This boyfriend surprised his partner by proposing under the Northern Lights

And he took the most spectacular engagement photo ever

By KATIE JONES , Cosmo Politan

When Australian Dale Sharpe's first attempt to propose to his girlfriend went horribly wrong, he made sure the special moment would be one to remember second time around.

Seven years after they got together, Sharpe, 34, finally succeeded in popping the question to his girlfriend Karlie Russell, 29, in front of the Northern Lights.

He first tried to propose during a trip to Iceland nine months earlier and had hidden the ring inside a bottle of hand cream, Daily Mail Australia reports. But when the couple, who are landscape photographers, found their luggage was over the weight allowance, Karlie threw the moisturiser - and the $4,000 ring that Dale had hidden inside - into a bin.

"I didn't know until a week weeks after, when we were in Iceland and I was looking everywhere for the ring," Dale told the newspaper."I asked her where the moisturiser was and she told me she threw it out in the airport."

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After their romantic trip didn't actually happen, Dale saved up to buy a new ring fora two-month visit to the Arctic Circle. While he had planned to ask Karlie to marry him on the day of their seven year anniversary, the stunning display of the Northern Lights made him change his mind.

Lofoten, Norway… ______________________________________ WE'RE ENGAGED! What a better way to propose than in the heart of the Arctic Circle under the Northern Lights. It's taken a few years to plan but I always had this moment in mind & it seemed fitting as we are both landscape photographers who share a passion for photographing the aurora. Originally I was going to propose in Iceland last year but unfortunately Karlie decided to discard my secretly stashed ring (yes, that actually happened 😂 lol, we were trying to cut weight on a connecting flight from the Faroe Islands). Fortunately though my plan worked & tonight the aurora was firing in one of the most incredible displays of colour we have ever seen. I tricked Karlie into believing we were shooting a selfie & used a torch to light us up for the image. Much to her shock, it wasn't any normal selfie, and much to my shock, she said yes! 😝 This is a single image that was taken during the proposal. And now we may not have any of our own images up hanging on our walls at home...we may however, make an exception for this one. 💍 Dale & Karlie

A post shared by Dale & Karlie | Gold Coast 🇦🇺 (@dkphotographyau) on Mar 5, 2017 at 9:42pm PST

"It was the most amazing display of colour in the Aurora that we've ever seen," he explained. "I wanted to take full opportunity and make it happen at its absolute best. The moment was right, it felt good, so why not."

Thanks to his experience in landscape photography, Dale ensured he was able to capture the incredible moment. When the Aurora started glowing, he set up a head torch to ensure they would stand out against the lights. He then put his camera on to timer before he pulled out the ring from his medical bag.

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The happy couple now have a one-of-a-kind engagement photo, which is being shared all over the world.

"The most ironic thing is that we're both landscape photographers, but have zero photos hanging up on our walls of our images," Dale added. "But this is one image that we want to keep for ourselves, and hang up on the wall."