The first time I worked with Amaya and Carlos, they welcomed me into their home to photograph their newborn session in May of 2024.

Their warmth was immediate, their home was beautiful, and their sweet baby boy was perfect. We spent a few hours together adoring baby Ezra and capturing the tenderness of their new family.

A few months went by. One day in August, I was planning an Instagram post with photos from their newborn session when a thought dawned on me:

“I hope whenever Carlos decides to propose that he reaches out to me, I would love to capture that moment for them.”

That thought quickly passed.

But the next day, to my shock, who do I get a message from?

Carlos.

No. Way. What’s it about?

HE’S PROPOSING??? OH, I’M IN!

What are the odds? It is still so crazy to me.

And so, the planning commenced.

There are so many different ways to go about proposing. While it is by no means necessary to hire a photographer to be there capturing the moment, it definitely makes it all the more special.

Our original plan was to have me hidden while Carlos and Amaya took their monthly photos of their son on the beach – but upon further conversation we decided it would be best if I reached out to Amaya directly and asked if she would be interested in taking some family photos for a “mini session” I was planning.

She was immediately in.

After that was in the works – Carlos and I met up at the place he’d be proposing to go over how it was going to happen.

It’s always encouraged to meet up with your photographer when planning to propose so you both know exactly what to do, and when the moment is going to happen.

Before we knew it, the day had arrived. We met up at North Beach Guana River Preserve just south of Jacksonville beach with Ezra and Amaya’s sister, Alicia.

Remember, at this point Amaya thinks we’re just shooting a few family photos so I have some marketing material for my “mini sessions”. She did tell us later that she had a hunch.

We walked over to the spot that Carlos and I had discussed the day prior, and the nerves started to set in (for me anyway haha)! I asked Alicia to hold Ezra so I could take a few photos of just the two of them before the proposal so we could get in position.

Here Was The Plan of Action:

I started by having them face each other standing a few feet apart, with Carlos facing the camera. I placed Amaya in the foreground, out of focus, and told her to look out at the ocean.

Then, I had them switch places. Now, Amaya is facing the camera so her reaction would be captured.

Amaya: “You’re lying.”

“YOU’RE LYING!!!”

She was in disbelief, her reaction was perfect and exactly what we had hoped for: total shock.

She said “of course I’ll marry you” 🥹

I’m not crying you are

This whole evening was so special – I sound like a broken record because I say this after literally every session but I am just so grateful to be a part of such big life moments. To even be considered to help document these monumental parts of life still boggles my mind in the best way.

Congratulations Amaya and Carlos, I’m so excited to see what your future holds together!

You can view the full gallery here.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Casey