Proposal Photo Silhouette

Austin & Mikayla | San Diego Proposal Photography

Of all the proposals I’ve photographed, this one ranked right up there with the most nerve-wracking but also the most exciting!

First of all, Austin is a special person in our family, and I’ve known him since WAY before he was born and was actually at the hospital when he WAS born. When he asked me to show up last night on the beach when he proposed to Mikayla, I was up for it!

He sent me a map, so I felt like I was good. I could definitely find them with a map, I thought, and I would be there right on schedule. I was early. I made videos of the sky and my progress across the sand and sent them to his mom and grandma. And my mom and dad. Okay, and my sister. And our other friend. Anyway.

Finally, it was time for me to find them, and they were nowhere.

Honestly, I was sweating it! I walked from lifeguard tower to lifeguard tower, checking out all the cute couples, and NOTHING. I started wondering if Austin had grown a beard or something . . . worrying I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him! Eventually he emailed me (because we didn’t think to exchange text numbers) and said, “We’re by a big ditch.” I recalled passing a ditch, so I headed back that way, and lo and behold . . . there they were.

I stumbled upon them and did my very best acting job of being surprised to see them there. I also lied and pretended to have a brand new lens that I was just testing out. Without a subject, you know. On the beach at sunset. Hm.

I took some starter photos like this:

Austin kisses Mikayla's forehead during a sunset beach moment in San Diego

Then I said (wink, wink), “Austin, do you have any poses you’d like to do?”

He did not.

Turns out the ring was not on his person and was hiding in a bag on the towel they had been sitting on. I guess he didn’t expect me to make them stand up and model.

I figured this out and had them sit back down on the towel for some “looking out to sea” images. When I was certain Austin had what he needed, we stood back up and I took pictures of Mikayla by herself for a bit.

That’s when things got serious.

Austin and Mikayla stand facing each other on the beach with sand dunes beyond them
Austin drops to one knee to propose to Mikayla on San Diego beach
Austin proposes on one knee as Mikayla reacts with her hand to her face
Austin kneeling to propose to Mikayla, close-up with blue ocean behind them
Austin on one knee proposing to Mikayla with San Diego's coastal buildings visible
Austin lifts and embraces Mikayla with joy on the San Diego beach
Austin spins Mikayla up in his arms with sand dunes and beach buildings behind
Austin and Mikayla laugh together while embracing on the beach
Austin and Mikayla kiss on the beach with waves and dunes in the distance
Close-up of Mikayla's engagement ring on her hand at the beach
Mikayla hugs Austin from behind, ring hand visible, warm sunset light
Engagement ring visible as Mikayla embraces Austin from behind on beach
Silhouette of Austin kneeling to propose to Mikayla on wet sand at sunset
Austin lifts a joyful Mikayla high in the ocean during a San Diego beach session
Austin lifts Mikayla in shallow beach water with a playful spin
Austin swings Mikayla playfully on wet sand as sunset colors light the sky
Austin and Mikayla walk hand in hand through beach water with city skyline beyond
Austin and Mikayla embrace facing the ocean, golden hour light warming the sand
Austin and Mikayla hold each other close, foreheads touching, sea behind them
Austin and Mikayla embrace while gazing tenderly at each other on the beach
Austin holds Mikayla's hand as they stand in shallow water at golden hour
Austin and Mikayla kiss in the shallow water as sunset light glows across the horizon
Silhouette of Austin proposing to Mikayla on wet beach as the sun sets on the horizon

And that’s it! From our first image to the very last one before we all headed out to Miguel’s for chips and white sauce, NINE MINUTES elapsed. Turns out it’s pretty easy to photograph a proposal when the sky and tides are perfect and your subjects are in love. Congratulations Austin & Mikayla!! I’m so excited for you both!!

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