SURPRISE PROPOSAL
CAPELA DO SENHOR DA PEDRA
SOBIGA & SUHAN
Surprise proposals are definitely one of the sessions I enjoy photographing the most! All the anticipation, planning, excitement, surprise and happiness that go into them make these session truly special. I always feel honored to be a part of such an important moment for the couple, knowing that I am capturing it for them and forever.
Even though the word “surprise” is in the title, there’s actually quite a little bit of planning that goes into it to make sure everything will come together nicely while keeping the other half of the couple completely in the dark about everything.
In the case of Sobiga and Suhan, he wanted to propose during their trip to Porto somewhere on the beach and have me capture it on camera without her having a clue. It was their first time in Portugal, so he didn’t have an exact location in mind. I love scouting for locations, therefore I came up with a list of recommendations for romantic beach locations and Suhan chose my favourite: Capela Senhor da Pedra, a chapel right there on the beach which gets completely surrounded by water when the tide is high. Afterwards, I came up with a main plan and a backup one just in case. Maps were drawn, schematics were shown, secret signals and timelines were put into place.
The moment: I positioned myself on the beach before they arrived, waiting for them to make their way to the spot me and Suhan had set weeks in advance. All the while I had to keep a low profile, blend in with some of the other golden-hour hunters and maintain a safe distance so I wouldn’t give away what was happening. We needed to make sure Sobiga was going to be completely surprised, both with the proposal AND the photography part.
The two having arrived to the designated spot, I kept watching them from the corner of my eye, waiting for the signal me and Suhan had agreed upon, the one that would let me know exactly when he was about to ask the question. He gave her a hug and what happened next you can see below!
