A surprise proposal in the Rockies

Aldijana + Tim

Proposing in Estes Park

This is a fun story! 

I run a small AirBnB and I got a summer booking from a guy named Tim who lived in Ohio. He seemed like a nice dude and I was stoked to be able to help him and his girlfriend as they toured the Rockies. About a week before they were slated to arrive, Tim shot me a message and told me he read my AirBnB user profile and saw I was a photographer. He was planning on proposing to Aldijana and was wondering if I could photograph him popping the question. Absolutely! I love photographing proposals!

Tim and Aldijana arrived and I discussed over text the best way to plan and orchestrate the proposal. It’s a lot easier to scope out a few locations beforehand than, say, meet up behind a trailhead toilet 5 minutes beforehand (like I did with Aaron when he proposed to Erika). So, at 6:45 AM, Tim told Aldijana he had indigestion and had to go find some Pepto Bismo, and then we met up and drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. I had a few ideas for where it should happen and ultimately we chose a grassy field in Horseshoe Park, with the Mummy Range providing the background. Game on.

A few hours later, I found myself sitting alone in the grass, with a camera on a tripod pre-focused on where Tim had chosen to ask Aldijana to marry him. Thanks to spiffy technology, I had the camera paired with my phone and just sat there facing the other direction as they got out of the car and walked through the field. I could see everything that was happening on my phone’s screen, and could tap on them to focus and take pictures. Despite feeling very conspicuous, I was actually quite inconspicuous.

I could see them approaching, I could see them taking selfies, I could see that Tim had forgotten exactly where he was supposed to get down on a knee, I could see him getting more and more nervous, and finally I saw him reach into his back pocket. At that point, I rolled over, grabbed another camera, and started being a little less concerned about being seen. I knew Aldijana would be paying attention only to Tim, so I just shot away.

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We met up later in the afternoon for a little engagement session, and they continued their weeklong journey through Colorado, onto the Great Sand Dunes and the Valley View Hot Springs. 

Congratulations! Hope you guys make it back out to Colorado again one day!

 

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