Congratulations to Gil on his epic wedding proposal and to Kylee and Gil’s engagement! If you follow me on Instagram, you recently read about how I had the best morning ever with Kylee and Gil! Now that I’m back home in Tucson, I can further elaborate on the story of how it all happened!
Thanks to the La Brisa Aspiring Photographer Workshop FB group, I’ve “known” Kylee for several years now, but I’ve only met her in person, once. Honestly, I think she is one of the most beautiful people that I have ever met. And creepily, I’ve always wanted to photograph her. True story.
When Gil contacted me and asked if he could propose during a “photo session” with Kylee, I was ecstatic. Seriously, proposals are quite possibly my favorite type of photography. There is such a raw and emotional interaction and it becomes more documentary than anything else. I love the pace and the action and the challenge of the moment.
During the time leading up to their shoot, I kept thanking Kylee for her and Gil’s willingness to wake up ridiculously early for their sunrise Attraction Session on Mt. Evans. I played it up as much as possible with Kylee that I appreciated Gil’s time in doing this for me because what guy would be okay with meeting a random photographer at 4:30am on an isolated mountain top for “just for fun” photos? The entire time, I wanted to make sure Kylee had no idea what Gil was planning. On the side, Gil and I chatted about which date/time would be best (when her family would be in town) and how he’d like to propose (see below). Gil is the man. He thought through everything and from all sides. Meanwhile, Kylee was sending me various outfit ideas and she was mostly concerned that Gil’s outfit wouldn’t work for him. She had absolutely no idea what was about to happen to her =)
The morning of Kylee and Gil’s session, I was nervously excited because I wanted the most epic wedding proposal images ever for them. In preparation, I reached out to Paige Steele of Steel Images to shoot with me so that they would have multiple perspectives of their moment! I knew that she would help me immensely with her awesomeness and she delivered! I included many of her images in this post. When Kylee and Gil approached the parking lot where Paige and I were waiting, I was instantly flooded with exhilaration because I knew this would be one of the best mornings of their lives! Little did I know that it would be one of the best mornings of Paige and my lives as well! Witnessing and documenting their wedding proposal exceeded my lofty expectations and that rarely happens for me. A huge thanks to Gil for trusting me with this life changing moment in their relationship!
Kylee and Gil possess an extraordinary relationship. After spending just a little bit of time with them, I know why they are so well loved by family and friends. They are hilarious. They are adventurous. They don’t take anything too seriously. They laugh at and with each other. They prioritize enjoying life. They achieve their goals. They like to celebrate. And I love the way that they look at each other. There were several instances throughout the morning where I was left speechless by the intensity and depth of their eye contact.
Please join me in congratulating Kylee and Gil on their engagement! I’m so incredibly happy for you two! Happy wedding planning!!! Obligatory selfie with the newly engaged couple!
~ Chris
I started their Attraction Session with a few standard photos to get them warmed up in front of the camera…
…and to hopefully calm Gil’s nerves just a little bit!
Then, Gil’s brilliant proposal idea was to have me pose Kylee away from him and then he would get down on bended knee and he’d ask her to turn around to face him.
It was obnoxiously windy and Kylee kept looking back towards Gil to move the hair out of her face. I wanted to yell at her to stop fixing her damn hair, but as she did it one last time, she caught a glimpse of Gil. 
At first, she was incredibly confused as to why Gil would be down on a knee and then she realized what was happening…her joyfully surprised facial expression is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
As the tears began flowing on both of their faces, Kylee’s radiance and exuberance instantly warmed up everyone on this 36 degree morning. 
AND SHE SAID YES!!!
I loved this sequence of moments as they celebrated together and then Kylee’s attention was focused directly on her newfound BLING!
And then they embraced like this. This image might be one of my favorites from their entire shoot because of how tightly they are hugging each other. When looking at this image, I know that Gil will never Kylee go. Ever.
When I started their actual engagement photos, Kylee couldn’t help but take a glimpse of Gil’s symbol of eternal love and commitment which might be the most adorable thing ever.
And now they walk off together to plan an incredible wedding and spend the rest of their lives together as one body!
Check out my latest TOP TEN! post…TOP TEN Reasons Why I am Thankful for Photography!
Check out my latest Dear La Brisa post…Dear Photographers: “How To Prepare For Your First Wedding” By Chris Hsieh!
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