Ismael had a clear idea of how he wanted to propose to Melissa when he reached out to me. He knew he wanted a beautiful view of the Han River and of Seoul, the city where they would spend most of their time in Korea. Melissa was absolutely in love with Korean dramas and the romanticism they portray, so he wanted to include those aspects as well. A live musician and some nice flowers were prerequisites for him, as well.
As we set about planning this out, I was completely honest about the challenges we might face in making this happen and some avenues we could take to avoid those. Firstly, given that the couple would be here during the monsoon, there was a high chance of stormy days and flooding (more on that in a moment!). Next was that live music in public is really not something we can do in any of the main parks along the river as a busking license and prior approval would be needed. The same goes for the simple decorations that Ismael wanted. We didn’t want the potential of park maintainence staff shutting us down before we even got to the proposal. So, we’d need to pick a lovely view and find a good excuse to get Melissa there right on time for the proposal. We’d also need to be somewhat flexible with the date since the weather may have other plans. Seoul’s summer is hot and sweaty, but it’s also the time of floods and some of the most beautiful sunsets you’ll see all year.
In order to make all of this happen, we decided that the best way would be to “gift” Melissa a couple photoshoot to celebrate her graduation and their trip to Seoul. To that end, Ismael and I had two separate email chains going, one where we planned the proposal and another that he could show to Melissa without fear of her seeing extraneous details. This also meant that Melissa would be willing to dress up for the day and that they could book a nice restaurant following the shoot to enjoy a lovely meal together.
The great thing about the Han River is that it has a cycling path on both banks all the way through Seoul. With my hobby being cycling, I was able to keep an eye on the paths several times a week and find several potential locations for us to work with. It didn’t take long for Ismael to settle on a spot, though. The moment he saw my initial location propositions, he said “This is the one, we can stop looking.” We had found a gorgeous little set of stone steps leading down to the river and offering a lovely night view of the city. It was in a private spot, so we’d have no issues with playing live music or crowds of people. The only thing we might need to contend with would be a few fishermen, but they can be sweet-talked into moving a few metres away in my experience!
As with all best-laid plans in the Korean summer, we ended up having to pivot. Extreme rains flooded our initial location choice. Even as the waters began to go back down, the lingering smell of the floods would be too much for such a tender moment. So, I proposed a couple of additional spots for Ismael to choose from and we quickly confirmed that the violinist would be available for a date change. With these new plans in place, we’d be a good 6-7 metres above the water level and have enough distance from the river that the smells of the flood wouldn’t reach us.
With all of this in place, myself, my assistant, and the violinist met an hour ahead of the session start time to run through the plan and iron out any potential issues. Once we were happy with everything, I left the scene setting in their capable hands and went to pick up the couple.
We began our session with some warm-up images, encouraging the couple to be close and tender with each other. As we did these, we slowly walked along the Han River, taking in the views and swapping stories about Korea. We had an overcast day, which made it very easy to shoot anywhere we wanted and have lovely soft light on the couple. The rains in Seoul also help to turn everything a deep shade of green and give the grass a growth spurt, creating a bit more of a wild feeling to the city. In just a matter of days, the work crews would be out to cut back the trees and grass, so our timing was perfect for this shoot!
As the light levels faded, I had asked my assistant to join us in the middle of the path with the light I’d be using to illuminate the proposal. That way, Melissa wouldn’t be shocked when we arrived at our final location and lights suddenly appeared to make the final shots. This also gave us a few minutes of introductions that we used to get through the “dead time” where the sky is dark, but the city lights really haven’t come on yet.
Our plan was to have the lights on, and hopefully some beautiful sunset colours in the skies. However, the thick cloud cover prevented the sunset from occuring and we were left with deep blues instead. This, paired with the warmth of human skin, makes for a lovely colour scheme, as we’ll see. Then, the city through a curveball at us again. Typically, in the moments after sunset, the lights on Olympic Bridge spring into life and we get a beautiful combination of the dusk sky and the rainbow of the bridge. Again, with the thick cloud cover, the sky was getting darker and darker, but the lights were not coming on. So, we joked about city planners and them trying to thwart our efforts to make nice images for a few minutes. Then, the lights finally came on. I can only imagine how Ismael was feeling at this point!
As that happened, we walked the final few steps to the location Ismael and I had planned and I asked the couple to share an embrace with their eyes closed. This was my assistant’s cue to pull the decorations out of hiding and place them in the scene. It was also the violinist’s cue to come over slowly and prepare to play. Finally, as I told them how lovely everything was looking, Ismael brought his right hand down, received the ring, and asked Melissa to step back from him. At that moment, the violinist began to play his chosen songs. From there it didn’t take long for her to realise what was going on and the emotions began to flow. In the end, the look of pure relief on Ismael’s face and the joy on Melissa’s was such a special moment for all involved.
As one final touch, Ismael had also asked for the scene to be filmed, so I had quickly set up a small video camera and placed a microphone nearby the violinist to capture the audio of the moment. You can see that below, as well.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look into how Ismael and I prepared and executed this beautiful moment in their lives. Please do reach out if you’re considering having your own proposal photographed. I’d love to see what magic we can make together.