Jeju Island is famous for its natural beauty relatively warm climate. It’s also well known, especially among locals, as one of the windiest parts of the country. In fact, it even goes by another name in some circles, Samdado. The characters for this name translate to the “Island of Three Plenties,” referring to its wind, rocks, and ladies. In this post, I’ll focus on one of those plenties and shar a very windy Jeju Island Proposal, indeed.
Ryan and I had planned his proposal several weeks in advance and had everything in order to make it a memorable day. All Ryan had to do was park his car, follow the directions I had provided him, and concentrate on the most important thing – his proposal to Cyndi. Or, so we thought!
On this day, the wind picked up significantly and staying upright became quite a challenge as the gusts intensified. By the time they had reached the peak of the park, Cyndi had all but had enough of the wind and Ryan texted me to let me know things might not go ahead. I let him know that there was a cafe right near where he wanted to propose and they could warm up and stay out of the wind for a bit. He agreed to attempt to bring Cyndi there.
When they finally did arrive, Ryan ordered drinks and excused himself to the bathroom so he and I could formulate a plan. He was really worried that Cyndi wouldn’t want to go out again. In the end, I showed him an alternate route back to his car that would take in our planned location and suggested that he would be forgiven for everything once she caught on to what was happening. We agreed to give it a go!
About five minutes before they were ready to go outside again, Ryan texted me and I got myself into position and placed his flowers on the path so he could hand them to Cyndi. I watched them come down the path, hair flicking in the wind and jackets flying all over the place. As they reached the location and Ryan bent down to pick up the flowers, it was clear that I was right. He would certainly be forgiven for dragging her out on this windy day!
From a photographic perspective, the drama of the weather coupled with the heightened emotions it brought made for beautiful moments. Between Cyndi’s joy at Ryan’s proposal, the soft overcast light, and the crashing waves in the background, I had all the ingredients to produce a beautiful cinematic record of their special day.
Over the following 30 minutes or so before the sun dipped below the horizon and everything got dark, Cyndi agreed to brave the cold and get some pictures together to commemorate their moment. The wind dictated when and where we’d be able to shoot, but we made the most of the special conditions. Just as the sun began to set, there was a small break in the clouds that allowed an almost ethereal magenta glow cut across the sky. If the conditions had felt cinematic before, the colourists had come to put on the final touches now!
As always, a big thanks goes out to Ryan for bringing me out for this life-changing moment. On top of that, though, another thanks goes to Cyndi for braving the weather with us and being such a good sport in Jeju’s weather. To my readers, please follow me on Instagram for more photos and reach out if you’re looking to have your own photography in Korea!