Janson had the ideal of proposing to his girlfriend Madison as a surprise during their weekend stay at The Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie, Wa. He booked a weekend get-a-way for them and was trying his best to keep his proposal plans a secret — he was anxious and nervous Madison would find out cuz it’s so hard to keep any secret from her! So to help keep Madison in the dark, we planned on me just looking like a tourist taking pics of the Falls and offering to take a picture with Janson’s phone when they got to the proposal spot.
Sunday morning, I met up with Janson before the shoot so he could point out where he wanted to propose. The Upper Deck at the Salish Lodge winds thru a few different areas that overlook the Falls, so I wanted to make sure we would both be in the same place. Luckily, the Lookout at Snoqualmie Falls are pretty much always packed full of people and photographers so I really didn’t have to do anything “mission-impossible” style for this. I was able to just linger in the spot he wanted, kinda reserving it for us.
Janson was finally spotted with Madison walking down the longer path towards me, and they paused for a few moments to watch the Falls. He then turned and tried to take a selfie with his phone and I stepped in and offered to snap a pic for them. I handed Janson back his phone and said, “Would you possibly let me snap one with my big camera, as it’s so much better with wide angles for capturing the Falls. Madison smiled really big and was so down. Then I said, “Ya know, let me angle you two better” and I asked her to stand closer to me, which she was like like WTF but she still obliged, lol. After getting her set, I backed up to get my framing and started snapping pictures. The look on her face was sooo hilarious, especially when she realized Janson wasn’t anywhere near her. So she turned around and there he was, already down on one knee with the ring in his hand. Her astonishment and immediate tears, made me tear up as well.
Of course there was a forecasted massive rainstorm that weekend, but in these moments… one could barely register that it was raining. They were drunk on love. So was I alittle! We headed down to the lower deck for some photos — which it is always crazy busy at the bottom. But everyone overheard that Janson and Madison were newly engaged so they cleared the platform a bit and let us have a good 10 mins to capture images. We headed over by Mount Si after, but the rain really started to dump, and we spent just a few moments there getting some cozy intimate pics and called it a day.
WE PULLED IT OFF — HIGH FIVE JANSON!
"some memories never
leave your bones. like salt
in the sea; they become
part of you.
- and you carry them."
-paperwings
