The rest of the story is below the slideshow…
Here’s the rest of the story…
Back in February, Bobby ’84 reached out to me about his son Tripp’s plans. Bobby was a PiKA, as was his good friend Brad Angevine; nine years ago, we reconnected when we brought our kids to the Alumni Application Workshop weekend. All three ended up graduating from W&M.
I stayed in touch with Tripp while he was in school (easy enough as he was a manager for the Men’s basketball team) and have maintained contact with him as he has moved forward.
He met Maren at U of Indiana where she was finishing her Masters in Public Policy (not sure where she did her undergrad) and he was starting his Masters in Education. I met her when he brought her to HoCo21.
Tripp and I connected and began planning a surprise proposal shoot. No big deal for me, I’ve done a few of them, one for Ginger Ambler’s oldest boy and one for Trish Flaherty’s son (Trish was a Chi-O, class of ’82).
Yeah, no big deal…
Except Tripp didn’t want to do the cliched Crim Dell proposal.
So we decided to try the dock at Lake Matoaca. Perfect. Newp.
Everything at the dock was either completely cleared out to be able to hide or too overgrown to shoot through.
So I had to find a spot up in the woods where I could hide a camera and be able to trigger it with a wireless remote. Those doohickeys are great, as long as there isn’t much in between the trigger and the receiver to interfere with the signal. Great. Because I still needed to be able to see them without them seeing me as well as me being able to see the camera and for them not to be able to see the camera.
I scouted it out, found a spot, choreographed Tripp’s path to where Maren would be facing the camera without seeing it, and tested out the remote. So far, so good. Just needed enough time to set up ahead of them getting there, handle any housekeeping on the dock, and to shoo away anyone who might be down at the dock. All good.
Except.
For.
the
Forecast…
Tripp and I had both been keeping an eye on things and it was looking like it might rain. I told Tripp, “if it rains some, embrace it. Just go with it.” And he agreed.
But I did offer that if it got ugly, well we could use the clam shell over the stage of the amphitheater for a Plan B.
Setting up Plan A was going to take some work, but I’ve dealt with that before. Plan B was going to be a whole nother story. Where the hell am I going to hide a camera in an empty amphitheater?!?
Improvise. I bought one of those popup canopies and got together some plywood boxes that could hide the camera. I would set it up where they put the soundboard for concerts, cover the boxes with a tarp, and it would look sorta like it was supposed to be there.
This all looked good on paper, but the reality of setting up for both was going to take a lotta work. After all, if the end result is a series of in-focus, properly exposed images, the camera has to be set up perfectly. Doing it in one location is one thing; doing it in two? Aye-yi-yi. So many moving parts.
Fortunately, I was able to enlist my man Fraser to help. I would pick him up a few hours ahead of the shoot and we’d drive over and get it done, regardless of what the “it” may be.
And that’s where everything started to go off the rails…
Tripp and Maren are flying to Richmond from Indianapolis on Friday to visit his parents before coming down to Williamsburg Saturday to visit his grandparents who live in Kingsmill. He and I have it all worked out: he’ll drive down Route 5, park at Zable, wander the campus, stroll to the lake, guide her to a spot on the dock, point of things of interest while positioning her and himself, before dropping to his knee and popping the question.
Except.
For.
the
Forecast…
Oh, it was looking like it could be good, bad, or downright ugly. How ugly? Hell, maybe heavy rain and thunderstorms. Good? Cool, breezy, and drizzly.
Oh, well, I was prepared. But not for his flight to get cancelled. Yep. Cancelled. And just like that Tripp had to tell Maren: Roadtrip! They were making the 11-hour drive to Richmond. But hey, they would still be at the dock by 4:30!
Ok. I’m watching the weather and fully prepared to skip Plan A and go right for Plan B.
I leave the house, it’s raining.
I get on 295, check the directions, and see a 20-minute backup on 64. Awesome. Just after getting on 64 I could see the cars practically parked. I dropped down to Route 60 and hustled along until I was past the jam and got back on 64. And the sun came out!
Zipping along. Fras tells me it’s looking good in the ‘burg. Alright. I’m breathing almost normal.
Get to Fras and Christie’s, sun is out, but there is a slow-moving band on the way. I’m still torn: Plan A? Plan B? Both?
Fras and I hustle over to Matoaca and started setting up Plan A: camera hidden in the woods. We roll the dice for the weather band to slow or stall and go all in on Plan A. Seriously. No safety net, no back up.
