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 spring flowers. Ultimately, this turned out to be the best option as the cherry blossoms he’d been hoping for bloomed early and ended up almost completely gone by the time he visited Seoul.
Once the location was chosen, I went about my usual tasks of getting a recce of the spot at the exact time and on the same day of the week we’d be making his proposal happen. This process not only gives me a good idea of what to expect but a good experience to share with Daniel so I could make sure he’d be ready for everything and just had to put his knee on the ground!
On the morning of the event, we spotted each other nearby the gate and gave a quick nod to ensure everything was good to go. We’d been chatting back and forth that morning to ensure that all the pieces were in place. The moment the palace opened, I made my way at a brisk pace over to the spot and laid the bouquet in anticipation of their arrival. As is so often the case, Spring through us another curveball and the tree we’d originally planned for as our foreground element still didn’t have any leaves on it. So, I texted Daniel a photo of a tree a few metres away to confirm it worked for him and we switched things up on the fly.
As they walked into the scene, I turned away from what I was pretending to photograph and placed all my attention on Shermaine as she reacted in complete surprise to Daniel’s proposal. After a few intense moments, Daniel introduced himself and Shermaine to me and we made our way around the palace grounds to get some pictures for them while their emotions were still running high.
Even in spring, the morning light in Seoul doesn’t last long so we quickly flitted from spot to spot so as to make the most of our time together. Our first stop was the bare wooden buildings in the far corner of the palace. They make for beautifully simple frames without the distraction of the colours of many of the buildings in the palaces of Seoul.
Then, we moved over to another section of the palace to capture some of the colourful buildings as well as the last remaining spring flowers. While we couldn’t get any sweeping wide shots with flowers because they’d all been knocked off the trees by a storm, we don’t need too many flowers to make nice shots like these. Just a few last blossoms will do!
Finally, we headed over to Gyeonghoeru for a last photograph. Daniel had originally wanted to propose here, but I recommended against it because of the crowds and the ugly metal fence that has been built around it. When the scene is under my control, though, we can avoid those things and make it happen! This was a beautiful way to bring this lovely session to an end. Thanks again to Daniel and Shermaine for a great morning!
If you’re looking to have your own proposal photography session in Seoul or anywhere else in Korea, please do reach out! I’d love to hear from you. Please also follow my Instagram for updates throughout the year.
