Happy new year, everyone! At the time of writing, we are a couple of days into 2024 and I’m very excited to get into the new year and see what it has in store. Before that, I’m going to finish up the Part II of my 2023 year in review, which covers the months of July to December (check out Part I here).
The busy season wound down in July with a couple of e-commerce shoots for Foot Locker. This time around, I got to work with our awesome model Chaemi, who brought her A-game as usual.
Then I went over to Busan to cover the BCCK King’s Birthday event at the Park Hyatt. The chamber doesn’t host events in Busan that often, so it was a great change of scenery.
Then it was off to the Philippines. Summer is usually a slow period as people are off for the holidays and it’s too darn hot to do much in Korea. For me, it’s a good time to go home and spend time with my family in the motherland. During this time, I finally got my hands on the Segovia coffee table book, which I worked on in the summer of 2022. The book was finally launched in 2023 and I can share some of my favorite images from that project (full blog post and more images here).
I was still in the Philippines for part of August, and our team got an emergency request from Foot Locker to do a product and model shoot. The folks that were in Korea (basically everyone but me :D) really stepped up to the plate and made the shoot happen even though the workload was for 2 photographers. Cheers, guys!
Also in August, I had another image featured in Digital Photographer Magazine for their monthly Story Behind the Still article. They featured a shot from my Everyday Musicians personal project, sharing technical details as well as the background and planning behind the image.
A couple of weeks later, I was back in Korea for another Foot Locker shoot and I got to work with one of our favorite models, Hanbyul.
September rolled around and we did another couple of shoots for Foot Locker. After that it was off to the Changdeokgung Palace area to work with Joyce and family from Singapore.
The first week of September was Blockchain week in Seoul, so I had the pleasure of working with a couple of companies from this emerging industry. First up was NFT art company PROOF, who held their Seoul Meetup at the picturesque Dugahun restaurant near Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Then it was off to the Floating Islands to work with Ava Labs, covering their Avalanche House Seoul event.
The busy week wrapped up with the Welcome Back Picnic at Dulwich College Seoul. After a few days of editing and rest, I went back up to Seoul to cover the BCCK Garden Party at the British Embassy.
Then it was back to Busan to photograph the interment ceremony of Olwyn Green, wife of Australian Korean War veteran Charles Green. It was her wish to be buried beside her husband, and her remains were laid to rest in a moving ceremony at the United Nations Cemetery.
Screen capture from Australian Embassy IG
The second shoot in Busan that week brought me to Haeundae Beach, where I got to work with Barbara and family. The beach shoot was fitting, as this would be the last remaining bit of summer weather before the cool autumn settled in.
October came quickly and it was time to go up to Chuncheon-si to work with Kat and family. Grandma and grandpa were part of the shoot, which meant possible limited movement. To make things as comfortable as possible, we did the shoot in their apartment complex.
The shoot with Kat and family didn’t go 100% smoothly. A huge weather-related curveball was thrown our way and literally just as I was about to press the shutter to take the first shot, rain started pouring out of nowhere. We quickly ran into the apartment lobby and decided that I’d stay in the city that night and we’d do the shoot early the next day. This proved to be a blessing in disguise as I had an excellent photo walk in Chuncheon that evening.
Then it was off for our regular e-commerce shoot for Foot Locker. This time I got to work with the excellent Hyunsu. We had an extra special “family portrait” this time, as we got our intrepid driver YM to join the photo as well!
A couple of days later, it was off to the JW Marriot Seoul and Floating Islands to cover the GICA Autumn Conference.
In a related shoot (it was defense week in Korea), I also got to work with the Australian Embassy for their event at ADEX 2023. Afterwards, I got to work with the Bohne family at Changdeokgung Palace. By this time, autumn was going into full swing.
Before I knew it, it was November. It was the most hectic month of the year by far and brought the busy season to a crescendo. The first shoot for that month was for Enterprise Ireland, documenting the Education Minister’s visit to Seoul.
Then I hung out for a few days in Tongyeong as my friend and colleague Dylan Goldby participated in the Tongyeong Gran Fondo cycling event. Dylan smashed the event, after which we smashed a few beverages and took some photos.
Then it was back to event work covering the KGCCI Innovation Awards, also with Mr. Goldby. It’s always fun and interesting to listen to the speakers and see the innovative pitches at this event.
Then it was off to the Westin Chosun Seoul to cover the US Marine Corps Ball.
After that, I got to work with Kathalyn and family at Gyeongbokgung Palace for a fun family session.
The very next day, I got to work with rEvolution Sports Marketing for their AWS League of Legends GameDay events at Gwanghwamun Square and LoL Park.
The next day, I was off to Changdeokgung to work with Colleen and family.
A few days later, I went to Busan to work with Mackenzie and Evan for their honeymoon portraits. We chose to use one of my locations, Ahopsan Bamboo Forest. Autumn came a couple of weeks later for the southern areas, so we were still able to get some fall foliage.
Then was back up to Dulwich College to photograph their IGCSE Awards Ceremony, followed by a back to back shoot at Changgyeonggung and Changdeokgung Palaces. The morning session was with Amanda and family at Changgyeonggung.
The afternoon session was with Lacey and Ren at Changdeokgung and Changgyeongung Palaces. The couple worked for one of the biggest animation companies in the world, so they were also very active and fun. As an added bonus, we got some snow that day. Lacey had never actually seen snow before in her life, so we were pretty excited.
December rolled around and it was time for a few events. First was the Dulwich College Winter Bazaar, followed by the Asia 21 Summit hosted by Asia Society Korea. The three-day event included symposiums, a gala dinner, networking, and breakout sessions.
Then it was time to cover the last flagship event of the year for the British Chamber of Commerce, the BCCK Christmas Lunch. As always, it brought a lively and festive vibe to the Four Seasons Hotel.
One last flat lay shoot for Foot Locker and I was down to my very family session of the year. But before that, I had a little bit of time between shoots. So Dylan was able to convince me to bring my bike up to Seoul and do my very first metric century ride (100 kilometers). It got pretty tough after the 80km mark, but we made it!
After the epic ride, I worked with Donna and family for my very last session of the year. Our location was the old reliable Changdeokgung Palace. We were treated to some snowfall the night before, so we were able to get some lovely snow on the palace rooftops and on the ground. Big kudos to this Filipino family for powering through the minus 8 degree weather!
And that is it for 2023! What a year it has been! I’d like to thank all the clients who chose to work with me this year. It was an honor and pleasure working with all of you! Special thanks as well to my regular clients and constant collaborators.
Thank YOU as well for reading this far. Once again, happy new year and I wish you all the best in 2024!
For more 2023 retrospectives, check out my Top 10 Photos of 2023 here.
