Scenes from a winter northern snap shoot
👋 Haisai! I’m CULT.
Today, I have some snap photos from Okinawa for you. Although my nickname is CULT, I am known as Seokyoung on Korean Naver. I changed to CULT for my global blog, but I plan to continue using the same name on my Naver blog.
Today’s snaps were taken on the coldest winter day in Okinawa last February. Even though it gets cold, it rarely drops below 13 degrees Celsius, so you can always count on having no trouble with photography here.
🏝️ Kouri Beach Area Photography
Although my shooting style and methods have become somewhat easier now, I was quite confused about many things at the beginning of February. For one, I didn’t realise that February is quite windy, so if you want to shoot around Kouri Beach, you’ll need to tie your hair back or use strong hairspray. If you’re hoping to do a beach shoot in winter, make sure to tie your hair and definitely use hairspray. [Google Map]
The start of today’s Okinawa snap photography is at Kouri Beach, under the Kouri Bridge. On this day, the rental car’s battery died, so we had to call for emergency service. Initially, we began shooting without the dad, as we had to wait for the service. Since the reservation was for late afternoon to capture the sunset, we couldn’t postpone the shoot. So, while waiting, we decided to start by photographing just the mum and the children.
We also take photos on the beach and sometimes sit on the breakwater for a shoot.
In summer, the sky is usually blue with beautiful white clouds, but in winter, it’s a bit disappointing with these dark clouds. I’ll make sure to show you some lovely photos of the blue sky later on.
We sometimes gather to take photos together, and at other times, I capture the children playing naturally. Although it may seem easy, this style of photography requires a lot of stamina. You need to move quickly and capture the moment swiftly.
When I was running a snap photography company in Prague, stamina was the top criterion I valued when hiring photographers.
In Korea, about ten years ago, it was trendy for photographers to create styled shoots, but these days, the trend is to capture things just as they are, without any staging. Physical fitness is incredibly important, so regular exercise and maintenance are essential. Especially with children, who often run around a lot, it’s crucial to be able to keep up with them.
This Okinawa photo shoot took place at the end of January, and at that time, the weather was mostly cloudy. If we were to shoot now, we could benefit from the weather and capture even more beautiful photos, which is a bit of a shame. Nevertheless, a winter trip can be brightened by the lively smiles and energy of children.
🚗 Kouri Bridge and the Other Side
After finishing some filming on Kouri Island, I headed to the opposite side of the island. Dad had finished repairing the car, so we decided to meet here. He’ll be joining us soon.
At the southern end of Kouri Bridge, you can take photos even from beneath the bridge. It’s a great spot for children to play, and in the summer, the large shade makes it a perfect place to relax.
I don’t always try to understand children while shooting. I believe it’s most natural to let them do as they please, as they often act without reason. It would be easier for me to take photos if the children stayed still, but then all the pictures would look the same, wouldn’t they? However, if you let the children do what they want and the parents join in, you’ll create your own unique Okinawa snap photos that can’t be replicated.
For this tree photo shoot, there wasn’t anything specific requested. We just decided to head towards the tree and took the photos without any particular instructions. If this were Korea 10 years ago, I would have controlled every pose and finger movement, but these days I prefer to shoot naturally and quickly, then move on to the next location. It makes the photos look much more vibrant.
It’s wonderful to capture moments of observing nature or focusing on something. Only you can do it in this unique way.
After the car repairs were completed, the father appeared, and we were finally able to take photos together. We started walking across the Kouri Bridge.
The children are excitedly running around, and I find myself running around just as much. In places like this, I usually use a telephoto lens for shooting, but when the distance between the child and me becomes too close, it becomes difficult to shoot, so I try even harder to maintain the distance.
When the child gets tired from running like this… that’s when you take photos diligently. Where else in the world could you capture such pictures?
I won.
I was lying on the ground, exhausted from running. Such happenings can become a part of your cherished memories, can’t they? I practise marathons and maintain my fitness not only for health reasons but also to photograph children well. For a snap photographer, stamina is the most important thing, followed by more stamina.
Kouri Bridge is walked about 20% of the way before turning back. It takes 30 minutes to walk to the end, and since we needed to prepare for sunset filming today, we couldn’t go further as we had already lost some time at the beginning. It was a situation where we had to make quick decisions, shoot quickly, and move swiftly.
Once again, I’ve won.
You’re lying down, exhausted from trying to keep up with me. I make sure to capture this moment too.
We also capture moments with the children like this.
The focus is on the child and the father, but it would be amusing in the future when they reminisce about what was being said, to see the sibling and mother looking elsewhere.
Capture these charming little moments with an Okinawa snap. You don’t need to do anything special. I’ll take care of the photography. I won’t ask for anything difficult. Just relax and enjoy the feeling of being a traveller.
🌅 Okinawa Snap: The Forest Beach Area of the 21st Century
Initially, I had planned to photograph Kouri Island, Bisezaki, and then the 21st Century Forest Beach. However, as mentioned earlier, due to car repairs, I lost some time, so I skipped Bisezaki and headed straight to the 21st Century Forest Beach.
In winter, Bisezaki is better for sunset photography, but the 21st Century Forest Beach is preferable in winter. [Google Map]
We moved a bit quickly, but the sunset had already begun. Especially in winter, the sunset time is short, so we need to shoot swiftly. But don’t worry at all. I’ve already conducted snap shoots for over 4,200 teams, so I’ve encountered situations like this many times.
Capturing the moment of a father looking bewildered as his children wade into the water with their shoes on. This is just an everyday scene, isn’t it?
It’s a scene where a dad suddenly starts doing warm-up exercises, and his son is imitating him.
As I kept wanting to go into the water, I decided to take my shoes off. Just a note, you shouldn’t go too deep into the water as if you’re going for a swim in winter. Of course, it’s fine to dip your feet in like I did, but if you try to go deeper, I would refuse to take photos. Beautiful pictures are nice, but safety is the most important thing.
We had already planned roughly where and how we would shoot, but access to that location was denied due to a drama being filmed there. So, we quickly adapted and changed the location, and here we are moving to the new spot.
Although things didn’t go as originally planned, I intended to shoot there. However, due to a drama being filmed, I couldn’t. But since the beach right next to it is also beautiful, we decided to shoot there and proceeded naturally as if nothing had happened.
This is a photo that I personally like. It captures children playing by the sea at sunset, with their mum and dad watching them from behind.
We capture the little moments of children playing, throwing stones into the sea, or collecting shells.
Of course, it would be even more fun to capture the mum’s smartphone watching it as well.
While the children are busy throwing stones into the sea, I take a moment to capture a photo of just mum and dad.
Of course, since the children wouldn’t just sit quietly, we ended up taking photos together.
To wrap things up, here are a few staged photos. I’ve captured the sea with the sunset over the western Okinawa sea. While natural, candid photos are wonderful, it’s nice to have a few like these, isn’t it?
That’s all for today’s Okinawa snapshot photos. You can make a reservation at the Naver Smart Store below.
