Proposal Shoots
Proposal shoots are a thing! I was surprised when I was first asked to do one, but if people would like me to be there to capture such a crucial moment, I am very happy to oblige!
Personally, having someone else take photos of a moment as important and yet private and personal as a marriage proposal would not be my first priority. But with the growth in popularity of more choreographed “special trip” proposals the proposal photographer is now part of the scene. I haven’t done many, but I sense a growth area.
As a Bromley photographer, London proposal shoots are easily accessible and it is really in Central London that the action is in this field. 18 minutes on the train to Victoria and I can be anywhere in the city pretty quickly.
The key to an effective proposal shoot
Communication is the key… not to the intended (necessarily!) but between client and photographer. Working with Michael I suggested Green Park which can give good views of the Palace while still offering some peace and quiet. The changing of the guard was happening just a couple of hundred yards away, but you wouldn’t have known, not in this corner of the Park.
Michael slightly overran my ideal spot but I think that the results still worked.
Alex wanted to propose to Olga near the flat where they had lived in the Shaftesbury Avenue area. Again, a couple of facetime calls with the groom in advance and some well-timed texts on the day made things seamless.
Of course, where one party doesn’t know what is about to happen, getting the final choreography perfect in proposal shoots can be slightly hit and miss. In this case Olga moved round towards me during the proposal – I didn’t get her face as well as I would have liked. But the moment was captured, and the posed portraits afterwards all mop up anyway.
It’s not as elegant as the styled shoot above, but I was glad that I caught this surreptitious transfer of the ring from one pocket to another. This was during the walk down from Picadilly, before the proposal itself in Green Park.
Huge congratulations to Michael and Catherine and Alex and Olga on their engagements and best wishes as they prepare for their weddings!
