Malik, his girlfriend and their mothers came around the corner and you could practically feel the energy radiating off of him. He later confessed he was so nervous he reached into his pocket while walking to meet me, that he was just holding the ring in his hand. Luckily, Malik is a big guy- football player big. In fact that is how they met- at Towson University. He was a football player, she was a cheerleader.
But their love started growing while they worked at Hopkins. When I asked Malik when he knew she was the one he said it was being together during the pandemic. Which I thought was such a great statement. Its been a hard year plus and having someone by your side that you love and loves you back is the most amazing thing.
To throw Amanda off the scent, Malik arranged a dinner for their Mom’s to meet since the pandemic had postponed their in-person meeting. We settled on the bait and switch proposal so we needed a cover story. The Moms being there helped us out- the story was that his Mom had been bugging him for updated family photos and because my family packages are an hour…of course we should do this session while Amanda and her mom are there- you know…to use up the time.
I did some quick photos of the Moms with their respective kids and then it was time for photos of Malik and Amanda. We did a walking shot so I could finalize their background and then I gave Malik the cue “Hey Malik, I need a really natural smile from Amanda. Can you say something to make her smile?” I stepped back to frame the shot so I don’t know what he said but there was that happy confused look on her face as she started to register what he was saying, and then he kneeled down with a box in his hands.
Photography | Silver Orchard Creative
Venue | Manor at Silo Falls
