Vail Proposal | RJ and Stephanie | Avanti Lift on Vail Mountain » Colorado Mountain Elopement and Wedding Photographer

Stephanie and RJ | Vail Proposal

Savannah Chandler Photography | Vail Engagement Photographer

RJ and Stephanie’s Vail Mountain Proposal

RJ knew that after eight years together, it was time to propose to Stephanie on their Vail ski trip. They were coming to Colorado to ski and snowboard Vail’s famous champagne powder (and we’ve had quite the amazing winter this year). After the proposal, he wanted to capture a few skiing photos of the two of them heading down the mountain.

Skiing Proposal Logistics

Once we had the date nailed down, RJ gave me a list of a few runs/areas that he liked the view at. Based off that information, I did some digging into the surrounding areas and when the lighting would be the best. We decided that 10am at the top of the Avanti Lift would provide amazing light and some of the best views looking out into the Gore Range.

When deciding on a location for your Skiing Proposal –

• Is the View what you’re looking for?
• Is there a place where you can take your skis/board off and safely stash it?
• Is there a place where it looks like I might happen to be a lift photographer 😉
• Is there phone service? Sharing our locations makes finding each other much easier!

Once RJ, Stephanie, and their group were on their way across the cattrack to the top of the Avanti Lift – he came up and asked me “if I could take a photo of their group”. Skiing provides this amazing opportunity where it can look as if your photographer is naturally in that spot taking photos for lots of people.

The proposal was a COMPLETE surprise, not only to Stephanie, but to their entire Ski group (with the exception of their group leader who was creating their route for the morning). Everyone was shocked – applause and cheers erupted from all around.

Once the shock wore off a bit, and we got some photos sans goggles/helmets for them, we headed down the run to meet RJ’s family for a few quick photos.

Skiing Photographs

As I’ve told many of the couples that I’ve photographed on the mountain – skiing/boarding photos aren’t as fun as bombing down the mountain 😅. There’s a LOT of stop and go to get those different angles and for me to use my different lenses.

What works best for me (and keep in mind, I’m a snowboarder not a skier so random stops on flats is a LOT harder) is to swap between being behind you, meeting up, then being in front. Put this on repeat down the entire run. It’s a WORKOUT doing all the stop and go. I’ve found that for proposals/engagements – one run tends to be the perfect amount of time without wearing out. Wedding photos are typically 2-3 runs.

Congratulations again, RJ and Stephanie!! I hope that you enjoyed the amazing snow in Vail.

Cheers –