Matthew Dippel, a freelance photographer based out of Michigan, petitioned his Twitter followers to find a mystery couple who he had photographed earlier this month.
Dippel was taking a road-trip from Seattle to Los Angeles when he decided to stop at Yosemite National Park on October 6th. While at the park, Dippel made his way to the ever popular Taft Point. The spot gives sightseers a tremendous view of the park and sits nearly 3,500 feet above the valley floor, lending itself wonderfully to scenic photography and, consequently, phenomenal views during marriage proposals.
“I had seen a lot of really really beautiful pictures from Taft Point and wanted to see it for myself. We planned on going there at sunset and next thing, well you can see what happened after that.”
Dippel and his friend, Josh, were at another overlook across from Taft Point taking pictures when an unidentified man proposed to a woman. Dippel took a snapshot of the pair before continuing his shoot with Josh.
The image didn’t strike him as unique – a quick Google search will turn up countless engagement photos from the spot – but he wanted to share the image with the two.
“I just genuinely wanted to find out who the people were to deliver this photo to them, because I think it’s a super special moment that they could hold onto.”
After finishing his shoot with Josh, Dippel hurried to the other side of the ravine to find the couple. Alas, he couldn’t find them. Speaking to several people turned up nothing and it seemed as thought he would not find them. So Dippel took to Twitter a week and a half later asking people to help him find the mystery couple.
Seven days, 166,000 retweets, and several news stories later, and it looked as though the mystery couple wouldn’t be found. Dippel resigned himself to the fact, and admitted as much to his followers.
“At this point I’m beginning to believe they have seen it and choose to remain unnamed. I will continue searching for a while, so don’t worry I’m not giving up, just not making it priority #1 anymore.”
But as of Saturday morning, the 24-year-old photographer has found his mystery subjects: Charlie and Melissa.
In an update he posted on Twitter, Dippel said he had accidentally captured an image of their second proposal, what Charlie called “the more special and official one.”
“Huge congratulations to you two,” Dippel responded. “I wish I was able to meet you in person and hug you. I’m glad I finally found you to share this special moment with you, thanks for being so awesome, maybe one day we will finally meet in person!”
Featured Image by Farsai Chaikulngamdee on Unsplash
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