Photographer searches for couple whose proposal he captured at Yosemite National Park

Kristine Solomon

Matthew Dippel, a Michigan photographer, was in Yosemite National Park in California when he directed his friend, Josh Van Gorden, to hike over to the famous viewpoint Taft Point to pose for a photo. But instead of seeing Van Gorden emerge on the cliff, Dippel spotted two other tiny figures in the distance: one standing and one kneeling.

Dippel quickly realized that he was witnessing a marriage proposal.

He sprang into action. “I had my settings all ready to go — due to waiting for Josh — so I just snapped away and managed to get a beautiful photo,” Dippel told Yahoo Lifestyle. But he when he ran over to try to deliver the photo, he was unable to identify the lovebirds. “There were maybe 12 other photographers there along with three to four brides and grooms taking photos at the point, so it’s not an uncommon thing to see,” he said.

Determined to locate the couple, Dippel did what any reasonable person would do: He posted his best shot to Twitter. In the photo, the sun’s rays are bathing the hikers as they’re perched about 7,500 feet up. He asked his followers, “Twitter help, idk who these two are but I hope this finds them. I took this at Taft Point at Yosemite National Park, on October 6th, 2018.”

This proposal was spontaneously caught in Yosemite National Park by a photographer who now needs your help locating the couple. (Photo: Twitter.com/DippelMatt)
This proposal was spontaneously caught in Yosemite National Park by a photographer who now needs your help locating the couple. (Photo: Twitter.com/DippelMatt)

The post has since gone viral, with more than 153,000 retweets, more than twice that number in likes, and 1,100 comments — and none have helped Dippel identify the couple, unfortunately. He confirmed to Yahoo Lifestyle that he still had not found the darling duo as of Monday despite a few false alarms. In fact, the photo has garnered such a reaction from commenters on Twitter that he has asked people to just privately message him — but only with serious leads.

For Dippel, it was a once-in-a-lifetime capture. “I don’t photograph weddings though, believe it or not,” he said. “I mainly do concerts, portraits, and landscapes.”

Yahoo Lifestyle hopes to update this story soon — and find out if the answer was “yes” — when the Yosemite couple are finally located.

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