Earlier in the year, I was contacted by Frank to ask if I would help him capture the surprise engagement proposal to his girlfriend. I had never been at the crucial moment before as a photographer, but as you can imagine I was thrilled to be trusted to do the job & be invited into that private moment in a couple’s life.

We agreed to meet in Dublin on the morning they arrived from New York to go over the finer details of how to put the plan into action. We had to be careful not give away the surprise. After our meeting he left to find Amanda, while I got myself into place at Stephens Green Park entrance, pretending to be a tourist “snapping some pics of the park“.

As the couple walked past me I jumped into “Full Paparazzi mode” :) and started following them through the park, being careful not to give away the game. Earlier on I recommended a nice place in the park to Frank where it would likely be a bit quieter and picturesque for the photos.

Frank guided their walk towards the place we agreed on where he finally got down on one knee, presented the ring and popped the big question.

Keeping my distance I could observe and photograph unnoticed. I loved Amanda’s reactions and the way her water bottle dropped out her hand almost in slow motion to the ground. Once I knew they had both come “back to earth” so to speak and enjoyed their moment, I approached them and introduced myself. As you can imagine Amanda was stunned that Frank had managed to successfully pull off this surprise.

We walked through the park stopping at a few choice locations for some nice photos with that lovely autumn colour to the leaves.