Danielle & Mathew
A proposal on the cliffs above the Pacific, and a session that carried straight through to sunset.
- Location
- San Diego, CA
- Venue
- Torrey Pines State Beach
- Date
- 2022
- Coverage
- Full day
The proposal
Golden hour
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The story
It started at a clifftop overlook with the Pacific wide open behind them: one knee down on the packed dirt, a ring held out, and the whole coastline running north out of frame. Photographed from far enough back that neither of them was watching for a camera.
What follows in the next few frames is all reaction: the kiss on the cliff edge, then their hands out toward the lens with the ring finally on. It's the same two people about ninety seconds apart, and you can see the difference.
They changed and came back for the last of the light. Golden hour on that stretch of coast does most of the work by itself: a hand along a jaw, the sun sitting right on the horizon, and one of them lifted clean off her feet laughing.
The team
- Photography
- Marlene Vafai
Let’s make photos that look like you
Start with a free one-on-one consultation. No stiff posing, no pressure, just a plan for the session and a photographer who makes it easy.