Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve Engagement Session from Kristine Marie Photography

"Our engagement photography session was held at the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego, California. The sun was setting and the light was perfect. The leaves in the trees were beginning to change colors for the fall season and it was the perfect fall photoshoot in San Diego.

We wanted to show our geeky side so we brought along some board games, comics with a wedding theme, and a picnic blanket. It was our first time being in a photoshoot and Kristine was able to make us feel comfortable and natural throughout the process. We absolutely love her warm personality and how amazing she is at using natural lighting to make the pictures shine. It was a very memorable experience." -the couple

How he proposed: We were on our 2 week China excursion and ended up in countryside city of Guilen. We took a double-decker boat trip along the famous Li River, which is renowned for it's beautiful landscape and a significant triple peak landmark that is used on the RMB 20 Yuan banknote. The 40 tourists were all anxiously awaiting that exact moment to take a picture of the banknote with the landmark easily seen in the background.

I knew I wouldn't be able to pop the question with the top-deck being overly crowded and was determined to wait till they cleared out. The moment had to be perfect. The PA system on the boat turned on and informed the masses that the complimentary lunch was ready and to not worry. They would let everyone know when the triple peak landmark was upon us.

This was my chance. The top-deck cleared out with everyone wanting to stuff their bellies with some delicous food. There were only a handful of people left. The weather was cool and soothing, where a slight drizzle could be felt in the air and the mountain peaks in the distance were covered with auspicious mists. I couldn't have asked for a better setting.

I had to sieze this moment because I didn't know if another would have presented itself. I paced around for about 15 minutes trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach all the while Amy kept looking up at me quizzically. I took one last deep breath and exhaled till there was nearly no more air left in my lungs. I slowly reached for Amy's hand, got down on one knee, and asked the love of my life to marry me. The funny thing is I was so nervous that I didn't even wait for a response. First, I accidentally took the right hand instead of the left and second, I placed the engagement ring on her finger before she could even mumble a single word. Thankfully she didn't try to stop me and ended up saying "Yes".

After the initial surprise and excitement, our tour guide told us to take out a 20 dollar yuan and hold it up towards the left side of the boat. As fate would have it, that exact point in time when I proposed was the exact instant when the landmark appeared. The boat workers forgot to announce it to the rest of the tourists and that allowed us a more intimate setting for our most memorable moment. If that isn't kismet then I don't know what is.

We still have that crisp RMB 20 Yuan from that day.

Vendor: Photographer: Kristine Marie Photography