High Street Fashion Inspired Styled Photo-Shoot in Buan, South Korea

Hi everyone! Not only do I use this blog to share business and blogging tips (click here to read more on that) but I also use this space to showcase my photography portfolio, especially the Styled shoots I love creating here in Korea.

This High Street Fashion shoot was shot on location in my small town here in Korea. I had so much fun working with my stylist friend Sam (who blogs over at There She Goes Again) and our two wonderful model friends, Heejoung and Stephanie (who blogs over at Hedgers Abroad).

This shoot was originally planned around the snow, but as tends to happen when you plan for a particular kind of weather, you usually end up with the opposite. So instead of soft, white snow, I got harsh, bright sunlight. But, we have to work with what we have and I'm really happy with how the photographs came out. 

This shoot was something very different to what I usually do (click here to see some of the other styled shoots I have done), but I really enjoyed the challenge. If you have any ideas in mind of a story or theme you'd like me to capture, then please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Click here to read more about my photography and to find out about my rates. I will only be available here in Korea until June this year (when Farmboy and I head back home to South Africa...yippe!). 

The shoot would not have been possible without the following incredibly talented ladies. Thank you to all of you for all your help, for all your talents and for being so easy to work with:

• Model: Stephanie Hedger from Hedgers Abroad 
• Model: Heejoung Park
• Stylist: Sam Gross from There She Goes Again
• Photographer: Roxy Hutton (me!) from CityGirlSearching

And now the result of our High Street Fashion Inspired Styled Photo-shoot.

Enjoy!

Thank you again to each and every one of these ladies:

• Models: Heejoung Park & Stephanie Hedger from Hedgers Abroad 
• Stylist: Sam Gross from There She Goes Again
• Photographer: Roxy Hutton (me!) from CityGirlSearching

Muju Ski Resort & Camping in the snow

Muju is the closest ski resort in our province (Jeollabukdo) and is a 2 hour drive from Buan. If you travel bus bus you need to get to Jeonju and from there take a bus to Muju. Then there are local buses and shuttles, or even taxi's which will take you the rest of the way to the resort where the slopes are.

We decided it would be a great idea to camp (trying to be as spend thrifty as possible) and while we all survived the cold, it was pretty darn freezing. We were no where near equipped to deal with the sub zero temperatures, and felt rather ashamed when we looked at our neighbours setups. When Koreans camp they camp properly, with no messing about. Luckily, our neighbours were such kind people and offered us tent pegs and a hammer to get our tent set up. We were also brought steaming hot citrus tea in the morning, they really must have felt sorry for us during the night. BUT it was an adventure and that's what we were after (dog included!).

There are about 7 camp sites, 6 of which you have to reserve online or by calling (click here for more information...the website is in Korean so you may need a co-worker/friend to help you). BUT the site we camped at was on a first come first served bases. Here is a map of the area highlighting the camp site & the resort (left hand side: 무주 리조트):

It cost us W13 000 to camp for the night. The camp site also has caravans (auto homes) to rent out and camp sites with electricity if you need it. The bathrooms were great, had showers and most importantly had heaters all over the place to keep you toasty when you have to leave your tent in the middle of the night.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the slopes are closed in between sessions for the snow ploughs to do their thing and get the slopes ready for the next session. Each session is between 3 & 4 hours long. Here are the session times, as of February 2015. Please confirm these times with the website by clicking here.

• Early Morning 06:30~08:30 (During the weekends and holidays only, except on Chinese new year’s day)
• Morning 08:30~12:30 
• Afternoon 12:30~16:30 
• Evening 18:30~22:00 
• Night 22:00~24:00 
• Midnight 24:00~02:00 

At the entrance to the slopes there are a few coffee shops and plenty of restaurants. There is also a JimJilBang (public bath house) for you to warm up and shower after your ski sessions. They only offer the baths and a small section for relaxing in, you CAN'T sleep here as they close at 10/11pm.

We did an evening ski session (18h30 - 22h00) which was amazing! Farmboy and I have skiied a few times all over Korea and we love the night sessions the most. It's cold, but there are fewer people.

Click here for more information on the ski session prices. If you have an NH or KB card you automatically get up to 50% off the prices...so for the 3 of us to ski one session, lift passes & equipment included it only cost W53 000 each. Ski jackets and pants are available for rent at about W10 000 a day each. The only things you can't rent are gloves & goggles so make sure to remember to pack those.

