Think about the most important photo you want to create. Is it a great wedding photo of celebrities? Maybe documenting a historic event? I've had photos published in National Geographic, had museum exhibitions, and won awards. But it turns out the most important (and romantic) photo I've made was a simple night photo created with a flashlight!
"How Are You Going to Propose to Your Girlfriend?"
I was having lunch with a co-worker named Sherri when she asked this question about Lisa.
I paused for a moment. "I don't know yet, but I want to do something that could only come from me. I want something that is creative and romantic. It must be unique. And it must feel totally natural to me."
Several months later, the idea came to me as quickly as a flash of lightning. And similarly, it would involve light.
How I Would Propose
Lisa and I were planning a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Naturally, I would do night photography. That's almost like eating and breathing to me.
And I would incorporate night photography while asking her to marry me.
This would feel more natural. If I got down on bended knee, she probably would have just laughed. It's so not me. And really, it's not her, either. It would have felt forced and corny for us.
We set up my camera equipment next to one of the iconic Joshua Trees, underneath a night sky full of stars—beautiful and epic. During a long-exposure night photo, I would "light write" my message of love to her using a handheld flashlight, capturing it in a photo. Lisa would help by lighting the photo, working together to create this one-of-a-kind proposal.
Man Plans, God Laughs
However, nature had other ideas. It was a cold December evening, and it was 40 degrees outside. Sure, we had known that it would be cold. Just not this cold. And certainly not this windy. The wind whipped at our clothes when we ventured outside. Even more than that, Lisa wasn't feeling great. We didn't go into the park. Hearing the cold wind howling against the walls of the house seemed to confirm the wisdom of this choice.
Let's Try This Again!
New Year's Eve came around, and we were back at our home. Lisa was still a little under the weather that evening.
I said, "I'm going to set up my camera in the living room and use this flashlight to 'light write' a few words. Can you help light me by popping this flash against the wall?"
I set up the camera, tripod, and a wide angle lens in our house. Lisa helped out, thinking I was going to write a Happy New Year's message for family, friends, and social media.
I placed the camera on a tripod, then opened the shutter in Bulb Mode so it would stay open until I shut it. Triggering the camera, I walked in front, sat down, pulled out a small handheld flashlight, and began “drawing” in the air.
In one long exposure, I carefully wrote out the words: “Lisa Marry Me!” And yes, it's absolutely more of a demand than a question, but I wasn't so proficient at light writing that I could squeeze in a longer phrase. After all, this was a one-take attempt. There was no chance for a redo.
After light writing, I asked her to manually fire the flash, which she did, bouncing it off the upper wall so the light would be a bit softer.
The Dramatic Reveal
I put down the flashlight, walked over to the camera, and closed the shutter. The image appeared on the LED screen of the camera. "Come on over. Let's see how this came out!"
Lisa leaned in, saw the words on the back of the LED screen, and gasped.
"Yes!"
I then joked and told her that she would have to “light draw” her answer.
Doing It Together
I especially liked that she had participated in the creation of the proposal. And it felt like I had found a way in which I could propose in a way that was fun, romantic, and natural.
When I shared this story and photo on social media, some of my night photographer friends joked and said, "Thanks a lot. You've now made it more challenging for the rest of us to propose!"
How Do You Light Write a Message?
Light writing isn't something I do very often. Conceptually, I know how it works. You face the camera, use your shoulders as a guide for where you are, and draw out the letters—backwards. That's right, since you are facing the camera, you need to write everything backwards.
And you also have to click the flashlight on and off for each letter, or sometimes, each part of the letter. So you really have to have this physical awareness of where your flashlight is in space… all while doing this in the dark.
I practiced this, believe it or not, in the shower. No, I didn't bring the flashlight in with me. I just pretended to click the light on and off, then practiced making the letters over and over so I could get the idea of how it felt rather than completely winging it.
This practice paid off. I felt confident when it came time to "light writing" the message. I used a ProtoMachines LED2 to write the message, but I could have used any flashlight with a decent on/off switch.
And for light writing letters, even big clumsy ones like mine, it's largely about the on/off switch!
The process is basically strange flashlight choreography, including not only the motions, but clicking the light on and off at the proper time.
On. Write the "L." Off. On. Write the "I." Off. On. Write the "S." Make sure you don't make a backwards "S"! Off. On. Make an upside-down "V" shape. Off. On. Make a bar across the middle of the upside-down "V." Off. Now on to the "M"...
The Geeky Stuff
This is Fstoppers, after all, so we'll roll up our sleeves and talk about the equipment used in the creation of this photo.
Since I'd only have one attempt at this, I chose a fisheye lens. This nice, wide lens would give me a little more "real estate" in which to write my message.
I set up my Nikon D750 DSLR with a Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens on a Feisol CT-3372 tripod in the living room. I set it for f/8 so everything would be reasonably in focus and ISO 200 because I really wouldn't need a very high ISO for this at all.
I backed up the chair several feet from the camera. Sitting on a chair would help stabilize me somewhat, increasing the chances that I would retain that physical awareness of space as I clicked the light on and off to create the letters.
It's Go Time!
I used Bulb Mode instead of setting a timer. Why? I didn't know how long it would take me to activate the camera, walk over to the chair, write the message, then walk back over to turn off the camera. It turns out it was 69 seconds.
After I wrote the entire message, I asked Lisa to manually fire a Nikon SB-600 speedlight (discontinued), bouncing it off the wall on camera left. This generally illuminated me and the room.
And the rest is history…
Final Thoughts
We all aim to make photographs that last a lifetime. For me, this one actually will. Not because of perfect exposure or artistic brilliance, but because of the entire process and what it achieved.
On a cold New Year's Eve, armed with a flashlight and an old DSLR in Bulb Mode, I created what just might be the most romantic night photo ever made.
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