Cherry Blossoms in South Korea

Spring in South Korea has got to be one of the most beautiful seasons, and my absolute favourite time of the year. Although, I must say that Autumn is also beautiful in it's own way with gorgeous red and yellow hued leaves falling gently to the ground (click here to see photographs of Autumn in Korea). It's Autumn right now, but it's Spring for everyone in back home in South Africa and so I wanted to share these pretty flowers with you today. 

These photographs are a selection of blossoms that I have taken over the last 2 Springs that we have had here in Korea. The gloomy & wet photographs are from an afternoon wondering around Gaeamsa Temple, just outside of Buan (Jeollobukdo, Korea) in the rain. It was pouring but I was really happy with the effect the rain gave to my photos. The last set of photographs are from the first day after that rain where the beautiful sunshine meant I was able to do a styled shoot with my friend Alysha. 

Enjoy!

x

Photographs all taken with my Nikon d700 and 50mm 1.4 & 85mm 1.8 prime lenses. Edited gently with Lightroom.

Alysha & The Blossoms....A Spring Styled Shoot

It's Spring here in Korea, and along with every other person here, I really wanted to make the most of the pretty blossoms. I teamed up with my new friend and fellow blogger, Alysha (who blogs over at The Wayfaring Heath...a stunning blog filled with recipes and DIY's to help you live a more wholesome and natural life). 

The problem with most of the blossom trees here is that the actual blossoms are all on the top branches, out of reach and even harder to manoeuvre around. We took these photos in and amongst the cherry and peach trees scattered around my school and had to do a whole lot of manoeuvring and jumping around to get these shots. Alysha, thank you for being so patient and so willing to stand in and amongst the bees. I really had a great time, thank you for being such fun to work with.

I've done a number of other styled shoots, including blueberries & temples, beaches and snow. Click here to see them.

All photographs taken with my Nikon D700 & 85mm 1.8 prime lens and gently edited in Lightroom. 

If you're a makeup artist, model, photographer, stylist or graphic designer or a fellow creative here in Korea and would like to work together on a styled shoot, please do get in touch with me! You don't have to be professional in any sense of the word, it's all about having fun! You can also see more of my work by clicking here.

Spring Blossoms in Korea

It's officially the start of Spring here in Korea and I couldn't be happier. Not just because of the warmer weather, but more so because I get to photograph pretty blossoms like the ones below. From these photographs you'd think that the whole of Korea is covered in gorgeous blossoms, but that just isn't so. I had to really work hard to manoeuvre myself in all kinds of ways to make sure I didn't get the ugly buildings, street lights and apartment blocks in the background of these photographs. These are just the first few signs of Spring, I hope to bring many more blossoms here soon!

In the mean time, enjoy!

x

Maehwa Spring Flower Festival in Gwangyang, South Korea

Traditionally one of Korea’s first spring flower festivals, Maehwa Village’s 83 acres of apricot trees cover the Baegunsan mountains with their white blossoms - Discover Korea

This past weekend marked the start of the spring blossoms here in South Korea. One of the first festivals is in Gwangyang (South Jeolla Province) about a 1.5 hour bus ride from Gwangju in Seomjin Village. Farmboy and I headed there last minute on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the pretty blossoms. As with most Korean festivals, we were left disappointed. Not disappointed with the actual blossoms (they were gorgeous!) but with the festival in general. There were so many people. The buses were delayed. The food on offer left a lot to be desired, and everything was over priced. I mean W3000 ($3 for a small can of Sprite?!). But, I'm glad we went along, even if just to remind ourselves of why we visit the beauty that South Korea has to offer on days before and after the designated festival dates.

It took us over 6 bus rides in total to get to Gwangyang, but that's only because we live in the sticks. From the Gwangyang Bus Terminal there is a shuttle bus to Maewwa that goes around the hour which costs W3600 a person. The timetable for the shuttle is on the hour every hour for the festival weekends, but we were able to get standing spots for the 30 minute journey at random intervals between the allocated shuttle times. From the festival grounds, we were able to buy return tickets all the way back to Gwangju. As the weather was so nice it turned out to be a great day. If you are thinking about going, make sure to pack a picnic and try to get there early, before the rest of Korea!

Address

33, Sicheong-ro, Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do

전라남도 광양시 다압면 지막1길 55

For more detailed info visit www.gwangyang.co.kr