Shooting Engagement Session Secretly....

haring

I am going to shoot an engagement session where the groom wants to propose his fiance in a way so that she is not aware of me (the photographer) taking pictures of them. What kind of tricks should I use so that she doesn't notice me? I am planning to use a long lens (around 200mm).

Do you have any ideas? Have you ever done this before?

Thanks!

divamum

This should get you started

Moogle Pepper

Become one with the voyeur with a camera. Find zen in your stealth.

haring

richy wrote: »

400mm with lenscoat or a 100-400 maybe?, know the path they are going to take and work out in advance where to shoot from and how to get between them. Pick your angles so it looks like you are shooting past them. Even better is to bring a friend with a camera and make it look like you are teaching them or something. basically dont catch their eye, and if you do make sure it looks like you are doing something else. Good luck.

I have a two year old daughter...She is hard to control but I can let her run around...and when the moment comes I put her into my backpack baby carrier. She wouldn't think I am shooting her.

haring

haring wrote: »

I have a two year old daughter...She is hard to control but I can let her run around...and when the moment comes I put her into my backpack baby carrier. She wouldn't think I am shooting her.

Also, I am thinking about using a smaller lens. The 200mm is just too big and scary...

ChatKat

Plan it
I've done a few of these. Plan it with the groom. Use a long lens and where it's either crowded or where you can be far enough away to not be noticed. Cell phones are great for helping with timing.

coldclimb

Biggest and most important thing I can say, after my first one of these with a friend, is

HAVE A PLAN B!!!

Seriously. rofl We spent two days scouting out an incredible location on a sand bar with trees overhanging a river, and had two photogs, Prezwoodz behind a tree twenty yards away, and me behind a snag IN THE RIVER up to my chest with a tripod up on the log wrapped in an old dirty burlap sack abandoned nearby and nicely weathered. We set up a teddy with the ring, nailed the daylight, practiced a few times, and we were set. Then it turned out she wouldn't risk getting even a speck of dirt on her class A uniform, as she was just getting out of boot camp. So the shot we got was him walking down alone and retrieving his ring and bear.

On the bright side, he knew we were there somewhere, but since we did all our planning while he was with her he didn't know exactly where, and he couldn't find us at all.

Kelsey managed a better one later for his brother. He was camouflaged in the brush next to a sidewalk and also got video of the whole event, with people walking by not ten feet away and not seeing him at all. Here's the results:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=133384

I love the idea of doing these regularly, and have been trying to get more of them. One question for people who do this, what do you call it? "Secret Engagements" is our line at the moment, but that doesn't describe it very well.

Good luck Haring! Looking forward to seeing the results!

haring

coldclimb wrote: »

Biggest and most important thing I can say, after my first one of these with a friend, is

HAVE A PLAN B!!!

Seriously. rofl We spent two days scouting out an incredible location on a sand bar with trees overhanging a river, and had two photogs, Prezwoodz behind a tree twenty yards away, and me behind a snag IN THE RIVER up to my chest with a tripod up on the log wrapped in an old dirty burlap sack abandoned nearby and nicely weathered. We set up a teddy with the ring, nailed the daylight, practiced a few times, and we were set. Then it turned out she wouldn't risk getting even a speck of dirt on her class A uniform, as she was just getting out of boot camp. So the shot we got was him walking down alone and retrieving his ring and bear.

On the bright side, he knew we were there somewhere, but since we did all our planning while he was with her he didn't know exactly where, and he couldn't find us at all.

Kelsey managed a better one later for his brother. He was camouflaged in the brush next to a sidewalk and also got video of the whole event, with people walking by not ten feet away and not seeing him at all. Here's the results:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=133384

I love the idea of doing these regularly, and have been trying to get more of them. One question for people who do this, what do you call it? "Secret Engagements" is our line at the moment, but that doesn't describe it very well.

Good luck Haring! Looking forward to seeing the results!

Thanks! YES! I will have a plan B!

tenoverthenose

Remote Camera + Pocket Wizards = backup plan

jdorseydesign

My wife just had a great idea after showing her this thread.. Why not hide in plain sight by "pretending" to shoot someone else's photoshoot and then shoot past the person to get the shot you really want

Darren Troy C

haring wrote: »

I am going to shoot an engagement session where the groom wants to propose his fiance in a way so that she is not aware of me (the photographer) taking pictures of them. What kind of tricks should I use so that she doesn't notice me? I am planning to use a long lens (around 200mm).

