Surprise Proposals - The Best Lenses
As a photographer, one of the most essential tools in your arsenal is the lens. Whether you're a professional or a hobbyist, choosing the right lens can make all the difference in capturing the perfect shot. Especially with surprise proposals! With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to know which lenses to invest in. In this blog post, I’ll share some of my favorite lenses for for shooting weddings, portraits and surprise proposals! So, let's dive in and discover the lenses that will take your photography to the next level.
My favorite 2 lenses for surprise proposals are the 85mm 1.4 and 35mm 1.8. I love the 85mm lens because it allows me to be super far away and still get close-up shots of the proposal. For Ian and Abigail's proposal, the beach was almost empty, meaning I had to stay pretty far back so that I could stay hidden since there was no one else I could blend in with. Because of this, that meant that I needed a lens that could capture them from far away.
Ian contacted me only 7 days before the proposal - not a lot of time to get the plan in place! He had wanted to do it at Higgins Beach in Scarborough, ME, a beach where he and his girlfriend (and hopefully future fiance!) visited often. I had only been there twice, but was familiar with it enough to know the best end of the beach to capture the proposal at - there's a little cove at the end where it's much more private.My 85mm 1.4 lens is my go-to for surprise proposals because it produces super sharp photos even at a distance! I prefer this lens also because it performs really well in low-light situations, so even if it is a little too dark out, I can still capture the proposal flawlessly!
We planned to do it at sunset, and fortunately, aligned with low tide, meaning that the water was super far out so that there was plenty of open sand to walk along. Ian sent me a screenshot of a map of the beach pointing to where he would be, and I just had to hope that I showed up at the exact right spot! He also let me know what both he and Abigail were wearing so that I could make sure I was looking out for the right couple! Unfortunately, today was the WINDIEST it had been in awhile - making it for a very cold evening! I struggled to keep my hands inside my gloves since I kept needing to adjust my camera settings because the lighting conditions kept changing - by the end of the session, my hands were red and numb from the cold! Ian and Abigail showed up only 10 minutes after I had arrived to the spot - perfect timing so that I wasn't standing out there too long on the beach!
My other favorite lens to capture proposals with is my 35mm 1.8 lens. I pretty much only ever shoot with the 35mm lens because I feel like it's the most accurate to what the eye sees as there's no distortion. In other words, using this lens is like seeing the moments from the pictures in real-time as if you were there, too! The 35mm lens really helps to capture the moment and the client in its truest form. It also performs really well in low-light, too, so as the sun sets and it gets darker, I can still capture super sharp and clear photos!
