“It’ll Never Work!”,

I found myself muttering to myself as the request came through. A canoe proposal? You’ve got to be out of your mind!?!

I’d thought about a canoe proposal before, but when I actually sat down to go through the logistics of this new request, it just seemed too damn crazy to actually work. But then, maybe I was just being negative?

What could possibly go wrong?

To cement my stance, I decided to write a list of all the ways it could potentially go wrong, and see if I still felt the same way afterwards.

Here goes:

Canoes are wobbly; moving around is a nightmare. Getting down on one knee might be impossible
Canoe seats are spread quite far apart. You’d have to shuffle along the boat to reach your partner. See point 1.
The partner would have to also turn around to be proposed to (see point 1). Nobody will be steering the boat.
What if you drop the ring?
Positioning the boat in the perfect location for the proposal is going to be a challenge. As soon as you stop paddling and start proposing, the boat is going to drift.
If we’re renting a canoe, will they be open early/late enough for the light to be good?
Where am I going to have to stand/how close will the canoe have to be to make this work?
Will they be wearing giant lifejackets in the shots?

So on the surface, a canoe proposal seemed like a logistical nightmare.

But what if we could actually pull it off?

But what if it actually worked? Wouldn’t that make for some absolutely mind blowing photos?

I was torn.

On another level, it also made me question my role as the proposal photographer.

What is my job as the proposal photographer?

Is it to just show up and take photos? Or is it to guide the client towards a successful outcome?

If you ask me, it’s the latter.

Yes, I’m there to take the photos, but if I’ve done dozens of these shoots, and this is (probably) your first proposal, shouldn’t I have some useful wisdom to impart? Shouldn’t I use my knowledge of the area, conditions and experience to guide you towards a stress free shoot?

I believe the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt!

Having been in the ‘proposer’s’ shoes myself, I also know that on the day you. are. a mess. Your palms are sweaty, your mouth is dry, and the last thing you want to worry about is messing up (/falling into a freezing lake).

BUT

I also see my role as a facilitator, so the most important thing you can do in a situation like this is communicate. It’s not really up to you to tell someone they shouldn’t do something (unless they’re putting themselves or you at risk). All you can do is communicate the potential pitfalls that you envision and see what kind of response you get.

I also believe that seeing potential hazards isn’t necessarily being negative; rather it actually gives you a better chance of success.

And for all you know, your client could be a backflipping, hand-standing, world class canoeist.

If I can tell you that BIG list of challenges and you still want to give it a shot, then all bets are off and I am 100% on board. (not literally.... that would probably be a giveaway - **sigh, sorry, could’t resist a good dad joke*)

And that’s exactly what happened with this canoe proposal.

Full steam ahead

I had a long chat with my client and discussed the challenges about a canoe proposal, and he didn’t bat an eyelid.

Ok, awesome. I’m in too.

So now we’re looking at these challenges in a new light and we’ve switched gear. Now it’s, “how can we make this work and have the biggest chance of success?”

Planning the actual photoshoot

Moving into the planning stages, it was clear that we’d have to break down the shoot into two different sections:

Where would I be standing and how would we get the canoe to the best spot to shoot this?
What would the client be doing?

Step 1: Positioning the canoe

Getting the positioning right was going to take a little bit of prior preparation.

As we’d picked out Emerald Lake for the shoot, I already had a few ideas about a good spot for the proposal, but decided it was a good idea to get there beforehand and scope it out. I also needed to see how far from the shore he should be aiming to be.

Here’s what I learnt by scouting out the location before the shoot:

The canoe shop only opened at 10am, so the light might be pretty harsh.
Where the best vantage point was (drop a pin on google maps).
The best viewpoint was going to be backlit by the sun. (I used Photopills to know exactly where the sun would be).
The canoe needed to be about 20ft away at most.

Again, I communicated that to the client and made them aware of the potential for harsh light.

And once again, the client was a dream to work with and gave me the green light.

I then sent him a map and instructions about how to get to where I needed him to be. Here’s roughly what I told him:

“Take the canoe, follow the map and hug the shoreline until you can see me. I’ll be dressed in a bright yellow jacket and will have a tripod setup as if I’m taking landscape shots. Stop paddling about 15-20ft before you’re aligned with me so that the canoe drifts slowly into frame as you’re proposing.”

This was about as much planning as we could hope for without having a long phone conversation and giving it away to his girlfriend.

Step 2: Proposing

As for the “will you marry me” moment itself? There really wasn’t much I could do to help, unfortunately. All I could do was warn him that it might be a bit wobbly, tell him to hold the pose for as long as possible and hope for the best!

How did it play out?

On the actual morning, I was praying for a tiny bit of cloud cover but the conditions were actually pretty bright. However, the lake also had a totally unexpected layer of mist on the surface which was absolutely stunning!

My client was great and made sure he was the first one to rent a canoe and immediately took off around the shoreline.

Minutes later, and suddenly he was right in front of me getting ready to propose!

Amazingly, when it came to the actual moment, he absolutely nailed it! He even managed to get down on one knee; something I absolutely wasn’t expecting!

I was so pleased that it all came together for him and that we’d taken great pains to plan it all out.

Final thoughts

Overall, I was over the moon with how this shoot turned out. A canoe proposal at Emerald Lake is something I never thought I’d be checking off my photography bingo scorecard, but now that it’s been and gone, it’s something I’d love to make happen for a few more couples. I think as far as romantic proposal ideas go, this one’s very creative and unique.

I can’t help feeling that perhaps I overthought the situation for my client, but as the photographer I think that’s exactly what we’re paid to do. The key is to remain positive and suggest potential pitfalls not as negatives that might ruin the shoot, but as things to be aware of and plan for. Certainly, from the client’s perspective, you can’t plan for what you don’t know.

All in all, an awesome shoot! Hope you enjoy looking at this creative proposal as much as I enjoyed taking the photos!

Thanks to Sam and Dan for their kind permission to share the photos from this shoot, and Flytographer for hooking me up with such a great pair of clients.

If you’ve got an idea for an interesting shoot, want to try a canoe proposal or something a little more conventional, feel free to get in touch and contact me on the contact form on the homepage. Or shoot me an email at robin@tuckmedia.ca

A Canoe Proposal at Emerald Lake: Do something every day that scares you