Thanks for joining me in this final instalment of the year that was 2024. As it usually is, the final quarter of the year was the busiest for us this year, as well. We had some unexpected turns in the weather that made for some of my favourite sessions of the year. I hope you’ll enjoy this post!
October – Proposal, Family, and Event Photography
October’s first order of business was a flight down to Jeju Island for Nathan’s beautiful proposal to Nicolette. We got a soft layer of clouds and a little haze in the sky that brought a beautiful warmth to the morning scene. On the odd occasion, we get light that really doesn’t take much work and makes my job easy. What a great way to start the month! After this, I flew back up to Seoul for a family shoot with the Park family the following morning. October offers that perfect mix of shorter daylight hours and the beginnings of autumn light and scenery that makes for beautiful outdoor sessions.
That afternoon, I flew back down to Jeju Island for Ryan’s proposal along the Seongsan coast. This time, we had an overcast day with quite a bit of that wind that Jeju is so well known for. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful afternoon and we came away with some lovely images. After flying back to Seoul, I had two family photo shoots with families I had worked with for their adoptions in the past. It was great to see everyone again and see the kids all grown up.
Following this were a string of proposals that took me to Jeju Island twice and once out to Olympic Park here in Seoul for the blooming of the cosmos flowers. First up, though, I was down on Jeju Island for Brandon’s proposal in the buckwheat flower fields. These lovely little white blooms last a couple of weeks each year and can make for a stunning photo background. I arrived about 15 minutes before the park opened and charmed my way in to ensure I’d be ready for the couple’s arrival right at official opening time. This was essential to ensure that our photos had buckwheat in the background and not other tourists! Following that, I flew straight back up to Seoul to work with Kin Fai as the cosmos came out. Here, there’s really no way to avoid people unless you come at the crack of dawn, so we took that in our stride. Finally, I flew back down to Jeju for Felix’s proposal at Hamdeok Beach. What a whirlwind of a start to the week this was!
I managed to snag a few hours sleep after flying back to Seoul before heading out to work with the Casch family at Gyeongbokgung, doing a Superman-style clothes change, and heading up to the Hyatt Hotel to photograph Daesung Networks’ Lumina Lamb lunch event.
Next, I flew back down to Jeju Island for Ryan’s proposal. While the other winds I’ve mentioned in this series of blogs have been Jeju’s day-to-day gusts, for Ryan’s proposal, we had the moderately strong winds of autumn. These blow hair and jackets around uncontrollably and while they can be lovely in short bursts, can start to irritate your senses after a while. Before our shoot, Ryan and his partner had decided to sit inside the cafe at Seopjikoji for a time to get some respite from the wind. I met up with Ryan for a clandestine restroom discussion of his plans. He was concerned as his partner was having a difficult time with the wind and didn’t want to stay out in it. In the end, I convinced him that once she realised what was happening, he would be forgiven. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful sessions of the year. As we’ll see a bit later in this post, as well, braving the weather usually results in wonderful opportunities.
After flying back up to Seoul, I had a couple of days with the German School Seoul for their annual school portraits followed by a wine event for the South Australian government. Then, as it seems that October is the month for Jeju Island shoots, I flew back down to work with Brandon in the last of the pink muhly grass. We had a beautifully bright day that helped the browning grass keep a little of its colour for us. Then, I flew back to Seoul for a morning proposal in Seoul Forest. Cash had wanted to watch the sunrise with his partner before heading over to the spot, so I prepared a guide for him that would allow both of those things without having to stay out in the cool morning air for too long.
To round out the month, I had four back-to-back family sessions in Seoul. The first was with the York family, which was a session that we had planned much earlier in the year and had postponed a couple of times. Thankfully, when it finally happened, we had some of the most beautiful autumn conditions of the year. That was a theme that would follow in the next two sessions with families from Singapore. Both the Ong family and Lau family got beautiful days at Seoul Forest that were so different even though they were only days apart. My final session was with the Kim family, who I had worked with last autumn as well. This one couldn’t have been more special as we got a rainbow at the end!
November – Family, Proposal, Couple, and Event Photographer
The beginning of November is, most years, slightly autumnal here in Seoul. However, this year, with our warmer weather, the trees were still full in many places and I had several more opportunities to share this season with my clients. Sarah and her family had rented some lovely hanboks for our shoot at Gyeongbokgung that went really well with the remaining autumn leaves. The very next morning, my couple session with Jenny had the same luck. Seoul Forest was still vibrant and made a lovely backdrop for our session.
