LJ contacted me a while ago from London to book me to take photos of his sunset wedding proposal on Northcliff Hill.

LJ and Denise live in the UK and are in Johannesburg for a holiday at the moment. I absolutely LOVE getting requests like this!

His plan was perfect, and worked like clockwork.

We booked the time of the photo session after checking the sunset time. We made sure we had at least 30 minutes before the sun actually set. The sunset in Johannesburg in autumn and winter is quite abrupt. I know that’s a strange way to describe it, but it happens so quickly and once that sun dips over the horison it’s very dark.

I knew that we wouldn’t have much leeway and I was right. The sky was magnificent… and then it was black… in the space of 5 minutes.

Anyway, on to the actual story! Enough about the gorgeous sky!

Denise had no idea.

LJ took her to watch the sunset, and he walked with her along the pathway to find a quieter spot to propose. He’d told me that he would reach into his backpack to get his “camera” out and that would be my cue. I was following them at a safe distance waiting for the moment, and managed to clamber up the rocks in time.

It was gorgeous!

He kept his promise to her and didn’t drop on one knee.

She said yes immediately and there were tears.

The other people along the path were fantastic! They moved away so that the couple could have a bit of privacy. In hindsight I wish I’d had my wide lens to capture the onlookers but I was concentrating on LJ and Denise. A group of ladies found some tissues to save Denise’s makeup, and they had quite a few people saying congratulations.

What a special evening! It’s really such a privilege to take photos of such special moments.

Then it was time for some portraits before the sun actually set.

What a stunning evening to get engaged!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip to South Africa, and you get to see everything you’re hoping to see.