I am the only one out here, just enjoying the scenery. I’m taking photos of the trees and the hills in the distance. And I’m waiting, making myself as inconspicuous as possible. I am a photographer and I am waiting for you. It’s also a pre-engagement session, but only one of you knows it.
Sometimes that’s what proposal photography is like. There needs to be a plan, even if the extent of it is simply time and place.
Call it a portrait session if you want – but If you’re about to ask the “big question” and you want the moment captured in pictures, you want someone like me, Jonathan Ment, hanging around nearby.
Another photographer said it best in response to my blog – Proposal Photography at Lake Minnewaska in Ulster County.
“So much fun! Love the location. Photographing a proposal is definitely a top five shoot for me.”
It really is fun. If the location is sparsely populated, like Onteora the Mountain House off season, we might be the only ones around.
If the setting is busier like Kaaterskill Falls in peak season, near Hunter Mountain in Greene County, there will potentially be spectators. They sometimes take their own photos to remember the moment, once they see what’s happened. BUT the ones taken from the nearly imperceptible moment you put all that planning into motion are the ones that will truly capture what you, as a couple, are experiencing
It really is an honor to be selected to photograph the moments that make a life. From proposals to weddings, family reunions to birthday milestones.
I can still remember that 100 year-old woman, as her birthday celebration was underway, telling me the secret to long life…
Photographing a proposal is particularly humbling, being taken so willingly into the inner circle.
The excitement I hear in the voices, or read in the texts of those making the arrangements, whether the one preparing to ask or a trusted friend or family member, is heartwarming.
It’s a big deal to ask another person to spend the rest of your lives together.
It is a big deal to be asked to capture that moment with a camera.
Once the proposal has been accepted, (and nobody has ever said ‘no’ on my watch,) and after an almost inevitable call to family, we often follow the event with an included portrait shoot, the very first of your future life together.
Planning save the date cards or email?
Now sure, for an actual engagement session you might look less like you’re on vacation and more like you’re dressed to impress, and we can get together again for one of those before your wedding, but I’ve never met a couple that said ‘no’ to pictures after the thrill of becoming engaged.
It’s an honor and a privilege for me to photograph a proposal. Definitely a top five shoot, too. (But aren’t they all!)
So, if you are thinking for photos for this big event – reach out.
Thank you for reading,
Jonathan Ment
You can find, follow and like Jonathan Ment Photography on Facebook and at www.catskillsphotographer.com
Jonathan Ment Photography 