Over the next couple of days, I had two additional sessions at Gyeongbokgung, one for Ming Wei’s proposal looking back at the city and one with my old friends the Yan Family. These were both special sessions and will have their own blogs dedicated to them soon. Don’t forget to follow my Instagram to know when those go live.
Next, my annual event with the KGCCI for their innovation awards was held at the Banyan Tree Seoul. This event is always a spectacular affair and this year was no different. We even had Ban Ki Moon, who just doesn’t seem to age, along as a special guest this year. A big thanks goes to Roy Cruz for shooting this one with me!
While the autumn stayed warm and the leaves hung around, I was able to work with North and his family from Thailand for their son’s first time in this cool but beautiful season. Then, I had another session with a family I had worked with in years past for their adoption. It’s been a great year for reconnecting with past clients!
After a couple of days of rest and post-production, I flew down to Jeju Island again for Nelson’s proposal. This time around, we had rented a small cafe overlooking the ocean and brought the autumn indoors. Jeju Island, unlike Seoul, had seen the last of its autumn leaves and the trees were bare. Instead, we made use of the lovely space that we had all to ourselves.
Back in Seoul, I had two more sessions in the beautiful Seoul Forest Park. The first was with Melissa and her family where we spent our hour together playing in the leaves with their son. Young boys have the will to play and there’s not much you can do but join them in their games! The next afternoon was a slightly calmer session with Anthony for his proposal in amongst the Eulalia grass with ginkgo trees as a background. The short-lived ginkgos make for great scenes while they are around. Bouncing back across the city, I had a session at Deoksugung with Candice and her family before heading up to the Novotel Ambassador to photograph an Australian wine-tasting event for Austrade.
My final two sessions of the month were both in Seoul Forest Park and just two days apart. It’s hard to believe how quickly the weather can change here and also hard to believe that we still had autumn colours at the end of November! For these sessions, we finally had autumn temperatures for the first time this year. Usually, we’ll experience temperatures like this at the beginning of November rather than the end, but it was definitely time for jackets! As you can see with the proposal, we also had a bit of snow. Who am I kidding? That is the most snow ever recorded in November in Korea! It would have been wrong for me not to get a few photos of Korea at this time as well, so check the end of this post for some lovely scenes at Gyeongbokgung. For the full story of Cleon’s proposal below, you can see my proposal photo shoot blog, as well.
December – Family, Proposal, and Event Photographer
The snow from a few days past had unfortunately also crushed the Eulalia grass that Brendan was hoping for in his proposal. But, we still had the backdrop of the Seoul Fortress Wall and Namsan Tower to make up for it! Following that session, I headed back over to Gyeongbokgung to work with Cheryl and her family with the last hints of autumn on the trees.
By the time Mike’s proposal rolled around a couple of days later, we had no leaves left on the trees but the deep browns of late autumn had taken over and played beautifully with the blue hanboks they had rented for the day. Mike had been a little worried that the snowfall might affect his shoot, but as you can see, a few days makes all the difference. If you look over the other photo shoots I have done around this pond over the course of this year, you can easily see the way the seasons affect the scenery. It’s a really stark difference over just a few months. In another Superman-transformation, I put on my suit and joined the Queensland government for a ministerial delegation to Korea and all of the events surrounding that.
My last time working with kids for the year was a family photo shoot for Jennifer and her crew. We headed into Changdeokgung for a little fun before the cool afternoon temperatures got a little too much for the young ones. Then, I jumped on a flight down to Jeju Island for my last Jeju session of the year. This time around, I’d be working with Joel under the winter camellias for his proposal to Alzena. These gorgeous flowers come out for just a couple of months while the weather is cold in the southern parts of Korea and occasionally get a little snow on them, as well. It’s definitely worth going to see them if you can! For my final shoot of the year, I flew back to Seoul and took the bus directly to Sokcho for Hangen’s proposal overlooking Seoraksan National Park. Despite Seoraksan’s namesake (lit. Snow-Covered Big Mountain), there were only bare rockfaces and beautiful pines to be seen. Still, Seoraksan never disappoints! What a wonderful way to finish the year!
As I headed back to Seoul, I prepared myself for the annual Rapha Festive 500 cycling challenge. Under normal circumstances, you have 8 days to complete 500 kilometres of riding. That’s a relatively easy task, even with the cold weather. However, due to my work schedule, I had four days. That made it slightly harder, but still well and truly doable!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for joining me on my journey through 2024. Also, a big thanks goes out ot all the people who have entrusted me with their time and memories this year. I appreciate you all! Below are some images from between my photo shoots and on my cycling adventures in the most beautiful season of the year. I hope you’re all having a wonderful start to 2025 and look forward to working with some of you over the coming year!
