I met Victoria and Dmitriy this past snowboard season at a race at Roundtop Mountain Resort, in Harrisburg, PA. We hung out a few times throughout the season, and were fortunate enough to end the season together at USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain, in Colorado.
A few weeks ago, Victoria and Dmitriy reached out to me to set up a photoshoot while I was going to be spending some time in the Outer Banks. Victoria was hoping for a couple's session, but Dmitriy had other plans. He had been waiting for the perfect time to surprise Victoria with a proposal (and a stunning engagement ring)! The ring was already purchased and was just waiting for the rest of the plans to fall into place.
When they arrived in North Carolina, we met up at my rental house in Waves. While Victoria was distracted, Dmitriy passed off some champagne and glasses to my husband, so we could bring them to the photoshoot the next day without Victoria suspecting anything.
If you live anywhere along the east coast, you know how rainy it has been the last few weeks. The day of their photoshoot was no exception. The forecast looked promising all day - the rain was supposed to clear out around noon, and our evening photoshoot looked like it would go off without a hitch. Well, as soon as we arrived at our intended location, Mother Nature decided to defy the weather forecasting technology, and the rain started falling. We decided to wait it out, because the radar showed that the weather would clear up again in about 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, another rain cloud formed, and there were more following behind it. So, we decided to get back on the road and drive south until we found a dry location. I was looking forward to this photoshoot for weeks, and was determined to hold their session that night!
We eventually found a non-flooded place near Rodanthe to pull off the side of the road and park. I ran up to the adjacent beach area and scouted the location, and it was incredible! There was only one other couple in sight, and the skies and dunes were picture-perfect.
So, my husband grabbed the bag with the champagne and glasses, I grabbed my camera gear, and the rest is history. You can see how the session unfolded for yourself right here...
(Big thanks to my husband for helping, and to my daughter and dog for helping distract Victoria while Dmitriy was getting ready to propose!)