Congratulations to our Studio Manager Courtney

Michael here….It’s not often that I get to photograph proposal photoshoots.  I can count less than 5 times in my life that I have had that opportunity.  This shoot, however, was special, because, for the last 3 years, Courtney has run our studio like a boss.  Courtney has taken amazing care of our clients, managed our artist team, and has held the fort down oftentimes while Jennifer and I have to travel. To say that she is an invaluable member of Studio 23’s team would be an understatement.  We had the pleasure of capturing their first initial Vasquez Rocks Engagement Session on Monday.

Tyler had reached out to me back in December to let me know that he was planning to pop the question, and had asked if we would be able to photograph it.

Typically when people do these shoots, the photographer does not know the subject.  Being that Courtney would spot Jen and me from a mile away, we knew that we needed a different plan.  So in order to keep Courtney on her toes, Jen had talked her into doing a photo shoot with Tyler.  After all, it has been three years and we had not done professional photos of the two of them.  I knew that the only way this would work is if we got Courtney to ask Tyler to model for photos.  He obviously obliged, but to keep her on her toes, he made sure to complain about having to take photos.  Typical for most men.  

The Shoot

On the day of the shoot, like most everything we do, our carefully prepared gameplan went out the window when we arrived at Vasquez Rocks to shoot this session, and the temperature was 24 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill.  For our out of state viewers here, that is negative 6 for people that live in California.  During our session, the weather changed, and it began to lightly SNOW….in Los Angeles…Let that sink in.

Courtney is a champ, and despite not having a jacket, continued to pose for what she thought would be good photos for her wall in their home.  However now the light had changed, and our original plan on where would shoot the proposal now needed to change.  So Jen told Courtney she needed to fix her makeup, and I told Tyler I was going to take some solo shots of him.  Instead, we put together a new plan and proceeded to send it in motion.

The Proposal

Now, before I go further, let me explain the emotional gravity of this situation.  Any man that has been in Tyler’s shoes knows how scary this moment could be.  Tyler works in a very stressful job, but I am sure he would tell you that the most dangerous parts of his job don’t produce the feeling that he had in the moments leading up to his proposal.  

I asked Courtney to turn and face the mountains and told Tyler to walk up behind her and hug her from behind.  He knew that the second time that I asked him to do that, would be the moment that he proposed.  He completed round one of the poses and then walked out of frame, and when I asked him to do it again, he dropped to a knee, and we asked Courtney to turn around.  The moments that followed were exactly the type of emotion that words cannot describe, but a photo can tell a thousand words.  Read on to see the photos.

HUGE congratulations to Courtney and Tyler.  It has been so amazing watching their journey for the last couple of years, and we are excited for the wedding that will surely be beautiful!  Scroll to the bottom to see the entire set.

Vasquez Rocks Engagement Photos