Our Korean Engagement Shoot

Last Saturday was our Korean Studio photography session (known in Korea as ‘rehearsal picture’) and we had a great time! I’ve been soo busy preparing for the wedding ever since I got to Korea so I couldn’t update much, but thought I’d update the studio pictures here to show what the main photo frame looks like. (Main photo frame is usually displayed in front of the entrance of a Korean wedding, and ultimately hung on the living room/bedroom wall.)  One 30-page album + a basic single-picture frame is included in the package price, but we upgraded to the picture frame down below where it includes other pictures for an extra $450.  It was a lot costlier than I had expected in upgrading to a better frame, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to find companies that can match the quality, and they specially photoshop the pictures that’d go in the frame for you. (update two years later: now that I look back, I think I’d rather save the money and create the frame ourselves. it’s soo heavy to hang!)

Great thing about good Korean Studios is that they photoshop your pictures that will go in your album (either 20 or 30 pictures, depending on which package you bought)- which means clearer skin, smaller face, and more defined jawline 🙂 If American photographers focus on the lighting, angle, and overall background image, Korean photographers concentrate on what would make you, the bride, the prettiest. (because Korean girls are obsessed with beauty and taking pictures of themselves lol) so yes, I’m very happy with the photos, though I question whether the person in the picture even really looks like myself. One thing I wish I had done differently was to be comfortable taking more close-ups.  He seemed to want to zoom in so much that I panicked a little but now that I look through the photos, it’s usually the close ups that look good being hung in your bedroom.

It was a six hour (6PM ~ 12AM) shoot and while it was tiring (though not as long as I thought… time passes by quick!), it was an unforgettable and exciting experience. I love Korean rehearsal sessions because I get to try on so many different types of dresses and hair styles to see what will best fit for my wedding ceremony. And those dresses you WISH you also could wear bc they’re so beautiful but you can’t simply because you already picked out “the one,” you can wear them here.

The extras that incurred with my studio photography are:

$450 – upgrade from basic picture frame
$250 – helper fee (helper is a lady assigned by your dress shop)
$350 – hairstylist I’ve hired that change your hair 5 times during your photoshoot
$150 – 100 edited 6×8 photos so we can give copies to our parents

Another thing to consider: I felt hiring an external hairstylist was the best decision I’ve made because all of my hair styles were absolutely beautiful. If you are going to rent the dress and pay for studio at a high cost, might as well spend a bit more so that you are not stuck with one hairstyle for the whole shoot. Even my fiance agreed that it was the best investment we had 🙂 It was worth weeks of searching for the best studio hairstylist.

Our helper (eemo nim) was also GREAT. It’s extremely important that the helper you get from the dress studio is fast, cheerful, and has a sense of style. She is the one that brings your dresses, helps you in and out of your dresses, talks with the photographer to see which outfits will go with which scenes, and match gorgeous accessories (veils, tiaras, necklaces, hair bands).  Higher end shops have eemonim that are more professional and skilled, and therefore more expensive.  (you have to pay her on the side, her pay is NOT included in the dress cost) I felt she was definitely worth the money because she was great at choosing which accessories fit my outfit and was able to change my outfits in a fast and organized manner.

Here are few tips that I wish I had known prior:

1. Actively asking for more close ups
2. Either hiring a professional “Rehearsal Snap” photographer who takes pictures for you taking pictures (Sounds weird, but sometimes they have better shots than the actual studio photographers and usualy takes candid pictures enjoying the process), or asking the second photographer to take LOTS of candid pictures for you. I realize they only do what they’re required unless you ask for it.
3. Again, asking for extra scenes or shots you’ve seen in their sample album and the type of pose or concept you’d like to go with. We wished we had more “chic” shots, but our photographer asked us to smile the whole time. My fiance and I later regretted not speaking up about what we wanted to do.
4. Not having as many veil shots or dress flying in the wind shot.

Overall, pictures turned out great and I’m content. 🙂 Can’t wait to display these photos on my wedding day in few days!

Click here and here for my previous posts regarding Korean Studio Photography.

I’ll post the other edited photos when I receive them!

