Ian is a San Francisco native, four hundred proposals in, and still writes about the joy and the tears and the surprise like someone who has not got used to it. He will take on the planning as readily as the photography, down to the flowers and finding a musician who knows the right song. You do not need the perfect plan before you contact him.
Vendors in San Francisco
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David wishes he had hired someone to photograph his own proposal to Annie. She said yes, and the two of them have photographed more than 800 proposals around the Bay Area since. A proposal cannot be recreated, so they scout the spot in advance and work out exactly where to stand for the light they want.
Anna is good at hiding in unexpected spots, and describes the rest of the job as stealth, location and logistics. She scouts spots against the idea you turned up with, then sends diagrams and shares her location so you both know exactly where she will be. She works photojournalistically and aims for pictures that are real without being unflattering.
Send Ed the rough idea rather than a finished plan, and he will come back with the timing, the position, and the part you had not thought of. He is in place before you are, close enough to catch it and far enough not to become part of it. Then you take a breath and make portraits.
You do not need to know how to pose. Joseph has been photographing people in love for two decades and what interests him is the space between two people. The moment shoulders soften, the distance disappears, and neither of them is thinking about the camera. He will guide you where guiding helps and stop where it does not.