When we were finally able to see, hug and squeeze our families after not seeing them for months, we did all of the things. We caught up on life, we BBQ’ed every day, we sat under the moon in the backyard, we shared thoughts, ideas and plans, and during all this, an unplanned “engagement shoot” happened on a family hike.
It started with this photo that I took. I spotted this golden hour sun glare spilling through the trees and lighting a path for what I imagined to be for fairies making their way around the forest. I snapped this scene while the family was chatting and walking ahead of me.
I showed my capture to the fam (they appreciate a good nature scene), and they excitedly urged my fiancé and I to go pose under the same light glare for a photo. Hesitant, because we feel we are the most awkward when posing, and because we were both sweaty and not in the most photographic attire, we eventually did go back to the spot.
Despite the multiple attempts by my determined future sister-in-law, we were unable to re-create the same magical light glare I captured earlier. In her attempt to capture it though, all we could think to do was kiss. This sparked some cheers, and so we went ahead with what ended up being a spontaneous engagement shoot, using an iPhone X.
Looking back at the photos, I chuckled at how successful this turned out considering how unprepared we were, in contrast to if we actually had a proper engagement shoot scheduled. I wasn’t wearing any makeup, my grey roots hadn’t been touched up and we were wearing plain ol’ boring hiking clothes. My fiancé kept saying how long and unkept his hair was, but I actually adore the little curls that form when he removes his baseball cap.
It felt really nice revisiting the old hiking spots we enjoyed together when we first started dating, and it felt so good being away from the city after being cooped up in quarantine. Fresh, open, green space is what we desperately needed. We hadn’t been on a proper hike since he proposed, so the “hiking theme” actually kinda fit perfectly with this so-called engagement shoot.
I eventually got my phone back and snapped away at the things I love most about this place: the sun, the wild daisies and the memories of when my fiancé first brought me here six years ago. Perhaps that alone should make this unplanned, unofficial engagement shoot…official.
XO 🌼 ☀️
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