MY JOURNAL

Three years ago this lovely family came to me to photograph their little girl’s 100th day milestone. Later that year I was at her first birthday party. In the meantime they stayed in touch, always sending pictures of Eunchae growing up. I love this journey that I walk with the families I photograph. Seeing the kids grow up and the love and happiness between the families is so special to me.

During the late spring, I made my way down to Busan to photograph the mamma-to-be in her new home. Our original plan was to go out in the afternoon to take advantage of the pretty spring sunset light, but between all the chatting and the lack of accurate planning from both Dorette and myself, we had to get up the next morning very early. You see, I’m terrible at direction and failed to realise that Busan is on the east coast of Korea, so of course the sun wouldn’t set over the ocean. Luckily we were having so much fun catching up and Busan has so many good restaurants we weren’t bothered too much and instead went to fill our bellies with some good food and ice-cream. The next morning we ventured out at 5:30am to the famous Haeundae Beach. Our timing was perfect! Just as we arrived there was beautiful golden light coming through the little garden at the entrance and we played around with the morning rays for a bit.

This past spring Queenie and her family travelled around Europe and Asia and decided to include Jeju Island in their itinerary. As they were planning their vacation, they wanted to take a day to have some photos taken to remember their trip by.

It was a beautiful and happy day for this couple and their families. Tae-hyung was constantly telling me how beautiful Sun-a looks and how lucky he feels. I was very happy to be part this family-affair and especially around a couple with so much adoration for each other. This makes my job so much more meaningful!

The dictionary describes a tribe as a group of people with similar values and interests. We all have a need to belong, and tribes offer us a sense of belonging. They are loyal, encouraging, and your soul feels full when you are with them. You can show up and be real around them because they give you room for discovery and growth to become your best self. And on this day a designer, a dancer and a photographer formed a very special bond. We formed a tribe. This, as Oprah says, was my “aha” moment and my mantra for the rest of the year.

Nick and Amy… Where do I begin? They are one of the warmest, sincerest couples I have ever met. Most people always say that they want their weddings to be about them and having fun but it mostly never turns out that way. And understandably so. It’s a big day with many traditions to honor, guests to entertain and things to do but somehow Nick and Amy got it right. They were all about having fun and truly celebrating their decision to live the rest of their lives together.

The couple were surrounded by all of their close friends and family and Nick’s family all flew in from the U.S. They filled the room with so much love and happiness that I had to remind myself that there were other guests there too that need to be documented.

John and Mara met in Korea while teaching English. They plan on getting married back in the U.S. but they wanted their engagement photos to represent their lives together here in Korea.

They LOVE hiking and so we decided to head to the famous Mudeung Mountain here in Gwangju (which also happens to be the place where he popped the question). Although the leaves had not quite changed color just yet, we had some gorgeous autumn light to play around with and to set the mood: some Red Hot Chilli Peppers playing in the background.

A pregnant woman is such a beautiful sight to me. Glowing skin, a sparkle of excitement in the eyes and a beautiful smile every time she gets to talk about her new baby. When Erin was carrying her second baby, she was looking so gorgeous and when it was finally time to take some pictures I was very excited.

On a cloudy afternoon Sungwan and Gongji celebrated their marriage with their friends and family at a beautiful wedding hall here in Gwangju. Despite the gloomy weather I will always remember this day as a beautiful one. Sungwan and Gongji are one of my favorite couples to date. Their love is simple, comfortable, happy and wonderfully unique. I caught myself a few times just watching them as they got ready for the ceremony, instead photographing everything else (oops!).

In our first meeting, Gongji starts off by telling me she had a big crush on Sungwan in high school. She blushes and giggles like a little school girl while telling me the story about how they met. The pair were students attending an art high school here in Gwangju, but only started dating a couple of years later. The look of adoration that these two have for each other stole my heart and I was immediately head-over-heals for this couple. Throughout the meeting I couldn’t help but notice how much these two loved laughing with each other and at each other.