63 Building (육삼 빌딩), Yeoido Seoul: Choosing an engagement location has got to be one of the toughest parts of getting engaged.  As an engagement photographer, I’m always torn between going with the added security of locations I know, and trying something completely different.  I’m happy to report that Dayna and Yona’s engagement fell into the completely different category.

Koreans consider the 63 building in Yeoido to be one of the top proposal locations in Seoul.  Honestly, my experiences taught me to be quite leery of anything Koreans append the word “popular” to.  More often than not following the trend has led me through massive queues to kitschy venues that are grossly over priced and over rated. If it’s food related popularity we’re talking about, then I guarantee you that red-bean paste, sweet potato or green tea is  lurking somewhere in that scrumptious LOOKING pasta, pizza or pastry before you.  So far there has been only one real exception to my rule, Jeju Island.  Jeju was awesome – perhaps because we went in low season — I digress…

Now no disrespect to the 63 Building, it’s a cool place and worked fabulously for our engagement session purposes, I just wouldn’t PROPOSE there personally, but bear in mind proposal locations are very personal things.

Dayna, Yona and I began shooting outside on a Sunday in early January — hence a BIG part of our reason for choosing the 63 Building in the first place – it was FREEZING!  The other reason we chose it is because Dayna and Duncan had some history at 63, they had dated there.

After setting the scene with a few exterior shots we quickly headed up to the Sky Art Museum where a Beatles photo exhibition was going on. I’d scouted the location a week earlier and loved the mix vibrant yellow with neutral grays, panoramic views and the all important beautiful soft light spilling in through the giant windows in the sky.

The three of us worked our way through the exhibition interspersing serious, love-y, playful and downright silly shots all along the way. One of my favorites is the Zombie series at the bottom, Dayna and Yona are big zombie flick fans.

To sum up, The Art Museum at the top of the 63 Building is one of the few indoor public spaces I know in Seoul where you can photograph in great light when the weather outside isn’t cooperating be it too hot, cold or rainy.  The space, at least during Beatles exhibitions, lends itself to simple, clean, minimalistic style couple photography.

Trying to choose an engagement location around Seoul?  Contact me to chat more about the 63 Building and other locations I’ve used.