This Sonoma County surprise proposal was captured for Andy and his now fiancé Selina. We captured the proposal on the bluffs above the beach in early May a couple hours before sunset.
We timed the surprise proposal to take advantage of the best light of the day, capturing the heartfelt moment as it happened and engagement photos after until the sun dropped below the horizon.
Surprise Proposal Photos
These Sonoma County surprise proposal photos were captured at Duncan’s Landing overlook 2 hours before sunset. This timing provided good lighting for the proposal and even better light later for their engagement photos.
Engagement Photos at The Beach
Sonoma County engagement photos at the beach I captured for Andy and Selina after he proposed.
Sunset Couple’s Portraits
These sunset couple’s portraits were captured roughly an hour before sunset until the sun dropped below the horizon. This last hour of light is called golden hour and is the best light of the day.
The beautiful thing about timing a session like this is the first hour is great for capturing the authentic proposal and practice in front of the camera. By the second hour, right as the light got nice, most couples look noticeably more comfortable. This is exactly what happened with Andy and Selina.
I tried to capture a healthy mix of what I call plandid (planned candid shots) and posed portraits to capture beautiful memories for them.
Client Review
After I delivered Andy and Selena’s photos, he sent me the following note about what this session meant for them:
“Thank you Jason!! These look amazing!!
We’re so happy to have met and work with you. You’re truly great at what you do. One thing we can’t stop thinking about is how you gave us the opportunity and memory to have moments to share our feelings with each other as you took photos. This will definitely be a core memory of our engagement and relationship.
Your work not only provided photos but built our relationship to have a strong start and I love every part of what you have given us.
I feel extremely lucky to have found the perfect photographer.
Thanks Jason!!”
– Andy B.
How We Planned This Proposal
Andy first contacted me after finding my work on Google. He had seen the surprise proposals and engagement photos I’d captured for other couples and got in touch because he wanted to propose to his girlfriend and capture it on camera.
They both enjoy camping and planned to be camping in the Bodega Bay area in the coming weeks. So on a day when they planned to be out, we set the time and location that he would propose.
Using the other sessions I’ve captured at this location as reference, I instructed him to have her face the direction of the sun when he proposed. We planned this intentionally so that the light on her face would be flattering as we captured her reaction.
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More Sonoma County Engagement Sessions
If you enjoyed this Sonoma County surprise proposal, you might also enjoy these other engagement sessions.
