Surprise proposals

Yellowstone Proposal in fall colors

This adventure all started with an inquisitive email about 4 weeks ago. Dustin was exploring the possibilities of proposing to his girl friend in Yellowstone Park in October. This time of year housing and other businesses in the park begin to shut down their services. Dustin and Sarah are in residency in the process of becoming Physician Assistants and spending a period of time in Montana studying and practicing in a nearby clinic. Dustin thought it to be the perfect time to surprise Sarah in our country’s first and most magnificent national park. And… that’s exactly what he did.

Dustin had many insightful questions about how this works and what his options were. Then there came the issue of fitting their schedule into mine and also with respect to the quickly changing weather!

Finally last Thursday we nailed down all the details and the plan was put into action. On Saturday I positioned myself unbeknownst to the bride to be, at one of my favorite and spectacular locations and awaited their arrival at the planned time. The viewing platform had a dozen or so people who had made the trek down the steep trail to see the falls up close and personal! When Dustin and Sarah arrived there were 15 or so people milling around and taking pictures of each other in front of the falls. When Dustin saw his chance he coaxed Sarah toward the rail. When he start talking to her closely, everyone on the platform went quiet and watched intently, and when he proposed folks cheered and clapped shouted encouragements with joy! It was crazy good!!!

So the rest of the story and a witness to their love for each other is right here, captured in these photos.

Dustin, thanks for finding me! It was a pleasure to shoot for you two!

Thanks to Dustin for making this image of me…
IN MY HAPPY PLACE!

Fall proposal in Yellowstone

There is nothing like an early morning drive into Yellowstone National Park. I was greeted with this foggy scene as I gained altitude toward the canyon and the falls. I would have liked to have spent more time capturing the morning light as it found it’s way through the clouds at nearly 8000 feet above sea level. However I had a very important engagement!

I was on en route to Yellowstone Falls to capture the surprise proposal of Austin to Libby, his soon to be partner for life!

When I descended the trail and got to the location, there were a number of folks on the viewing platform that morning. So, of course I always find someone to chat with while waiting for my couple.

We shared stories and enjoyed a delightful conversation… and then off they went into their new life together. Cheers and congratulations!

The weather in Yellowstone holds for Love!

Domenic made plans months ago for his surprise proposal in Yellowstone for early in October. The weather at 8000 feet ASL can change quickly to winter this time of year. Fortunately, up to this date the weather was cool but still quite nice.

Thankfully, on this morning all of the roads remained free from snow. His surprise proposal came off without a hitch and his partner was shocked and elated! See for yourself…

That water was freezing cold but we all took off our shoes and enjoyed perhaps one of my MOST FAVORITE magical little spots in Yellowstone National Park!

Now I’m hoping and praying that this weather holds for just a couple more weeks! I’ve got one more 2024 Yellowstone Park surprise proposal on the books before winter sets in.

Cheers to Domenic and Chelsey !!!

Yellowstone … love, love, love

Yeah, it’s a corny title for a blog post, however this surprise proposal had me singing along with Lennon and McCartney while I was editing the images of this surprise wedding proposal in Yellowstone National Park. “All you need is love!”

Check it out and sing along!

“And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make”

lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

A sweet surprise in Yellowstone

Efren contacted me awhile back to plan a huge surprise for the love of his life Christa; a marriage proposal during a visit to Yellowstone, our nation’s first National Park! So we talked dates and got the ball rolling. It’s always sort of iffy planning something in Yellowstone. There can be unusual obstacles like a Bison herd that decides to cross the road for 20 minutes… or a bear sighting in a field when all traffic stops! Or, the forever road repairs that are required each year to handle the hundreds of cars and trucks that come and go each day. Fortunately, all went smoothly on this day. I took my time on this early morning drive into Yellowstone Park knowing that soon the snow will fall and the gates will close to cars and trucks!

I’m always entranced by the beauty of this place. Driving through the north gate and ascending the road to higher ground with Yellowstone Falls as my destination always brings perspective and joy into my world!

The photos of these loving, smiling faces makes me very grateful for my job !!!

After the big surprise I like to share some of the other magic places in Yellowstone Park that often go undiscovered. This place is miraculous!

Yellowstone Proposal in July

This cover shot depicts how photographing a surprise proposal often plays out! The valiant partner is already on one knee while the other has got the camera stuck to her face in amazement capturing images of the magnitude of this huge water fall! In this case, with some quick navigation skills I jockeyed my way into position around the small group that has gathered to see the falls.

Tanner reached out to me many months ago to begin the process of planning his big surprise in Yellowstone Park. On the day of, there was a little confusion regarding the exact location, but thank God for adequate preparation and planning, excellent maps and some sly text messaging. Fortunately we connected before I got to deep into Yellowstone, as the cell service in the Park is sketchy at best. The end result was she said ‘YES!’ and they were a very happy, happy couple.

She had visited Yellowstone when she was young and she wanted to have some images in a place that her father had taken her to. So, off we went to the LaMar Valley to finish up the photo collection.

Congratulations to this newly engaged couple!