MY JOURNAL

Lisa & Louis (a South African couple) have called Gwangju home for the past 12 years. The couple met in high school and after getting married settled in South Korea. About six years ago they started their beautiful family. Being of South African decent and born in Korea, Lerene, Larkin & Lerissa, have quite a story of their own to tell their children one day.

Jaypee introduced Kriem to my work in 2015. She loved my style and decided then that one day I would take their pictures. As fate would have it, our paths crossed in 2017 where Kriem was one of the models at a shoot I did for the Vday Gwangju Vagina Monologues Campaign. She asked me then that if she and Jaypee should ever tie the knot, if I would take their wedding pictures. I may have blushed just a little… 

The year got off to a slow start (which was quite alarming), but now I realize why. The universe was giving me the space to re-group. In this time I got to know myself a little better, identify where I was headed and what I wanted for my business. Also the kind of experience I wanted to create for my clients and re-evaluate my photographic style. This lead me (finally) to switch camera systems. It has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years now, but have been quite apprehensive about. I am in love with my new tools and the experience they give me!

Han Da and Stacey traveled from the Philippines for their prenup photographs. As Han Da is Korean-born (among other reasons) they decided on beautiful Korea as their destination location. Korea is majestic in the autumn months and so, Han Da and Stacey had only one requirement: breathtaking autumn scenes…

Ishan and Sunayna are from India and ardent travelers. With baby’s arrival expected in early January 2020, they thought a baby-moon to Korea would be the perfect excuse to travel before the birth, and to binge on Korean cuisine and culture. It would also be a wonderful opportunity for a destination maternity session in beautiful Korea. When Sunayna (a photographer herself) contacted me about the pictures I was thrilled!

This beautiful couple met in 2017 when Annemie (living in South Africa at the time) was researching for a language exchange partner online. In short, she commented on a cute picture of a cat, Jin replied to her comment, and the rest (as the saying goes) is history.

The couple, living in Australia, chose the beautiful Youngsanjae Hanok Hotel in Mokpo, for their destination wedding. They wanted something very unique and with Solbee’s family living in Korea, it was the perfect choice. Although they chose a traditional Korean wedding ceremony (with a number of their guests from Australia and other countries), Glenn and Solbee included some western style and tradition too.

This couple is the closest you’ll get to perfection, and so I was extremely flattered when Jason and Joanne Son chose me to be their wedding photographer. You’ve all heard of the “fairy tale wedding”, well this is it right here! Carefully planned down to the last detail, the Son wedding was magical, and magic is what I hope shines through in this blog post.

Originally from South Africa, I left its shores after I graduated, to experience the great wide world. What was supposed to be a gap year, turned into 9 years and counting. I came to Korea to teach for a year, fell in love with its people and culture, and the rest is as the saying goes is “history”.

This beautiful couple contacted me to do their formal wedding photos later this October. Hyun Jin is a fireman and Annemie (a fellow South African), is a teacher. I was totally over the moon that the couple had decided to make the four-hour trip from Gyeongju to consult with me in person about their session. Let me explain why…… Most “long distance” clients consult with me via email and the occasional text msg or phone call before we finally get to meet in person on the day of their photo session. I cannot stress enough just how much value meeting clients face to face beforehand adds to their shoot. It gives me SO MUCH MORE insight into their personality, style, preferences and the way they interact with each other. I do believe that the magic I managed to capture between Hyun Jin and Annemie in this shoot was a direct result of our face to face encounter beforehand.