As fairy-tale proposals go, this one might take some beating.

Australian Dale Sharpe, 34, last Monday (March 6) got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend Karlie Russell - with a spectacular display of the Northern Lights as the backdrop.

The photo of the couple - who are both landscape photographers based in Gold Coast - in front of the Aurora Borealis in the Arctic Circle was posted on Facebook and has since racked up over 13,000 likes.

"I hadn't heard or seen anyone do it before, and I wanted to do something different from everybody else," Mr Sharpe told Daily Mail Australia.

"We both love chasing the Northern Lights and photographing them together. So it seemed pretty fitting."

Mr Sharpe and Ms Russell, who have been dating for seven years, have reportedly visited the Northern Lights at least 30 times.

Ms Russell, 29, said she was "completely blown away" as she was not expecting the proposal.

"I kept telling Dale to hurry up so we could get a landscape shot instead. After he set up the camera, then to my surprise got down on one knee, I was in shock but of course said yes!" she added.

"I couldn't think of a better backdrop for the proposal or for the sneaky 'selfie' that he managed to capture."

It was also second time lucky for Mr Sharpe, who failed with his first proposal attempt last year.

Mr Sharpe had hid a ring inside a moisturiser bottle, but Ms Russell unknowingly threw it away after their luggage was deemed to be overweight before a flight from the Faroe Islands to Iceland.

He ended up having to save up money for a new ring and decided to try again during their two-month work trip to the Arctic Circle.