There are just a couple caveats to my future employment in this field. First, I can only work with Eagle 1 (Professional Photographers Super Secret Service Undercover Spy Name) because she is an awesome photographer and super fun to hang out with in the woods and now she is unfortunately aware of my shortcomings as an assistant. Second, I can't be paid. This might be a problem with making this my dream job, because I absolutely could not accept any form of payment. There is just too much pressure to get a good shot. So, it really needs to be someone I know well. Really well. The kind of person who is a dear enough friend that if I forget to push the record button on the video camera because I am caught up in this once in a lifetime moment, they will forgive me. Also, you can't mind if the video is full of someone muttering "Ahhh, Ohhh, Sweet" and making other baby kitten sounds because what is happening in front of them is so darn precious! But other than that....PERFECT JOB FOR ME!
Let me tell you all about it! On Thursday afternoon Martha called to see if I was available Friday afternoon to help Eagle 1 capture her son proposing to his sweet girlfriend! She needed someone on video support! Of course, I said YES, but seriously in the future I need more than 24 hours to prepare for an assignment this important! I mean, I hardly had time to charge up all my camera equipment and figure out where I was supposed to show up. Nevermind, that I did not have time to practice drive to the location, prepare a fun stakeout backpack with donuts, binoculars and other stakeout items. I woke up six times Thursday night worried about rain, someone dropping the ring in the water, being spotted before the proposal started, not pressing the record button! On second thought, maybe it was better that I only had one night to lose sleep before the big day!
Friday morning dawned and it was dreary and overcast. I swear it has been raining and dreary here for 749 days straight. I was really hoping it would clear out so he could propose outside on the sweet little bridge where he had planned! The drizzle and fog moved out just in the nick of time!!!
Eagle 1 and I (First Assistant - Eagle 2) met in the parking lot about an hour before the proposal time. We FaceTimed with Mom (Eagle 3) and Dad (Eagle 4)....you can see this naming convention is not unique and thank goodness we didn't have anyone else in on this assignment or we would have to come up with something a little more creative! We told the parental units that we had arrived at the location and were going in to set up! It really felt like we were going undercover on assignment!
We scoped out the area near the bridge and found our hiding spot and started testing our equipment. Wouldn't you know a park employee showed up and started cleaning filters on the very bridge where the proposal was going to take place. We still had 45 minutes until proposal time, but we really wanted him to wrap it up and move on! He worked quickly and was out of there with plenty of time to spare. We had another close call with a family that was walking the trail and spent some time on the bridge. We did not want to have to be the crazy ladies telling them to clear the bridge...but we were willing! Thankfully, it did not come to that.
In addition to keeping the bridge clear, we tried out lots of places where we would put our multiple cameras and recording devices.
We hid them and moved them and re-hid them again. Or maybe that was just me.
Can you see the camera?
We were anxiously waiting on the text that they were headed our way!
We found our spot to hide in the woods and cleared the path of rocks, debris, limbs and backpacks so we could be real quiet getting out of the woods. We took pictures of each other because FUN!
We also took pictures of our equipment! We basically had a party while we waited. We laughed, talked about Jesus, marriage, proposals, divorce, cancer, we covered it ALL.
I might have even cried at some point, but no huge surprise there! Poor Eagle 1.
AND THEN WE GOT THE TEXT AND IT GOT SERIOUS!!!!
I was obviously, calm, cool and collected and didn't panic at all.
No, that is a lie.
I felt a little sick, had to pee, would have loved a Xanax or a drink or both!
As our cover in case they glanced our way, I was pretending to photograph something super interesting in the woods while watching the sidewalk out of the side of my head. Basically, I was trying to turn my eyeball all the way to the left so I could see out of my ear! We knew we had to move quickly once their backs were to us so we could get in position! Once my ear was able to pick up the lovebirds making the turn, I gave Eagle 1 the signal (and it was not a loud CAWCAW, although that would have been hilarious!) and she stealthy moved down to start taking photographs. I was not quite as stealth as I tried to quickly move to my video camera. I had strategically stuck some rocks in the ground to mark exactly where to put my tripod so it would be perfectly aimed at the bridge and in my panic mode COULDN'T FIND THE DAMN ROCKS ANYWHERE!
Ackkkk, I had to just hold the camera attached to the tripod and hope for the best!
I did remember to turn it on!!!
Then it was over! There was hugging and joy and jumping and kissing and all the sweetness you can imagine! Then he pointed us out to his new fiancee and she smiled and laughed and we made them take a ton more pictures to document this beautiful day!
Then we joined their little engagement celebration! It was so heartwarming to see how happy they were and the congratulations from their friends and families!
These two kids were so happy and excited to get engaged! It was joyous!
I was so happy to be part of it!
I can't wait for the wedding!!!
Finally, from this honest retelling of my performance as an photographer's assistant, it is likely that this was my first and last opportunity to enjoy my dream job. But now that you know what I am looking for, please keep me in mind if you think of anything else that is kinda spy related, super fun to do, a little stressful so you get all the benefits of an adrenaline rush and also let's you witness happiness and joy play out right in front of you! Forward all job suggestions to me ASAP!
Yet another great blog. Plenty of crazy details and many laughs as I read along. I'm sure the young couple will appreciate all the details and the effort it took to capture the ceremony. Your the best!
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