Lovely NY Wedding Photographer Karen Wise shares her engagement Story with us

Karen Wise, an amazing photographer here in New York City, recently got engaged this past summer in beautiful Hawaii! So of course I  wanted to know all about it! Below is her touching engagement story that Karen so kindly shares with us.

"While Chandler and I were in Hawaii for Nikki & Dave's wedding we stayed in a beautiful cottage, on a former ginger plantation, built by an architect and his wife.

We had the cutest Barbados Blackbelly Sheep as our neighbors. They lived in the pasture in front of our porch next to fields of pineapples, eucalyptus and lime trees. You could see the ocean in the distance and hear a nearby waterfall while eating breakfast.
We arrived at night after having spent 4 days on the West Coast near Kona. We had a lovely time on the West Coast at a B&B called the Luana Inn. We relaxed on Hapuna beach (northwest), and visited some black sand beaches (south) on our way to see the Kilauea volcano. We drove around the Big Island to the East Coast that night to get to the cottage we had rented, but didn't see the paradise we had arrived in until morning...

The first thing I did that morning were some sun salutations (yoga) in front of a row of Eucalyptus trees. We said hi to our neighbors (the owners) and to their baaing sheep (Buddy and Snickers). Chandler and I were invited to explore the farm, so we decided to take our cameras and head towards the sounds of rushing water. On our way out, Chandler said he needed to grab something from upstairs. I noticed what I thought was an iphone in his pocket...

Chandler went down the path to the waterfall first. I held his hand, and my Contax 645 in the other as I descended. At the bottom of the trail, I took a couple of shots, leaning forward over the cliff to try to see more water falling... Chandler held my belt loop as I took some more precarious steps. When I turned around he was on one knee with a little box in his hand.

Moments later we were engaged : )"

In these pictures: 
Akaka Falls, our cottage in Pepeekeo, Luana Inn our wonderful B&B near Kona, kids playing at Hapuna Beach near Kona, our neighbors the sheep in Pepeekeo, Black Sands beach, Boiling Pots Falls in Hilo, the Kilauea crater within a crater spewing sulfur dioxide, and the Mauna Kea volcano at 13800 feet which we drove up to photograph.
Most of these images I shot on film with the Contax 645.
The color Holga pictures and pictures of Karen were taken by Chandler Kauffman

Congratulation Karen and Chandler, thanks for sharing! Much LOVE!

Do you want to share your lovely engagement story with us?
We would love to hear it. Please send your submissions to blog@lelanewyork.com to be considered for a feature on The Lela New York Wedding Blog. Thank You!

xo