How do you photograph a private, unhurried surprise proposal at Fushimi Inari — a shrine that welcomes tens of thousands of visitors every single day? The short answer is: very early morning, and a lot of quiet planning together beforehand.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is one of Kyoto’s most-visited shrines, and honestly, in the days before this shoot I had been a little worried about the crowds. So he and I spent some real time working out the plan in detail. I mapped out exactly where we would meet, exactly where I would step in as a tourist, exactly where he should ask. He had taken it all in, and on the morning of the shoot, he arrived at the meeting spot right on time — and from that moment on, everything unfolded just the way we had hoped.

Because we had started so early, the shrine was almost empty. There was no one in the background at all in the frames where it mattered. As planned, I walked up as a tourist and asked her if she could take a photo of me. She did not suspect a thing, and she said yes so warmly that I already knew this was going to be a good session. Then he turned to her, got down on one knee, and asked.

She was completely surprised. She started crying almost immediately, in the softest, most heartfelt way, and watching that moment through the camera was one of those experiences I do not take for granted. I felt so happy standing there. I remember thinking, right in the middle of shooting, how grateful I was to be trusted with this.

After the proposal moment itself, we walked around and shot in some of the quieter parts of Fushimi Inari that most visitors never really slow down to see. The famous torii gates get most of the attention (rightfully so — they are stunning), but the shrine grounds are full of these smaller, beautiful pockets that deserve their own photos too. We talked and laughed our way through the rest of the session, and they loved every photo I showed them on the back of the camera.

Thank you both so much for choosing me to be the one behind the camera for such an important morning. It really meant a lot. Congratulations — I hope life brings you back to Japan again soon.

If you are dreaming up a private surprise proposal in Kyoto — even at somewhere as busy as Fushimi Inari — everything is on my Kyoto packages page.