Here are some more photographs of the area around our camp site, including a photograph of me standing in front of the most amazing Korean camp set up. And yes, that is a chimney to the right of the roof top tent. It was really beautiful in the early morning, and we will definitely be going back for Summer.

Address:

Muju Resort: 185, Manseon-ro, Seolcheon-myeon, Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do (Manseon-dong)
전라북도 무주군 설천면 만선로 185 (만선동)

The last snowfall

Last month we had so much snow here in Buan, South Korea that we were left wondering whether it would ever stop. The snow is beautiful, but driving in it is a nightmare. Freshly fallen snow is soft and fluffy, but the day after it's icy and treacherous. But we enjoyed the change from our mild winters in South Africa and had loads of fun playing with our pup in it (he must be part Husky as the snow is his most favourite thing, ever!).

Here are some photographs from the last heavy snow we had in December. I took a stroll up to one of the traditional temples behind my town (click here to see the styled shoot I did there in Summer last year with my very pretty South African friend, Roslyn). 

Winter in Korea....it's going to be a white Christmas!

This is our third winter here in Korea and yet this is the first winter that Farmboy and I have ever seen or experienced so much snow. Our first year in Daejeon and last year here in Buan it snowed twice. This year has been completely different. The snow started on Monday and hasn't stopped since! We have had a few hours of sunshine in between but it just keeps on coming. It's incredibly beautiful and the first few hours of morning when the snow is falling are like magic. Everything is quiet, the snow muffles out all the usual sounds of the town and it's incredibly peaceful. 

But, the snow is not very kind on our poor old car, Cherry. Whose doors and windows freeze shut locking us out (and sometimes even in!). It's really scary driving in the snow, the roads are icy and people have very little control over their cars. But even still, we feel like little kids at Christmas every time we wake up and find it's still snowing. And our little pup Shadow is in his element. He just loves the snow. He saw it for the first time this week and even though he hates water, he can do snow. It's so cute watching him jump and burrow his way around, in and under everything. He doesn't feel the cold, unlike us!

Here are a few photographs from our first early morning out in the snow.

Enjoy!

x

Winter adventures

We are in the middle of winter here in South Korea. And boy oh boy has it been cold. We haven't had nearly as much snow as we thought we would (friends in our town told us the snow last year was knee deep from December). Perhaps we are still in for a surprise. I do hope so, as somehow the snow makes the winter cold more bearable. This is probably due to the fact that we don't get any snow where I'm from in South Africa. It's still a novelty and every time it does snow you'll find me outside trying to catch snowflakes in my mouth!

Thursday this week marks the start of Chinese New Year here in Korea, and it's a big holiday for everyone. Farmboy and I are off as of tomorrow and are heading to the mountains to go skiing. We have skied twice before, both times back in 2010 when we were living in Korea the first time. We loved it so much and are very excited to get back on the slopes. However, Farmboy has some crazy idea in his head that we are both ready to snowboard and that we won't even be 'wasting our time' with the skis.

Ummmm....I'm a little nervous to try snowboarding, even though I have been told it's similar to wake boarding, something I can at least do (I mean if getting up on the board and being frozen in one place and refusing/being too full of pride to allow myself to fall is called 'doing' it then I am brilliant at wake boarding!).   

I'll be posting the odd photograph on Instagram (@roxyhuton) if you'd like to follow along in the many 'falling flat on our bum' photographs that are sure to follow. 

I've had to invest in a down jacket, gloves, numerous scarves, thermal underwear and ear muffs. Farmboy handles the cold much better than me, as is evident in the picture below:

You can also tell just how 'beautiful' our country town is...with rolling green fields and snow capped mountains...or should I say skyscrapers and dead patches of grass scattered between derelict houses. But we do love our small town. It has it's own charm, the least of which is the kind and friendly people we share it with.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway I am hosting with MissMilly entitiled {Be your own Valentine}...click here to enter to win some lovely washi taped goodies.

Happy Weekend!

We're in for more snow this weekend...here's a little glimpse into the snow we've had over the past couple of weeks. Some of these were taken on my walk home from school last week, and the last one was taken by Farmboy out and about in Jinan one weekend.

This weekend I plan on getting crafty with some last minute Christmas decorations, and I am off in search of a pan to bake my granny's special Apple Crumble...here's to hoping I can find something suitable in my little town.

Have a lovely weekend! 

x

Do you have any exciting plans on this the last weekend before Christmas?

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