Do you have any ideas? Have you ever done this before?

Thanks!

Comment 1. That's just not long enough for what you're after.

haring wrote: »

Also, I am thinking about using a smaller lens. The 200mm is just too big and scary...

Comment 2. Re-read comment 1.

Shima

jdorseydesign wrote: »

My wife just had a great idea after showing her this thread.. Why not hide in plain sight by "pretending" to shoot someone else's photoshoot and then shoot past the person to get the shot you really want

That's a really great idea. Bring someone with you as a decoy (preferably not the 2 year old in case they get in a "running" mode and run away).

kyeezie

Shima wrote: »

That's a really great idea. Bring someone with you as a decoy (preferably not the 2 year old in case they get in a "running" mode and run away).

I did one on the beach once. Had a blanket and little picnic basket and placed myself close to the condo they were staying at. They come down and are goofing around with their own camera. I'm just walking around taking pictures of the beach, boats, things like that. He comes cover and ask if I would take a picture of them, so I took a few with their camera. Then I asked if I could take one on my camera to post on my website since they were so cute. They agreed between me handing them their camera and walking back to get a wide shot, he was able to grab the ring out of his pocket, so when I got far enough back, he dropped down to his knee. So, she knew I was there the entire time, I was able to move around without being worried she would notice me. Then we took engagement pics afterward. One thing that worked out was that, they love goofing around for pictures so them on the beach with their own camera was not out of the ordinary and them asking someone to take a picture for them was not out of the ordinary as well. We communicated mainly through email, but not his, as she knew his password so we had a middleman. Good luck! Can't wait to see the pics!

haring

Shima wrote: »

That's a really great idea. Bring someone with you as a decoy (preferably not the 2 year old in case they get in a "running" mode and run away).

I know. She runs too much... My wife is busy and the budget is limited to hire an assistant. I will figure out something.

haring

kyeezie wrote: »

I did one on the beach once. Had a blanket and little picnic basket and placed myself close to the condo they were staying at. They come down and are goofing around with their own camera. I'm just walking around taking pictures of the beach, boats, things like that. He comes cover and ask if I would take a picture of them, so I took a few with their camera. Then I asked if I could take one on my camera to post on my website since they were so cute. They agreed between me handing them their camera and walking back to get a wide shot, he was able to grab the ring out of his pocket, so when I got far enough back, he dropped down to his knee. So, she knew I was there the entire time, I was able to move around without being worried she would notice me. Then we took engagement pics afterward. One thing that worked out was that, they love goofing around for pictures so them on the beach with their own camera was not out of the ordinary and them asking someone to take a picture for them was not out of the ordinary as well. We communicated mainly through email, but not his, as she knew his password so we had a middleman. Good luck! Can't wait to see the pics!

Thanks!!!! You have made me thinking!!!!

kyeezie

haring wrote: »

Thanks!!!! You have made me thinking!!!!

NP! It was my first one and we had lots of things go wrong. The place I was supposed to park was restricted because rare birds were hatching, so I had to park 1 Mile from there. So I had to run in the sand, all the way in front of the condo. This was a family condo, it originally belonged to his grandmother and she had recently passed. It was an important spot for both of them. During the proposal he requested wide shots to show the beach as well. Here are some images:


1. My first picture of them "for my website"



2. This was his "getting ready" picture.




3. She is about to cry...




4. Him talking. I'm pretty far at this point, wanted to give them privacy. She was full on crying.





5. She says yes and ...THE KISS!





6. They were sooo happy!



7. The ring



8. Grandmother's Condo in the back.
(I did nothing to the sky, the storm was moving in fast! And bad. It starting when I was running back to my car.)

Weisel

I will be shooting a covert proposal mission tonight. It's inside the consewrvatory at Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Specifically, it will be in a little gazebo, with poor lighting, and to top it off, it's a black couple. So, I will have poor lighting, and dark skin to work with. The female of course, isn't aware. I was there last night scoping the location chosen by the client(who's mind could not be changed). I actually borrowed a nice black couple who was there hanging around, and I had them model for me in the gazebo. In return, I took them out into the better light, and shot come good couples pics of them. I think in doing so, I earned another wedding cleint. Anyway-the test shots in the gazebo were barely passable, but the client is happy enough with them. I only had two day's notice for this, or I would have rented a better lens, as my only long lens is the old 70-210 f4.0. My 5D ISO will be pushed all the way to High(3200). I'll shoot in manual, at 1/60th. I can't go to 1/200, or it will really kill the light. I'll post a photo or two in the future...IF they turn out less than horrible!

