Top 5 reasons to hire a professional photographer when you finally pop the question:

 

Capture the moment

It’s a once in a lifetime moment that you’ve prepared for, planned out, and probably lost some sleep over. The moment you ask her if she’ll be your wife. That is definitely photo worthy, and I’m not talking about snapping a selfie afterward—capture the down on the knee, in the moment proposal!

Show off the bling

 

After you’re congratulated for being engaged, what’s the next thing people say? Oh let me see your ring! During a proposal shoot, it’s your chance to get photos of that ring when it’s fresh out that velvety box.

It’s one more surprise she didn’t see coming

 

Let’s face it—it adds to your proposal story (don’t act like you’re not trying to one-up your coworker’s story…). “We went out to eat at Café Hollander, stopped for coffee at Colectivo, took a walk by the lakefront, and then I proposed on the beach. Oh yeah, and I had a guy sniping photos from the parking lot.” Yeah, no biggie.

Good practice for engagement and wedding photos

 

You and your fiancé will be the center of attention during the wedding season—endless photos snapped of you two! This can be an adjustment, so why not start out right off the bat? Flash those pearly whites and lightly embrace- chin up a little bit, step to the left a little, oh hang on your collar’s up. Alright so the proposal itself won’t be posed, but the photos you take right afterward will be. It’s good practice!

Support a local business

 

Doesn’t everyone love to give back and support their local businesses? Well, hire a photographer for your engagement shoot, and you’ll be doing just that!

Why should I hire a professional instead of just having my brother take the photos?

For starters, I’m pretty sure your girlfriend will recognize your brother if she sees him in the crowd. Cover blown. Even more importantly, iPhone cameras are great and all, but you need a mega good lens for sniping from across a park, in the dark, unnoticed while still managing to capture the moment. There is a reason some people do this for a living… they’re passionate, experienced, and stinkin good at what they do!

Well, not all professional photographers like to do proposal shoots. It is pretty nerve-racking (not quite as much so as for the dude proposing), but it does take you back to when you were in the guy’s shoes. Brian Slawson, owner and lead photographer of Brian Slawson Photography, LLC, happens to be a photographer who enjoys proposal shoots. He likes the adrenaline and challenge to capture that exact moment the question is popped. Need someone to lay on the ground, sneak through an alleyway, and then climb a tree? No problem, Brian’s your guy. He loves this kind of stuff. So go ahead dudes, go the extra mile and hire Brian to shoot your proposal. You won’t regret it! (Well, maybe only if she says no…but even then the photos could end up in a “failed proposals” Buzzfeed or something. That could be cool. Jk.)

And here’s one of Brian!

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