Case Study

From a Marriage Proposal to Productions Across the Country

One proposal in Coral Gables led to a wedding film, and ultimately an ongoing production relationship spanning shoots in South Florida and across the country.

Client: Zoli Honig, Short Form Media
Industry: Brand Film & Commercial

This one started as a proposal in Coral Gables. Nothing about that job suggested what it would turn into.

We work together regularly now, from local productions in South Florida to coordinating shoots across the country. Nobody plans that when the first job comes in.

Man in a navy suit kneeling to propose to a woman on a petal-strewn porch

Chapter 01

The proposal

Most of my work as a Coral Gables proposal photographer is a one-time job. You show up, you stay hidden, you get the few seconds that actually matter, and you send the gallery. That is usually where it ends.

Zoli Honig reached out through Instagram. He was preparing to propose to Chava at a waterfront estate in Coral Gables, and he wanted every second documented without her having the slightest idea I was there.

I coordinated every detail ahead of time so everything would feel completely natural. Arrive early, stay hidden until the moment, shoot photographs and cinematic video as it unfolded. One camera on a gimbal for the footage, another in hand for the stills. I tucked myself into the landscaping overlooking the property and waited.

A few minutes later Chava arrived. They greeted each other, Zoli walked over, and he dropped down onto one knee.

She covered her mouth in complete shock and her eyes filled. That is one of those moments you simply cannot pose or recreate, and watching it happen in real time is why I like documenting surprise proposals.

She said yes. Nobody saw me, and nobody had to.

Chapter 02

After the yes

I gave them a few minutes alone before I introduced myself.

The home itself was an incredible backdrop. I walked different areas of the estate with them and finished at a seating area overlooking the water. As the evening light softened I made a set of relaxed portraits: the excitement first, then the quieter part afterward, when it starts to sink in.

By the end of the session they could not stop smiling. I delivered both the proposal film and the photographs shortly afterward, and Zoli was thrilled with how everything turned out.

Couple in dark suits holding hands under flowering branches, rose petals scattered across a courtyard

Chapter 03

Then the wedding

He came back for it. That is the first real signal in this business: not the review, not the referral, but the same person hiring you again for something bigger.

Not long afterward we covered their wedding day from beginning to end. A proposal is a job for one person hiding in the landscaping. A wedding is not, so I brought in a team: a full day, multiple shooters on photo and video, and enough coverage that nothing depended on any one camera being in the right place. I directed it and ran the day, which is a different job from being the one behind the lens all afternoon.

Seeing the story come full circle, from the proposal to the wedding, is not something I get to do often.

Zoli and Chava exchanging rings, her hand under a crystal-dotted veil

Bride with a beaded neckline and long veil leaning against a man in a dark suit

Zoli and Chava's bedeken, a man in a shtreimel blessing the seated bride

Bride in a fitted gown and floor-length veil on a balcony above curved railings

And then Chava

Then his wife called

After working with Zoli on a run of productions, I had the opportunity to work on some real estate projects with his wife. Chava Feigen is a global real estate advisor with ONE Sotheby's International Realty, working out of their Brickell Avenue office and serving the Miami market. The work is a different job again: a property has to be sold on camera by the person selling it.

Behind the scenes filming Chava Feigen mid-sentence in a Miami condo living room, shot handheld on a Ronin gimbal

We filmed at Ten Museum Park. High floors, floor to ceiling glass, a private plunge pool on the terrace, and a skyline behind almost every frame. Shot handheld on a gimbal so the apartment reveals itself as you move through it rather than sitting still in a series of locked off shots.

Behind the scenes on a Miami real estate video, framing Chava Feigen by the floor to ceiling windows with the bay behind her while a second operator sets up a gimbal

Chava Feigen standing on a high floor terrace at Ten Museum Park in a tan blazer, filmed for a Miami real estate video

Chava Feigen presenting the private plunge pool on a high floor terrace at Ten Museum Park, the Miami skyline behind her

I am working with both of them now, which is not something I saw coming when I was hiding in the landscaping at a Coral Gables estate waiting for one man to get down on one knee. It has been a pleasure to watch it grow into this, and I am grateful to both of them for it.

She has since started a podcast, Call Her Tatty, which did 760,334 impressions in its first thirty days: 684,155 on Instagram Reels, 62,869 on YouTube and 13,310 listens on Spotify. Zoli's description of how it works is the best summary of why it works. She does not edit and she does not post. She shows up and has a real conversation.

Watch the Ten Museum Park film.

Chapter 05

Then the work

Zoli is the founder and CEO of Short Form Media, a short-form video and podcast company working with founders, executives, lawyers and startups building personal brands. They handle the planning, the shoot and the posting, and they have generated more than 800 million organic views for their clients. I shoot with them regularly. He brings the client and the brief, I run the production.

One of those clients is Vivek Jayaram, an intellectual property attorney. Most of what I shoot for him ends up on his feed.

Most of it is interview work. A room someone already uses, two cameras, and enough control over the light that the room stops being the problem.

Two-camera office interview set up beside a laptop, chairs and lighting stands in position

Two-camera interview set up in a living room for a Short Form Media production, the subject mid-sentence on a low sofa under a large softbox while a crew member in a Short Form Media cap operates in the foreground

Interview lit with a large overhead softbox in an open-plan office, subject seated at the far end

Chapter 06

From local shoots to national production

What began locally has kept expanding. As Short Form Media has grown, the production relationship has grown with it.

Boston was the real test. Zoli did not send a brief and hope. He sent me up to direct it. I hired a local videographer, ran the shoot and directed it from there.

Since then I have overseen productions in Chicago and Atlanta as well, and the list is still growing.

Same standard, different city, without flying a full crew north to get it. That is usually the point a working relationship either holds or quietly stops. This one held.

Camera monitor framing an interview on the Boston shoot, directed for Short Form Media with a locally hired videographer

For out-of-market productions that can mean sourcing and vetting local crew, confirming equipment and technical requirements, walking everyone through the production plan, and making sure the shoot comes out consistent even when I am not the one standing behind the camera.

That evolution matters to me. This started with Zoli trusting me with one of the most personal moments of his life. That trust now extends to professional productions happening hundreds of miles away.

Equipment is easy to ship anywhere. The harder thing to hire is somebody who has run enough of these to make the right call on the day.

Interview set against a painted mural wall, camera and boom in position on a corporate shoot

Chapter 07

Where it has got to

A proposal, then a wedding, then regular production work, then shoots in other cities, and now projects with Chava as well. It has been six years of turning up for the same two people in completely different circumstances, and I like where it has ended up.

You never really know where one project will lead. Sometimes it is a proposal. Sometimes it is a wedding. Sometimes it becomes years of collaboration, referrals and friendship. My goal has never been simply to hand over good photographs and films. It is to run a shoot people genuinely enjoy being on, so they want to work together again and feel confident recommending me to the people they care about.

If you want someone who is still there on the twelfth shoot, explore my Brand Film services or start a project.

Chapter 08

Planning a surprise proposal?

Whether you are looking for a Coral Gables proposal photographer or planning a surprise proposal, engagement session or wedding elsewhere in South Florida, I would like to help. From choosing the location to handling the logistics behind the scenes, I will make sure you can be in the moment instead of managing it.

Explore my Couples, Proposal & Wedding Photography Portfolio.

Curious what a proposal or elopement film like this costs? I break it down in my elopement videographer pricing guide. You can also explore my Elopement & Proposal services directly, or get in touch to start planning yours.

I first hired Dov to film and photograph my proposal. Then I hired him for my wedding. Now I work with him on a monthly basis for my clients. A pleasure to work with and such a talented guy

Zoli Honig