First off I want to thank everyone who has called, emailed, left a comment, text messaged, and all other sorts of communication in the last couple days. It’s been pretty incredible and honestly it’s been touching. The proposal itself has been fun and so exciting, but sharing with so many friends and people I have admiration for has made it even that much more special.
Anyway, on to the story! So I’ve known for a while that I was going to propose, since last Fall probably, but was in no hurry to do so because I wanted to come up with something really cool and win some huge points. I came up with numerous ideas in the beginning, but nothing really stuck. It wasn’t until Alisha was visiting JESSICA’S BLOG and mentioned how she was probably her favorite photographer until the idea came to me. How awesome would it be to have this photographed!!! I was doing an engagement shoot with another couple last year in Central Park when we stumbled onto another couple and the man was proposing to the women. My natural instinct was to just photograph it, which I did, and ended up sending them the pictures as a gift a week later (gave them my contact info). When she received them she sent me an awesome email saying how she could not put into words how incredible it was having this photographed and how she’s cried everytime they look at them. I think that played a role in my thinking and when Alisha said that comment about Jess it just all sort of came together.
It took me a little while to finally call Jess and set this up because, ya know, that meant I was actually going to have to do this. Not that I don’t want too, not at all, but it’s just a little intimidating. I finally called Jess and just as I imagined she was totally game for it. As she said on her blog, no pressure on a shoot like this ;) So Jess and I worked out a plan where she would come to NY and send over a fake emailing saying "hey guys im coming to NY lets get together for lunch" so Alisha wouldn’t think anything was up. Jess also threw in there "I can take some headshots of you two if you want maybe?" so Alisha would know to dress up and would know why Jess supposedly had her camera. I was slightly worried Ali might catch on because she’s really smart and doesn’t let too many things go by unnoticed (or is that all women?!)… but Jess and I played our roles to perfection.
I tried not to tell a ton of people about this before hand because Alisha knows sooo many people that I thought it might somehow get back to her. I also really wanted to ask her father for permission, but at the same time was really afraid Mike might let it slip (you have to know Mike). I called her father and we have a really great conversation, and not only did he approve but said some things about us that really meant a lot to me personally…. and it was just further confirmation that I was doing the right thing and that our families really do love us so much.
So on to the day of finally. We met up with Jess about 5pm and just chatted for probably 20 minutes and caught up on all that’s new. Then Jess said she wanted to grab some pics of us and we did some engagement style shots for a little while.
I gave Jess total control of the spot beforehand, all she had to do was signal that this was "the spot" and I’d do it. I know from a photography standpoint that it’s all about the light and finding the right spot, so I wanted Jess to pick it herself the day of. We entered this little construction zone for some privacy and to take advantage of the NYC grunge and Jess gave me the word. Now as soon as she gave me the word I got incredibly nervous. I was all good right up until the moment and was hands starting shaking pretty bad. Alisha even said "why are your hands shaking all of a sudden?" Uh oh, so I tried just chilling out for a minute or two and getting composed but the more I waited the worse it got so I finally just decided to pull the trigger and get on my knee.
From then on I don’t remember much of the actual proposal, I don’t remember even what I said, but I do remember Alisha not answering me! Haha we get a good laugh out of that now, but I think she just thought the answer was so obvious that she didn’t need to respond or something. So I had to ask her twice for a yes!
Please, please, please check out Jessica’s blog for her side of the story and for much more pics (she’s got a ton of them!!). Jess if you are reading this, thank you again so much for not only making this happen, but for sharing such an incredible moment with us. Alisha just finished her post on her blog with her side of the story too. I’m going to check that out right now :)
I like the later evening shots. Well done.
Those midday sun shots are hard. I’ve been trying to think of ways to get good light while in the sun (without bringing a huge setup)
Gavin Seim
5/29/2008 1:41 am