Updated: August 9th 2021

Portland Proposal Photographer

Surprising your soon to be fiancé with a ring is one of the great joys in most people’s lives. It’s always a blast to be able to capture those moments for people so they can look back on it years down the road, share it with friends and family or just blast it all over social media like we all do nowadays.

Portland has so many great areas to propose. From downtown, to Mt. Hood to the gorge. There’s endless possibilities. So if you want to surprise your best friend with a ring and document it, please reach out so we can make stealthy plans haha.

If you want to get in touch please send me a message through my CONTACT page. If you’d like to look at my elopement packages or other work you can find helpful info here.


Trillium Lake Proposal


James travelled all the way from my old state of North Carolina to propose to his girlfriend on a rad road trip through the Northwest. We planned this a few weeks in advance and I was glad he chose Trillium Lake up on Mt. Hood over Bend because Bend was covered in wildfire smoke the time. When Trillium is empty in the mornings it’s a place of wonder. It fills up super quick and gets quite a bit of foot traffic so we shot this proposal and just before 8am when not too many folks were there yet.

Late summer, early fall is my favorite time of year to shoot up on the mountain. The mornings are brisk but the days warm up fast and the light hangs a bit longer than those cold rainy months that are fast approaching. I was super stoked to  be able to capture these moments for them before they continued on with their road trip.


Columbia River Gorge Proposal


Aaras contacted me a few weeks before his trip to Oregon all the way from Houston. He knew he wanted to surprise is longtime girlfriend while here but wasn’t sure of where exactly. I sent him a few galleries of different locations and he really like this spot, Government Cove, which is right next to Cascade locks in the gorge. It has a gorgeous 360 view of the gorge and is one of my favorite spots to photograph sunset sessions.

This is a very good spot for first time Oregon visitors as it’s easy to access and doesn’t require much hiking at all. I sent a pin and a well detailed google earth map with everything labeled ahead of time so Aaras knew exactly where to go. I pretended to be a photographer out there catching sunset and the proposal went great! So much good emotion in this one!


Falls Creek Falls Proposal


Lloyd contacted me awhile back about wanting to propose to his longtime girlfriend while on a week long trip with his family and friends. He lives in Texas so we did a lot of coordinating online before he arrived. He found one of my favorite waterfalls online and I was super stoked because I’ve always wanted to shoot here but it’s a bit out of the way. I got to the trailhead at 7am to make sure I was there in time before the crowds and the sun got too high in the sky for good lighting. Once I saw their car pull in I hiked in ahead of the group and waited for them to catch up at the waterfall.

The hike is 3.5 miles round trip and it’s really pretty easy. Coordinating can be tough because there’s no cell service and you’re on a forest road in the middle of the Gifford – Pinchot National Forest. Well worth it in my mind. I pretended to be photographing the waterfall while Lloyd got down on one knee and successfully proposed. Would love to shoot and elopement out here sometime. It’s such a rad location.


Wahclella Falls Proposal


Man, a Wahclella Falls proposal was just what I needed. It had been closed for a long time since the fires so it was an absolute pleasure to get back out there. I love when I’m able to get in a hike and catch a beautiful proposal. Eduardo surprised his girlfriend on her birthday weekend filled with all of the hikes they did when they first met and filling up on the delicious food Portland has to offer. I was super stoked to be able to capture this proposal at one of my favorite waterfalls. You can check out this engagement shoot I shot there before it was closed from the fires.

The hike itself was rather crowded and there were quite a few people lingering at the falls. This year has been like that with almost every location in Oregon. Luckily though with the help of photoshop I was able to remove everyone and let Eduardo and his fiance have the place to themselves. There was a giant storm a few days before this shoot that almost put the trail in jeopardy. We were super lucky that it wasn’t closed. Winter time in the northwest definitely brings it’s challenges but I’m also happy to be able to capture awesome couples at my favorite waterfalls. Big congrats.


