DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

I proposed to my girlfriend in the darkroom with a hidden message

Jan 4, 2017 by Paul Fehr 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

My name is Paul Fehr, and I recently proposed to my girlfriend, Ale, in a photography darkroom. Here’s how I did it.

Ale and I both started learning how to develop and print film photos in our home darkroom about 6 months ago. Ale is in her last semester of architecture school, and I studied graphic design and am currently in an electronic instrumental band called Paul y Carlos. Both of us started analog photography as a hobby, buying equipment from eBay and learning from the Internet.

Two days ago, I used what we’ve learned (and a little experimentation) to propose to her using a secret message I prepared the day before.

To prepare for the proposal, I printed the secret message on transparency sheets. Due to my printer not printing a very black black, I ended up layering 4 layers and taping them together to align them.

“Te casarias conmigo” is Spanish for “Will you marry me.”

I used the transparency message as a mask. The part where light shines through turns black. I shone light on it for about 10 seconds to guarantee it came out black. Let’s hope it works!

After burning in the text, I proceeded to try to print a test run. Notice that the text along the top is not visible? It (along with the image) appears when you put the photographic paper through the paper developer.

It takes about 15 seconds for the image to start showing up once in the chemical bath, and it worked! I was super happy that both the picture and my masked text came out beautifully. Next, I packed up my darkroom and drove to my girlfriend’s home town (about 3 hours) to see her!

We had a quick photo shoot in the late morning when we arrived. My sister took photos of us.

We went back to her house, quickly developed the roll (always nervous it won’t come out!). It takes a few hours for the film to dry, and to be able to print the picture, so I was kind of rushing everything along.

I put in the sheet of paper with the secret text I had burned in the day before

I handed her the sheet for her to put through the chemicals. At first she gasped, and said that there were some weird dirty spots, but stopped mid sentence! My plan had worked!

She turned around, was already crying and I was on one knee with ring in hand!

I had previously dried and framed one of my (many) test pictures, so she could have something ready to hang up on the wall.

She said yes!

Here’s a video I made showing the whole thing from start to finish:

About the Author

Paul Fehr is a hobbyist photographer who studied graphic design. He is currently a musician in an electronic instrumental band called Paul y Carlos (music from their upcoming album is featured in the video above). He is now also engaged to his fiancée, Ale. Images used with permission.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

This guy proposed to his photographer girlfriend with a huge camera tattoo This guy takes hilarious selfies to make it look like he has a girlfriend Filmmaker shoots an awesome commercial to sell his girlfriend’s old car Photographer makes brilliant recreations of famous paintings with his girlfriend and two cats

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Film Photography

Guest Author: from diyphotography.net

About Guest Author

We love it when our readers get in touch with us to share their stories. This article was contributed to DIYP by a member of our community. If you would like to contribute an article, please contact us here.

« Get amazing outdoor location portraits by mixing ambient light with your flash
Why 365 project may not be good for you »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Sirui Sniper series T1.2 AF lenses are now available to buy
  • These are five problems with your woodland photos, and how to fix them
  • Yul Brynner’s personal Leica cameras sold for over $3 million at an auction
  • Terry Richardson faces new sexual assault lawsuits from former models
  • Holiday Gift Guide – Our favourite new lenses of 2023

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy