I always love the Myrtle Beach State Park at sunset in the winter. This time of the year the sky just seems clearer and the water is more blue. I don’t know if it’s perhaps the lower humidity or just the difference in the angle of the sunset. We had one of those perfect winter evenings for a surprise engagement proposal with this young couple.
His girlfriend thought we were just doing pictures of the two of them for Valentine’s Day. From what she said later in the evening, she thought it would be a long while until he could get the ring, so she really had no idea he was about to propose. He even wore baggy pants to help hide the ring box in his pocket. Our plan was to start with pictures up around the oak trees, then closer to sunset I would tell them to walk down the beach together and that is when he would pop the question. I followed the two of them down the beach for a good while, I was getting a bit worried if he was going to do it. He said later he was looking for a dry spot on the beach to get down on one knee. I posted a lot of shots of the proposal below. You can tell she was genuinely shocked and then elated by the surprise.
Something different I did for pictures this time, we went to the old steps in the park and the walkway under the trees. It’s on the very south end of the park and a bit further than I remembered. I’m going to try to use that area more in the future, I’ll just make sure we park closer next time. I really liked the shots on the Myrtle Beach State Park boardwalk as well. Since we were already so far south of the pier, I took advantage of using the boardwalk for pictures on the way back.
The location and lighting of the proposal itself couldn’t have been better. There was a beautiful glow from the sunset with the pier out of focus in the distance and reflecting in the water. If clients don’t mind walking a little extra I’ve got some new ideas now for engagement pictures in the park! I hope you enjoy the pictures below, please like or comment below if you do!
