Two young women smile at the camera holding their small dog in Acadia National Park

These October engagement photos in Acadia show how beautiful the area is when the seasons change. Mid-September to mid-October are great months for engagement photos in the northeast. The fall colors become super vibrant and it’s a great time for hiking.

Mikayla reached out to me earlier in the year. Her and her girlfriend were planning a trip to Acadia for their 5 year anniversary. She wanted to propose to her during their trip, and needed help planning a good surprise.

The two had talked about proposals before and came to one important conclusion: the whole “one knee” thing just wasn’t their vibe. They wanted something a little updated that also felt unique to them.

Mikayla liked the idea of using their puppy, Reese, to announce the proposal instead with a cute bandana. There is no way I could disagree with that idea! The only hard part was then figuring out how to get me in the mix without giving the surprise away.

This is what we came up with: I’d approach them as a budding photographer wanting them to model for me. Since Mikayla is also interested in photography, this worked perfectly. They saw me in the distance with my camera, and Mikayla suggested they follow me since I looked like I knew some good spots.

As they approached, I chatted them up about their cute puppy and I was in! They agreed to “model” for me. After a few shots, Mikayla put the bandana on Reese and of course, Emily said yes.

A couple walks on Sand Beach in Acadia National Park during their October engagement photo session

Two great locations for October engagement photos in Acadia National Park

Schooner Head

One of my favorite locations for engagement photos in Acadia is Schooner head. This is where we started our shoot, and it has such great views of the park.

Sand Beach

After the proposal, we worked our way down to the water and Sand Beach. The two locations are both super easy to get to and make for lots of diversity in photos.