Jeju Island Pre Wedding – Sook & Maui

Jeju Island; what an idyllic location for a pre wedding shoot. Rolling mountains, vast oceans, clear blue skies. Certainly some of Korea’s most beautiful landscapes. Sook was also notably excited about the prospect. She contacted me a year out to book this shoot. Sook and Maui, being fans of natural scenery, were keen to include a lot of Jeju Island’s picturesque landscapes in their frames. We set to work planning an afternoon on Udo, a small island off the Seongsan coast.

I arrived two days in advance to scout the island and get my bearings again after a couple of years not visiting Jeju. Two wheels being my preferred mode of transport, I booked a scooter with ample room for my equipment and headed down to Jeju.

As luck would have it, the day I arrived, so did the rains. Droplets the size of marbles greeted me as I pulled out of the rental shop. Never mind, it should let up by tomorrow, Mr. Lee told me. The rains eased by morning, but the howling winds kept the ocean turbulent and all ferries to Udo were canceled that day. I spent the evening in Google street-view instead.

Come the following morning, while our makeup artist Natasha and Sook were working on makeup, Maui and I took a drive down to the port to check on the ferry situation. I inquired with the ticket salesman about the number of cars, and he said that on most days he could give an estimate of when we’d be able to get a ferry. But, with the cancellations the previous day, he wasn’t even sure we’d be able to get a ferry before late afternoon. We decided somewhat reluctantly that our time would be better spent on the main island of Jeju. I had somewhat expected this after the ferry cancellations and had scouted several locations close by our hotels as a backup.

And so we began. Sook and Maui were a great couple to work with; playful, fun, and willing to work with me on my whims – like standing in the ocean for a shot. Being from Malaysia, the cool spring winds were a little much at times, and I think they were glad for the respite of the car when we changed locations.

As no Korean experience would be truly complete without coffee at one of the chain stores (and we all needed a coffee!), we started in an empty cafe, then moved to the seaside the catch some of the early afternoon sun. With a view of Seongsan Sunrise Peak in the background, we started to really show Jeju’s beautiful scenery.

From there we drove back to Sunrise Peak and made use of the cove next to the Haenyeo House, and the setting sun with Hallasan. We could not have been luckier at sunset. Two days of rain had cleared the air, giving us perfect visibility of Hallasan and the Oreum, leaving us with some great final shots at Sunrise Peak.

Thanks again for a great day out, Sook & Maui! All the best with your wedding!

Please take a look at more of my pre wedding sessions, and if you’re looking to have your own pre wedding or engagement photographed, get in touch!