How to plan a surprise proposal photoshoot

I had a client reach out to me about doing a surprise sunset photoshoot recently. I of course said yes, that’s right up my alley and super cute that he would think about doing that for his girlfriend. We went back and forth with the emails, had a video chat, planned everything. We planned that the sunset would be behind them, backlighting them and that the lighthouse would also be behind them as a backdrop. Totally romantic. The main thing, I said, is that I need to see her face when he gets down on one knee.

What I didn’t specify, however, is that I did not want a full view of the back of his head. A detail which would come back to haunt me. When he stood up that he completely covered her. At that point it’s not like I could shout out “Stop the proposal! You’re not standing in the right place”! I had been hiding in the dunes, baring no head to the heaps of sand that ended up in my shoes and clothes and circled around to the side to try and get some shots… where he promptly stood up, and they both turned their backs to me. I ran back around the other way, trying to get those beautiful reactions.

We had pinpointed the location pretty much precisely. What I hadn’t bargained on, is that they wouldn’t use the main entrance. There I was, hiding in the tall grass, long lens pointed and ready to get their approach, thinking, the tracker was so close, I should see them by now. Then I heard the dreaded voices behind me and instinctively knew it’s them. Abandoning my bag, I army crawled about 10m with a camera in each hand, to a clump of grass so I was hidden from their side. I didn’t realise he had seen all of this and was trying desperately not to laugh and give the game away.

Thankfully they were absolute stars, and we all had a good laugh about everything after. She said yes, of course she did. He had literally thought of everything… they were on a mini spa break, he’d paid for her nails to be done and booked me (always a bonus). That is commitment.

The whole things was a reminder that the small details matter. You and your photographer need to be on the same page. Nerves will always play a part and you might forget a thing or two when all you’re thinking about is the proposal, but as long as you have planned properly beforehand, that’s all you can do. The rest you just have to embrace and have fun with it.