Travel photography when you travel to Korea
There could be many reasons why you decided to travel to Korea in the first place. You may be a big fan of KPOP who likes BTS or Big Bang, or you may like one of those awesome K-Dramas a lot.
The USA Today pointed out “Three Good Reasons to Visit South Korea” as “South Korea combines ancient and storied culture with ultra-modern amenities. In South Korea, bustling urban centers, serene pastoral gardens, and palaces stand side by side. Visit find pop-music sing-alongs and folk dancing, martial arts and street festivals, fast food, and long-fermented food specialties full of spice and fire. You can find a number of reasons to justify a vacation to South Korea.”
The Lonely Planet introduces South Korea, “Split by a hair-trigger border, the Korean Peninsula offers the traveler a dazzling range of experiences, beautiful landscapes and 5000 years of culture and history.”
For whatever reason, you might have started a trip to Korea by making a lot of preparations, such as saving money, collecting a lot of information on the internet or reading some kind of travel book.
So what is the most important thing you should do when you come to Korea? Could be many possible answers but it would be a record of precious memories of your trip.
“Memories can fade, but photos can last forever.” It may seem an exaggeration a little bit, but it means that photography is an important factor in your trip. It’s really important to record your traces and memories of a pleasant trip that you may never come back. It could be said that beautiful moments just fade into your memory!
1. Camera selection tips
Small, lightweight compact cameras, lens exchange but small mirror-less cameras, high-performance DSLR cameras, etc. There are so many cameras on the market. First, you have to think carefully about the use of a good camera. Whether you want to take a simple snapshot of your trip or a high-quality stock photos, you have to think about its purpose.
And secondly, if you decide what you want to use, you have to look at what’s most important about the camera. You can consider things such as Autofocus is important to capture the moment, whether the color is important, and so on.
And third, think about how much you can use. No matter how good a camera is, it won’t work if you don’t know how to handle it.
Fourth, consider a travel period. For example, if you are on a short trip, you may be tempted to take a good camera with you. However, we recommend a light camera because it can be a burden if you take a heavy camera for a long trip. In fact, your smartphone can be good enough for your travel camera.
2. How to take a shot for the moment?
Landscape photography
We could say the most frequently taken travel photos during the trip could be landscape photography. It is no exaggeration to say that if you could take a good picture of the scenery of your trip, it will be a very successful travel photo.
To take a good view of the landscape, it is recommended that you wear wide-angle lenses if possible. Also, the sky is very important in the landscape picture. You should avoid the backlight in order for the sky to appear blue and clear. So you have to take a picture with the sun on your back to avoid backlighting. And if possible, it would be nice to control the aperture and shutter speed. It is recommended to set the aperture to F5.6 to 8.0 to take a clear, clear landscape picture. And be careful not to drop the shutter speed to less than 1/60sec to avoid accurate focusing.
Portrait photography
It will be good to take beautiful scenery pictures in Korea, but you also need portraits that will fill your social network life. Also, it could be evidence that you actually traveled to Korea.
In fact, the positive attitude of models (could be you or your friends, partner, family) is important for a good portrait. For those who take pictures, it is recommended that you take pictures with a prime lens with a focal length of 35mm or 50mm. And most importantly, the proportion and composition of scenery and characters are important. To find a good structure, it is recommended that you look at many travel pictures. You can remember the structure you like and apply it to it. In addition, the best way to get a good picture of a person is to smile brightly. Remember it!
The best time for shooting
The best time to get a picture is “Early early in the morning, around sunrise and just an hour before sunset” which also called “Golden hour and blue hour.”
If you’re not familiar with photography, you might think that the middle of noon is the best time to get good photography. You might think it’s going to be a good picture at the brightest time, but it’s not. In times when the sunlight is too strong, taking photos is rather difficult. There could be too strong shades on your face and landscapes gone stuffy. The best time to take a picture is in the early morning and an hour before sunset.
3. Let the professional photographer do the job for you
It is a trip that costs a lot of money and effort, so it is worth asking professional photographers to take a better photo for you. Although there are many snapshot companies available for foreign tourists, it is regrettable that the basic 30-minute shoot costs around $250 or more, provides only about 30 photos.
If you want to take a snapshot of famous tourist attractions such as Nami Island which about 1.5 hours driving distance from Seoul, the price of the service easily goes over a thousand dollars and more. Especially, Pre-wedding photography service can be easily fond a couple of thousands of dollars or more.
So, HaB Korea has developed foreign-only snapshot services and photography tour packages that are more reasonable and accessible. Here are some very popular snaps and photography packages that HaB Korea offers.
Gyeongbokgung Hanbok Photoshoot
If you want to take a nice snapshot of the most Korean feeling, we recommend you wear Hanbok and take a picture at Gyeongbokgung Palace. These are the most popular packages in HaB Korea and consist of elements that people who travel to Korea experience at least once.
Hanbok Photoshoot All in One Package – Hanbok + KPOP idol Makeup + Photography
Gyeongbokgung Hanbok Photoshoot
Seoul Travel Snaps in general
If you want to take a snapshot of various feelings in every corner of Seoul, we recommend the packages below. You can take pictures of paparazzi concepts like KPOP stars in Seoul, or you can take pictures of the beautiful Cheonggyecheon Stream at golden time.
Seoul Model Concept Snap Photo and Video shooting
COEX Starfield Library Photoshoot
Changgyeonggung Palace Golden Hour Photoshoot
Cheonggyecheon Stream Night Snaps – Best place to visit at night in Seoul
Seoul Private Professional Photoshoot – Korea Travel Snaps
Seoul Paparazzi Concept Snap Photo – Korea Travel Snaps
Photography + Private Tour
A photography tour is the best choice if you want to do a private tour to famous tourist attractions near Seoul, also want to take a once-in-a-lifetime photo. This type of package will be lead by a professional photo-tour guide, and it is almost 80% cheaper than one of those professional photo studios to take photos on outdoor trips.
Korea Photography Tour – Nami Island and Petite France
