Stephen & Amanda | North Avenue Beach Proposal

You guys. Proposal shoots. Are. So. Much. Fun. Warning: This will be a longer blurb, but worth it!)

I met Stephen back in 2013 when I was on my gap year in Denmark. We went to church together (his dad is the pastor) and he was in the same youth group as my sister. I think we spoke maybe a total of 3 words to each other that whole year…which is so weird to think about seeing as now he’s a good friend of mine. The year went by, I moved home to the States, started school at North Park University, and after a couple of years Stephen ended up moving to Chicago and attending North Park as well, where he met Amanda!

Fast forward a few more years to when Stephen asked me to meet him at Starbucks to devise a plan that would allow me to photograph his proposal to Amanda. I was going to make Amanda think that she and Stephen were doing me a favor by offering their time for photos so that I could get new material for marketing and in turn, they could get free photos. I posted on my instagram story and made it visible to just them, and on it, I said “Wondering if anyone would be willing to model in some couple-photos for me on March 16th to help me expand my portfolio!” And then, about 1 minute later, in comes a message from Amanda saying “Stephen and I will do it!” Needless to say, the plan worked great.

March 16th came around and we met at North Avenue Beach in Chicago. It was super windy and cold, but these two were troopers the whole time. We started out by taking a few regular photos. Stephen and I discussed a cue (in the form of a pose) beforehand for when he would get down on his knee. When I told them to hold hands and walk with Amanda leading him, he would take a few steps and then stop, get on a knee, and pop the question. I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that he decided to stop walking and take a knee right next to a sewer, but nervous brains do what they want.

I had so much fun photographing these two, and I loved how genuine and real all of their photos turned out as well. Now that you’ve finished reading my novel, please enjoy the photos!

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_593818 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -1px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_593818 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_104089 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -1px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_104089 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1615944007437_35961 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -2px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1615944007437_35961 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_214138 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -1px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1552945418976_214138 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1615944007437_93544 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -1px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1615944007437_93544 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; }