lovely Geertsema tribe. We had a great session with these two wonderfully courteous young people who made our morning out together such a breeze! Spring here in Seoul roughly covers the months of March and […]
Welcome back to Part 2 of my 2025 Year in Review series. As the weather gets warmer, I found myself defrosting my fingers and winding up to the busiest times of year. This quarter saw me working with more than a dozen families, ten couples, and covering several corporate events. April – Family, Travel, Proposal, and Event Photography Throughout April, I had several upcoming shoots on Jeju Island and, not living there, I needed to get the lay of the […]
In the leadup to this photo shoot, I got a question I get from so many parents of young children. I was told that the little lady was typically shy or grumpy around new people and could take quite some time to warm up. Would one hour be sufficient, I was asked. I answered the same way I always do, one hour is plenty! Typically, it only takes a couple of minutes to warm kids up as I always keep […]
Autumn in Seoul is a short-lived, but beautiful time of year. Typically, we’ll get a week or two of gorgeous colours on the trees around the last week of October and the first week of November. Then, all the leaves fall to the ground and the temperatures start to drop. That’s what I was afraid of when Jane contacted me from Singapore. The end of November is usually freezing cold and the trees are barren. However, as we’ll see, in […]
My discussion with Daniel started several months in advance of his proposal, which is a great time to start! We had plenty of time to toss ideas back and forth as well as work out the perfect date on his trip around other shoots I already had booked. As the discussion progressed, we went back and forth between locations such as Jeju Island, Seoul Forest Park, and Olympic Park. Eventually, Daniel settled on Gyeongbokgung to combine palace architecture with some […]
On an early morning in September, just as Seoul’s palaces open their gates to visitors, I scooted quickly and quietly along the paths to Changgyeonggung’s greenhouse. Kyle followed behind, following my instructions but not hurrying like I was. His mind was occupied with keeping calm as he prepared to propose. We’d been in touch for a few weeks before the proposal and settled on this location as a good compromise for all the elements Kyle wanted. He’d originally hoped for […]