Weisel

Well, as I mentioned in previous post, I shot a proposal undercover. I figured I'd share some of it here, rather than start a new post about this.

The situation: Nashville. Opryland Hotel (which has a HUGE conservatory, about the size of a dome football field). There was a small gazebo he wanted to propose in. Although the whole conservatory has glass ceilings, this event took place after dark, so I had only a small amount of available light to work with, from 2 bulbs that were in the ceiling of the gazebo, and some other very faint other lighting sources nearby.

The night before the event, I went to do a recon mission, to test my lighting, and to try to talk him out of using such a dark location within the hotel conservatory. Knowing he was a black man, I found a black couple wandering around inside on the night of my recon. I got them to pose in the gazebo for me (in return for some nice photos together in the light nearby).

I was shooting with my 5D. My only long lens(especially on 2 days notice) was my 70-210 F4 lens. So I knew I'd be maxing my ISO to 3200. I knew I'd be wide open at 4.0. I knew I didn't want to shoot less than 1/60th. (yes, 1/200 would be great when shooting at 200mm, but not an option in the dark) So, my settings were pre-determined by default.

I shot test shots, then emailed them to the client that night. I told him it's very dark and it's going to be less than amazing photography. He wanted to go ahead with it, in that location. So, we did.

So, there I was the next evening, waiting for he and his girlfriend to show up at the gazebo around 9:15. I had him send me a photo of himself earlier, so I knew what he looked like. Well as we know, there's always going to be a surprise! Something unplanned. Sure enough, I'm sitting there on my bench, down the path from the gazebo, and a beautiful black lady walks past me briskly, and goes right into the gazebo, and sits down, and begins reading some book! I'm freaked out now, because it's 5 minutes until he was supposed to show up! What do I do? Is that his girlfriend, and he told her to go there while he uses the bathroom, then catches up to her?? Or is it a random person who just happened to be the only person to enter the gazebo since I've even been near that gazebo? If she is random, then I need to find a way to ask her to leave.....but without tipping her off if this is the girlfriend! I'm freaked out now!. I made a decision to walk up to her(holding my big camera and lens, hoping it won't tip her off if it's actually "her") I ask her if she knows the client(insert name), and she said yes. OK, now I think Im screwed. I said "well he is looking for you. He asked me to tell you". She looked a bit bothered and said "well, I'm right here". I said "ok, then, I don't know him, he just asked me to tell you". I walked away, and tried to regain my cover, without looking like a stalker.

I text the client. Come to find out, it's a singer who he hired to serenade them in the gazebo! Geeez, thanks for not telling me this info! So now, I relax again.

The couple shows up 20 minutes later. They stand there in the middle of the gazebo and slow dance as the singer sings. I'm firing away. He spins her a few times, I lower camera down and look away as she spins my direction. Return to firing. He drops to one knee and pops it. She says yes, and the tears are flowing. I start moving out into the open for the big reveal. After I shot the most essential moments, I switch to my 24-70 2.8L I shot a few more there, then we walked over to a much bigger gazebo with good lighting, and I shot a mini-e-photo session. Pretty cool stuff!

The photos are the best I could get in the dark, and I used one of the sepia type settings in LR to really brighten them up. I wish I had Lightroom 3, due to the greatly enhanced noise reduction it has. But I'm on LR2

I'm planning to attempt to locate a much better situation for a Valentine's Day proposal somewhere. I want a live proposal....in the light! (with a 2nd shooter) I think I will hit up some jewelry stores and see if they can pass out a flyer thing for me to some new wedding ring buyers.

Anyway, I hope the story wasn't too long. I figured some of you may enjoy it. Always expect the unexpected. Below are just 4 of the almost 90 final images I gave them. (originally, I figured I'd give only about 10, but there were soooo many moments and expressions)

1) Slow dancing, being serenaded.


2) Wider shot--as he spins her


3) On one knee


4) After the cat was out of the bag

jdorseydesign

Weisel wrote: »

Well, as I mentioned in previous post, I shot a proposal undercover. I figured I'd share some of it here, rather than start a new post about this.

The situation: Nashville. Opryland Hotel (which has a HUGE conservatory, about the size of a dome football field). There was a small gazebo he wanted to propose in. Although the whole conservatory has glass ceilings, this event took place after dark, so I had only a small amount of available light to work with, from 2 bulbs that were in the ceiling of the gazebo, and some other very faint other lighting sources nearby.