Fine. Plan A. The spot is marked, the camera is set and dialed in. Fras is on the dock striking poses and I’m working on the camera until I’m satisfied that I’ve got focus and enough depth of field for wiggle room. Remote receiver attached and firing. I move to a remote spot and fire the trigger.
Nothing.
Yep.
Nothing.
No. Communication. with the.
Receiver.
I walk back to the camera. Click. Click. Click. Perfect.
Walk away. Click – nothing. Click – nothing. Click – nothing.
Walk back. Click. Click. Click.
Sigh.
So, I have to find somewhere else to hide where I can see them approach, see the dock, and see the camera.
We are looking all over the woods and around the buildings.
The ONLY thing that will work is for me to hide behind a building and then inch around the corner as they pass by. I just have to make sure I can see them coming without them seeing me and then for me to move without them seeing me.
Ok. That’s what we go with.
“Hey, Fras, how’s that band looking?” “It’s still there, moving slow.” “Well, it’s starting to look like it’s getting dark out there.” “Yep.”
At this point, I’ve heard from Tripp that they made it to Richmond and are making their way to Williamsburg and that everything is on schedule. We’ve worked out some game-day communications, but it’s not in-your-ear sophisticated. I’m emailing him so that text won’t pop up on his phone, but that creates a bit of a delay. Pins-and-needles, pins-and-needles.
It’s just after 4 and I’m antsy. Just a little. But ready.
Then…
The KAYAKER SHOWS UP!
He brings his boat down to the dock. He sits on the dock. Puts the boat in the water. Sits. on. the. dock. Sits. and. sits.
And finally gets in and pushes off.
And not 5 minutes later, I start to hear the rumbling thunder…
It’s going to be ok. (I tell myself that REPEATEDLY.)
I finally get the 30-minute heads-up! I’ve got Fras lounging in an Adirondack chair under the clam shell, watching for them to come down to the amphitheater before heading to the dock. When he sees them, he’ll message me and I’ll be ready to move.
I go up to check the camera battery one last time. CRAP! I hear footsteps and voices!
And here comes a family of three down to the dock to check out the view.
So I’m charging out of the woods with another camera in hand and they’re looking at me like WTF?!? And I’m saying, “Hey, hey, don’t mean to freak you out, BUT there’s a couple heading down here in a few minutes to get engaged and it’s a surprise!”
And this woman says, “So, you would like us to leave?” And I could not even respond.
And she says, “Ok, we’ll move along.” And I’m like “Thank you.” And they’re like, well, nothing…they just started wandering around on the dock.
And they finally left.
And it’s like 10 minutes or less.
And I’m calling/texting Fras “do you see them?”-“nope” almost like a kid on a car trip are-we-there-yetting their parents to insanity.
And I realize that damn, it is pretty dark…maybe I should check the camera settings. And sure enough, it was dark enough for the shutter speed to be to slow to capture anything without it being blurry…AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGG!
I make the adjustments. It’s ready. Whew.
I start back down the slope to my hiding spot, waiting to hear from Fras, and then I hear voices and
ALMOST RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME ARE TRIPP AND MAREN!!!!!
I slipped, fell, and practically rolled under a canoe.
Maren saw me, but wasn’t quite sure what to think.
And Tripp just kept on walking.
And I’m trying to get up and hide and all I can do is CRUNCH LEAVES like a wounded deer.
I finally get upright and see that Tripp and Maren are on the dock. I can barely see them because I can’t really get anywhere without them seeing me. I’m hitting that button on the remote like one of those lab rats hitting a button for another hit of crack, just hoping that the receiver is listening and telling the camera to take the damn photos!
Tripp is doing everything we scripted. He’s pointing, he’s guiding, he’s dropped to his knee. Maren? I have no idea what she’s doing because I can’t see her. Well, she wasn’t screaming and I didn’t hear a splash. I peek out a little more and I can see they are hugging.
Ok.
At least Tripp’s end of the deal was working out.
After giving them a few moments I came out from behind the canoes and waved and grabbed a couple more frames before going out to the dock to greet the newly engaged couple. Maren was wha?-wow-wha? as she processed everything. All of Tripp’s tells came to light, especially how he-who-never-goes-to-the-bathroom had to make two bathroom stops in less than 30 minutes on the walk down to Matoaca. We shared the backstory how we worked it all out, I showed them where the camera was hidden, we took a few more photos, and
we.
all.
caught.
our.
breath…
Yeah, there’s more to this story, but that will have to wait. What’s important here is that love and friendship are truly what makes the world go round. It was a privilege for me to be part of their story and my part, though, was manageable mainly because of my friend Fraser.
(Oh, and yes, the photos turned out beautifully.)