Latourell Falls Proposal


This Latourell Falls surprise proposal was a blast. I’ve photographed a few surprise proposals in my day. They’re always a bit nerve-racking. Trick is to not be noticed when you’re hanging out with a giant camera but luckily there’s enough tourists and photographers in Portland it’s generally pretty easy to blend in. Doug contacted me a few weeks before the proposal and I could tell straight away he was super excited. He told me his ideas and we worked out a good location for it.

Latourell Falls is one of the only waterfalls open in the Columbia River Gorge at the moment thanks to last year’s wildfires. Trick is to show up early before all the tourist. Especially at ones like this which are a very quick walk/hike. There were a few people already there that morning so it was pretty easy to blend it pretending to talk photos of the waterfalls. Doug walked out to our preplanned location and dropped to his knee. She said yes! Stoked for these guys and am always happy when I can include some doggos(dogs) in my photos. Here’s to many happy years to those two!


Portland Rose Garden Proposal


This super rad Portland Rose garden proposal was a first for me believe it or not! RJ had been planning this for months! He’d periodically write me excited email about plans and different places we could do the proposal. We ended up settling on the rose garden because I would be less conspicuous. RJ had come down to Portland from Vancouver for the weekend.

After taking his soon to be bride out for a nice lunch in downtown we met secretly in the bathroom at the rose garden(Can’t make this stuff up folks). It was busy and crowded as always so I found a place out of the way where there weren’t many people and waited for RJ to work his way down there with his soon to be fiance. I pretended to take photos of flowers while I saw him make the move to get down on one knee and that’s when I turned the camera towards them and documented a successful proposal! I was nervous! She said yes though and we did a very short portrait session with them afterwards before he left to take her out to a nice dinner and enjoy the rest of their weekend in Portland.


Portland Winery Proposal


Rachel and Ella have become great friends since this surprise proposal took place. Rachel contacted me awhile back about wanting to suprise her girlfriend Ella at the winery while visiting Portland on a romantic getaway trip. Rachel had already planned a nice day at Willamette Valley Vineyards and thought it would be the perfect place to propose to Ella. I had never met them before so I had to be very discreet and plan everything very well before meeting them in person(like all proposals). I waited for a solid 30 minutes pretending to be just another casual wine connoisseur. My camera was hidden in my bag but easily accessible when the moment was about to happen.

Once Rachel coaxed Ella to the platform that overlooks the winery I slowly grabbed my camera as not to be noticed and waited for Rachel to get down on one knee. Luckily my nerves were calm because Rachel was gracious enough to buy me a glass of wine while I was waiting haha. Once the moment happened I snapped away finally being able to show myself and got to congratulate both of them on a success surprise proposal. After Ella said yes we were allowed to walk the grounds for a few minutes and take portraits anywhere we wanted with our own personal golf cart they provided. But that wasn’t all. Rachel had hired a helicopter exit to pick them up at Willamette Valley Winery and take them on a wine tour through the valley. All in all it was a fantastic day and I’m so very happy I’ve made two new friends from it. Super excited for their wedding next year. It should have been this year, but was postponed thanks to covid.


Cathedral Park Proposal


Tony hired me to photograph his proposal to his now fiance at one of my favorite venue locations in Portland, Cathedral Park in St. Johns. Originally we planned for Christmas morning but on the call a few days prior we saw the day before would have much better weather so he asked if I was available the morning of Christmas Eve. Being Covid and not traveling this year to see family I sure was available in the morning.

I brought my girlfriend with me so I could look less conspicuous in the park. I’m glad I did too because normally the park is quite a popular spot. That morning it was nearly empty. I saw Tony walk up the hill with his then girlfriend towards our agreed upon location. My girlfriend slyly started filming on the iphone so I could text him a video of it right after which I like to do if I have the resources. Once Tony hit the mark he dropped down and proposed. Everything went perfectly and I was even able to remain hidden until the last moment. They’re a lovely couple and I’m super stoked for both of them. What a great Holiday gift.

Once you’ve got the proposal in the bag the next step is planning an amazing elopement/wedding. Here are a few links to help you on that journey!

Oregon Elopement Locations

Elopement Packages/Pricing