The night before the event, I went to do a recon mission, to test my lighting, and to try to talk him out of using such a dark location within the hotel conservatory. Knowing he was a black man, I found a black couple wandering around inside on the night of my recon. I got them to pose in the gazebo for me (in return for some nice photos together in the light nearby).

I was shooting with my 5D. My only long lens(especially on 2 days notice) was my 70-210 F4 lens. So I knew I'd be maxing my ISO to 3200. I knew I'd be wide open at 4.0. I knew I didn't want to shoot less than 1/60th. (yes, 1/200 would be great when shooting at 200mm, but not an option in the dark) So, my settings were pre-determined by default.

I shot test shots, then emailed them to the client that night. I told him it's very dark and it's going to be less than amazing photography. He wanted to go ahead with it, in that location. So, we did.

So, there I was the next evening, waiting for he and his girlfriend to show up at the gazebo around 9:15. I had him send me a photo of himself earlier, so I knew what he looked like. Well as we know, there's always going to be a surprise! Something unplanned. Sure enough, I'm sitting there on my bench, down the path from the gazebo, and a beautiful black lady walks past me briskly, and goes right into the gazebo, and sits down, and begins reading some book! I'm freaked out now, because it's 5 minutes until he was supposed to show up! What do I do? Is that his girlfriend, and he told her to go there while he uses the bathroom, then catches up to her?? Or is it a random person who just happened to be the only person to enter the gazebo since I've even been near that gazebo? If she is random, then I need to find a way to ask her to leave.....but without tipping her off if this is the girlfriend! I'm freaked out now!. I made a decision to walk up to her(holding my big camera and lens, hoping it won't tip her off if it's actually "her") I ask her if she knows the client(insert name), and she said yes. OK, now I think Im screwed. I said "well he is looking for you. He asked me to tell you". She looked a bit bothered and said "well, I'm right here". I said "ok, then, I don't know him, he just asked me to tell you". I walked away, and tried to regain my cover, without looking like a stalker.

I text the client. Come to find out, it's a singer who he hired to serenade them in the gazebo! Geeez, thanks for not telling me this info! So now, I relax again.

The couple shows up 20 minutes later. They stand there in the middle of the gazebo and slow dance as the singer sings. I'm firing away. He spins her a few times, I lower camera down and look away as she spins my direction. Return to firing. He drops to one knee and pops it. She says yes, and the tears are flowing. I start moving out into the open for the big reveal. After I shot the most essential moments, I switch to my 24-70 2.8L I shot a few more there, then we walked over to a much bigger gazebo with good lighting, and I shot a mini-e-photo session. Pretty cool stuff!

The photos are the best I could get in the dark, and I used one of the sepia type settings in LR to really brighten them up. I wish I had Lightroom 3, due to the greatly enhanced noise reduction it has. But I'm on LR2

I'm planning to attempt to locate a much better situation for a Valentine's Day proposal somewhere. I want a live proposal....in the light! (with a 2nd shooter) I think I will hit up some jewelry stores and see if they can pass out a flyer thing for me to some new wedding ring buyers.

Anyway, I hope the story wasn't too long. I figured some of you may enjoy it. Always expect the unexpected. Below are just 4 of the almost 90 final images I gave them. (originally, I figured I'd give only about 10, but there were soooo many moments and expressions)

1) Slow dancing, being serenaded.


2) Wider shot--as he spins her


3) On one knee


4) After the cat was out of the bag

Did you think about renting a faster 200mm lens? f/4 is asking a lot in the dark.

Weisel

Yep, I thought about it. I rent from The Lens Depot .com all the time.

Problem is, he contacted me out of the blue, just 2 days prior to the shoot. This is what I meant when I said in my story: "My only long lens(especially on 2 days notice) was my 70-210 F4 lens."

No time for renting a mail order L series lens. Our local camera supply store requires a huge deposit, and only rents a few lenses anyway. Not an option.
I did the best I could with the time given. The important thing is that the moments were captured. I had originally told him I likely wasn't going to do it, after I did my test shoot the previous night. I told him it's just too dark there. I couldn't change his mind, and he was happy with the test photos. Sure, it doesn't do me a lot of good possibly to be showing grainy dark photos, but it made me some money, and made them some memories.

Yeah, a super fast, super long lens would have been awesome. If given the time, I would have rented one.