It’s pretty rare that I get to BE THERE when a proposal happens… ahem. Hint.
For Jared + Cheliss it wasn’t a secret session that she didn’t know about *hint* while he asked her to marry him. Nope, Jared is the all time king for Best-Use-Of-A-Photo-Booth. I was hired to photograph a holiday party at the Corvallis Country Club for Duerksen Property Management, and we decided that the best way to get fun photos of everybody was to have a photo-booth. Everyone had already been through a couple times when Jared asked if he could have one more photo with his lady. “Of course! Get in there!”
I saw that something was different, but Jared didn’t tell me what his plan was – apparently he had just thought of using the booth to capture the moment – even though he planned to propose at some point that evening. He got down on one knee and “Oooooh! This is happening!!!” is all that ran through my head. I waited… and I waited…
Jared didn’t say a word.
Neither did Cheliss.
He was just kneeling there holding a ring up to her, while she giggled and started to cry, and they still said nothing. …and nobody else noticed what was happening. Of course I’m just unloading my camera on them and this whole thing was maybe 15-20 seconds long. They exited the booth after a few kisses to go kiss some more not in front of everyone else. hahaha! It was so adorable and completely suits their style. Normally I wouldn’t zoom out passed the photo-booth backdrop, but normally there isn’t a proposal happening in my booth either. 🙂 
Fast forward about 5 weeks and I’m meeting Cheliss + Jared at Mary’s Peak for the most beautiful Oregon winter day ever! We walked to the summit first, I wasn’t planning on taking them up there to conserve time, but it was too glorious of a day to not soak up the full view that the summit would offer, and came back down on a new (to us) trail through the trees. Couples with strong chemistry are my favorite to work with because they just naturally fall into place together. They still require some direction for the best photograph possible, but I don’t have to tell them to look like they’re crazy in love… they just do. We weren’t disappointed at the summit. A big blue sky with minimal haze in the valley gave us a fantastic view and set the tone for the rest of the shoot.
When we returned to the parking lot we gathered a blanket, books, and a picnic for the open grassy area just away from the noise and cars. If Cheliss + Jared aren’t on an outdoor adventure you’ll probably find them reading in a cuddle puddle together… though I think you can now add picnicking to that list. 🙂 Food can add a very pleasing visual element to any session, but it also replenishes and revitalizes everyone’s energy. After the lite picnic they were ready for more snuggles and spinning Cheliss around in Jared’s arms. As the evening approached we started to head down the mountain so we could grab a couple extra locations before dark. Everything was magical and the light was perfect.
Congratulations to you both!!!
Thinking of popping the question? Please contact me for thoughtful proposal + engagement photography!