Choosing a Photographer: Korean Studio Photography (Part 3)

Note: picture-heavy post

I’m uploading sample scenes that I absolutely fell in love with. After I saw these samples, I didn’t want to go anywhere else for my studio engagement pictures. It was love at first site 😉 I loved the private, luxurious & classy atmosphere of the background set and soft color touches on actual prints.  My studio of choice is 동감 아트리움리 (Donggam Atriumlee) located @논현동 (nonhyundong) in Seoul, Korea.

There is a choice between 20/ 30 page albums for every studio, and we chose the 30 page which means we get more scenes/ poses. Our studio date is set for August 25th, 2012… I can’t wait to see how our pictures will turn out!

Choosing a Photographer: Korean Studio Photography (Part 2)

스튜디오 사진 (Studio Pictures) in Korea are similar to engagement shots in America, except that it’s done in a more formal manner and taken place at actual “studios” with background sets, special lighting, and brides-to-be in a wedding dress. Yes, a wedding dress! I first thought it was weird that any bride would wear their wedding dress other than their special day, but I guess it makes sense that they want to capture the moment on professional studio film.

In order to do this, Korean brides rent several wedding dresses, one for the actual ceremony and two to be used for studio pictures. Studio picture dresses are usually LONG and cumbersome, but this is to get get beautiful dress shots. Koreans mostly rent their wedding dresses because they would have to get three for studio pictures. But it actually doesn’t really bring down the cost, because Korean brides “rent” high-end dresses for more than how much most Americans would “buy” their wedding gowns. To give you an example, I’m renting around 3 wedding dresses, 2 evening gowns, and few others for around $5000.  (본식, 에프터 드레스 각1벌씩, 촬영드레스 화이트2, 컬러1벌, 신랑님 턱시도 촬여,본식 1벌씩.  총7벌)  On average, I heard koreans spend around $1000~1500 on rent, and for celebrities or big time spenders, it can get up to $15,000 depending on the brand and quality of dress available.  I’ve just decided to spend a little more on dress because there’s just so much more variety and high quality dresses from name brands to choose from in that price range. I didn’t do a package, but most Korean brides get 스드메 (studio, dress, makeup) bundled package for cheaper, which I can go into detail in later posts.

Going back to the previous topic, studio pictures are basically like family portrait pictures, except that it’s for soon-to-be-newlyweds. It’s important because it’ll be the main pictures on your photo table at the ceremony for your guests to see, and the pictures will also be hung in your typical Korean living room. So instead of spending so much on Snap Photography as mentioned in previous post, Koreans like to invest more on studio photos.

The current most popular studios in Korea are: 카마 (kama) and 올제 (olze) but these are getting played out these days. The typical well off Korean would go with the kama studio, shilla or hyatt hotel wedding, and the three top bridal shop I mentioned in the other post, but whether it fit my style was more important to me. My planner kept insisting that I go with Kama studio, because it’s the top famous studio right now with numerous celebrities having had their wedding photoshoots here and bc she usually always deals with these big-shot clients that go with the typical three. I don’t know if it’s because I’m more Americanized, but when looking through these pictures it really didn’t stand out to me. I actually took a look several times to make sure this was the same studio that so many celebrities shot at. Few scenic shots where the dress and veil is flying in the wind are my favorite, but I wanted a more complex, movie-poster like pictures. The three studios mentioned above ranges from $1800~3000 depending on your album size (20 page, 30 page) and whether you have 대표지정(head photographer) or assistants taking your photos. Here are some pictures:

Kama: 

Olze:

Olze style is clean, chic, and unique. Many Korean announcers (news reporters) had their studio pictures done here. They are known to photoshop your face/body really well. I thought it was really classy, but again, I wanted more background.

Ultimately, I ended up going with a studio that’s not in the top three but fits my style of photography after hours of search on naver blogs and cafe: 동감 아트리움리 (Donggam Atriumlee). It has a beautiful movie poster-like background and they’ve just launched a new set this year. My planner thought donggam was not “in” with the current photo trend (close-up face shots with simple and classy background), but I don’t like too many close-ups anyway and I prefer scenic shots so I’m content with my choice!

American-style casual engagement photos are called 데이트스냅 (date snap) and are not usually done because it’s relatively a new concept in Korea. But the number of couples who favor date snaps over studio pictures, or doing both, are increasing. It’s awesome if you have the time to also do date snap in Korea as well make sure to take one! They are SUPER cheap as not many ppl do them yet. You can get a relatively great photographer starting from $300~500 and up to $1000.