CHANNEL ISLANDS ENGAGEMENT SESSION
Sometimes, okay, more than not, I’ll ask a couple to do something crazy with me. Whether it’s modeling for me in a styled shoot, or spending an entire day adventuring together, I like to keep things interesting and exciting. When I asked Pearl and Sam if they’d be down to get on a ferry with me to photograph their engagement on an island just off the coast of California, they were 1000% down. Best feeling ever. So, that’s how we ended up dressed super fancy taking a ferry to Channel Islands with 50 other people in hiking gear. The best part about a long adventure engagement for me is getting to know a relationship a lot deeper than usual, and getting to hear stories!
THE PROPOSAL
One of my favorite stories is still the day Sam surprised Pearl with a hot air balloon ride, on a work day, unknowing she thought she was deathly afraid of heights. This day also happened to be the day Pearl would say yes to marrying Sam! I’m going to let Sam take over telling this one, because he tells it better than I ever could!
“It was Valentines Day 2017. I woke her up at 3am and asked her to get up and get ready. Her reply was ‘For work?’Â She had no idea what time it was. I told her it wasn’t for work and needed her to put something warm on.
We left our place at 4am and had to be in Temecula by 6:15am for our Sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride. Still, she has no clue what’s going on. I’m pretty sure time was on my side since she was still half a sleep the whole way there. We eventually arrived to our destination which happened to also be a winery. Her reaction was great! ‘Are we going wine tasting?’ she asked. I replied with, ‘something like that’ as I was backing in to a parking spot.She was so confused. She asked why we where there so early and I hit my flashers to show her the Hot Air Balloon. Again, her reaction was amazing! She turned to me and said ‘WHAT?!? I’M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!’ I had NO idea. After trying to calm her down about the heights issue she asked me, ‘Wait, I have to go to work today. Did you happen to let anyone know you were doing this?’ I DIDN’T. I didn’t want anyone to know at her work in fear of it getting out to her. In retrospect, I should have talked to one of her managers, but no reason to cry over spilled milk, right? Anyway, she wasn’t afraid of heights at all.After the Hot Air Balloon ride we went over to walk around a winery while we waited for our lunch reservation. During this time, I had her family (Mother, Father, Brother and Sister) set up at fountain in front of the vineyard I was going to propose at.I finally got the text from her brother that they were ready and we started on our way over. This was definitely the longest walk of my life so far. As we walked up to the meeting spot her family was holding the sign that said “Will You Marry Me?” It was absolutely perfect!
