Welcome back.

This series begins a new tale in the story of two lovers. In an age-long tradition of commencing a new chapter in the lives of two people, there has always been a need to commemorate this moment. This would be the man propping down on one knee to allege his devout faithfulness and service to his woman for the rest of his life. This act would perhaps be symbolic from an older time of knighthood, where the esteemed knight would await his bequeathing by the queen to inaugurate his new position.

On that note, our esteemed knight of today’s tale, Mashrur, decided a while ago that he wanted to get down on one knee and propose to his love, Parisa. Mash & Parisa are also dear friends of ours, so when we were asked to capture their moment – we said I do…

A proposal is like a military plan in all respects – you have to stage a fake scenario, discuss all potential risks, determine objectives and then execute the mission. This proposal was no different – Mash laid out his vision, he would propose to Parisa on a tiny home in the RazorRidge Retreat with a violinist playing a melodious A.R Rahman tune & fingers crossed she would say yes. We also decided that we would film a video to document our experience.

The plan was set. The excuse was that Mash and Parisa were planning a getaway with their friends and it would be just the 4 of them. He would walk in earlier, to “go to the toilet” and we would mic him up. He would then bring her in and then propose to her in front of the beautiful setup. We had gone through this plan 3 times, visited the location prior in the Blue Mountains, and were fairly certain that there would be no mistakes on game day. We had also decided to develop optimal guerilla positioning tactics, hiding away in the bushes adjacent to the lake to avoid initial detection.

Game-day:

Everything was set. Cars were parked to obscure detection, tripods were setup and nerves were on an all-time high. We were setup and Mash was ready to go. Mash had also organized an elaborate incredible picnic setup through (Bee Boho Picnics) – the details on this setup really highlight the attention to detail by the Beehoo guys. 

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He walked out with her & I had promised Rudy, the violinist, that we’d give him the cue to start playing. I gave him a preliminary glance & I noticed his eyes were signalling something to me. With a slight head nod, his eyes darted to the left and I followed them, to my surprise that the tripod recording video was no longer standing there. It had been blown down into the lake by the wind! 

No time to think, we had a plan to execute, so as they kept walking – I kept shooting.

Parisa was by all accounts absolutely taken aback and surprised, as Mash kept his composure through the entire thing. A picture tells a thousand words, so we thought that these photos were definitely worth a fallen camera.

One of the key forms of advice I’ve received as a photographer from shooting proposals, is that any partner being proposed to will most likely not notice the photographer once they’ve been proposed to. Their laser focus is on their partner & feeling emotional in the moment. It means you can move much closer than you think & grab some close-up detail shots. Here’s what I mean.

Afterwards, we all sprang from our positions revealing our secret positions – compounding the even greater shock that Parisa was feeling at that point. But by no stretch, that gave us plenty of opportunity to take some candid photos. Check out the bling on that finger.

Lovebirds unite..

The weather was definitely not a forgiving tale in today’s escapade, as not even the picnic setup could escape the weather. Champagne bottles popping, laughter everywhere. Love was truly in the air & not even the wind could steal that away from us.

Lastly..

In this line of work, it’s truly difficult to not be infected by the love that true lovers feel together. The wind was perhaps a metaphor for the intensity of love that was in the air that day. Parisa’s love & appreciation was infectious & we left that night, with our hearts & minds content. On behalf of SHURU, we want to show our utmost gratitude to Mash & Parisa, for being there from the very beginning – but that they chose us to document the very start of their new important chapter together.

So what did we learn?

• Don’t stick a cheap tripod on loose ground on a windy day
• Get insurance.
• Repeat point 2

A quick shoutout to the vendors that made the day as great as it was. Check out their Insta's:

• Picnic Setup: @bee_boho_picnics
• Shoot Location: @razor_ridge_retreat

Check out this video to get an idea of how the day went.

See you at the next one.