Secret proposal ❤ D+C

Jul 17, 2019

4 min read

Updated: Sep 1, 2023

So, unfortunately, I'm not allowed to publish any photos from this session, but either way, I wanted to write about this experience since it was my first of that kind.

Photos or not, I wanted it to stay remembered, because it was such a beautiful and special day and session, with two most amazing strangers 😊

One day I got a question about availability from an agency I work with.

It was my first secret proposal, meaning I had to stay hidden as long as he didn't ask a "question".

It was a terrifying fact at first, but I extremely enjoy doing new things and breaking my boundaries, so I said I was available.

I didn't suspect I could do it professionally, the fear was all about the unknown.

Will I recognize them, will it rain, will there be people in the way ruining the frame, will she notice me taking THEIR photos?

I didn't suspect in quality of my photos or posing them afterward, I was worried about that half of a second while he was on his knee.

Will I be fast enough to catch him kneeling, her facial expression, her reaction, their kiss...?

And trust me, it is extremely stressful. Thinking about it as the moment itself.

Not to mention I was pregnant with a huge belly in front, and he wanted to do it on the City Walls. As I later found out they are both huuuge fans of Game Of Thrones and that is the reason he wanted to do it in Dubrovnik.

So it was a BIG question if I could even climb all those stairs.

Well, the first thing, since I already said I was available, was to see if I could do it.

If not I would have to see if we could rearrange the spot, but I didn't want to say to my client "You know, I'm pregnant so you'll have to adjust to my possibilities".

The other option was to call the agency and tell them I couldn't do it regarding all as it was.

But, as my whole pregnancy was just something that I took as a minor belly "thing", I wasn't ready to give up just yet.

So I went with a friend a couple of days before and managed to climb on Pile gate stairs (read: stairs from The Hell 😫), and decided that it is doable but all the same will have to change the spot of the proposal due the difficulty of the stairs (it was a bit difficult for me to do it twice in a couple of days on the same stairs) and the Bokar tower, the initial spot we agreed, was closed - thank God.

So I decided to take the shoot to another spot, which was even better and it was way easier to climb there, and D liked it - the most important thing!

The whole organization took a couple of weeks to arrange with D, and on that day C almost "ruined" everything.

I was at work till 4 PM, and suddenly D sent a message C was eager to go to the City earlier than we agreed.

So the only thing I could do was to comfort him and say that's ok 😓 that I'll come to the meeting spot as soon as I can.

So, immediately after work I ran to Old City, climbed in a minute to the Walls, and sent D a message I was waiting.

A couple of minutes after it started pouring rain 😫 but luckily it didn't last for long.

The whole time I was looking at the Walls of every tourist if that is them (he sent me the clothes they'll be wearing).

And then I suddenly get a notification On WhatsApp, D is sharing his location with me (God bless you, you smart men).

So from that moment, I could exactly track them and I could spot them a couple of moments before they got to the spot.

Enough time for me to prepare and double-check my camera settings. And pray for not too many people around them at "the moment".

Once they came it was perfect. Only one couple more was there, and as soon as they figured out what was going on they moved also, so I had a clear shot of them and the beautiful background of town roofs.

It was beautiful. The light was perfect. As it was I believe around 3 hours before sunset, it would be difficult to have nice light and shadows on a sunny day. So it really helped it was such an ugly rainy day 😊

The important thing is I took some really good pictures of that first moment.

Him kneeling, asking, her expression, happiness, crying, kissing, all of that, and she wasn't aware of me the whole time. Which is a great plus.

Afterward was all the easy way. Standard couple engagement photo shoot, although I did give them some privacy and moments by themselves because I did believe it was important to somehow preserve the intimacy of that whole act.

I did believe it wasn't a regular couples shoot as I usually do, because, these two were in the bubble, and it would be a shame for me to burst it by posing them too much and saying them what to do when to kiss when to smile. I just took completely candid-documentary photos, journaling their walk over the Walls of the beautiful City of Dubrovnik.