(all images shot by Mr. Grant)
It was not dressed right for this shoot. I should have been wearing a wetsuit. Do they make maternity wetsuits? Needless to say it wasn't my most flattering look for meeting new clients BUT turns out they weren't expecting me to be in a prom dress.
It was cold outside the water and in. It was overcast. No direct sunlight. All of these conditions did make me shuffle a bit and go to game plan B. I have shot underwater before but only once and so this was definitely an experimental shoot. This was known by all parties involved. I knew that once I was in the water and could meter and play around with the equipment I would have a better idea of what I could control and what I couldn't.
Knowing that I couldn't use any directional natural light really make me focus on getting a variety of different activities and varied positioning...from near the surface and some a bit deeper near the floor of the pool.
Gear:
- Aquatech housing
- borrowed canon camera and 24mm lens (that fit the borrowed housing)
- dry 5d for out of water shots and candids
- plenty of CF cards
- ankle weights, waist belt w/weights and goggles
- oxygen tank, provided by clients (to be used if they wanted/needed)
- thrift store suit and wedding dress. NOT what they are wearing on their wedding day
- towels
- tea (provided by our hosts. bless them)
That's all there was too it. We jumped in, played around with a few ideas I had and then crawled out an hour and 20mins later.
The colder I was the harder it was to hold my breath for long periods of time...but the adrenaline of shooting made it much easier than I had anticipated. And the weights were magic! As first I was nervous that I was going to feel like a trapped pregnant lady, stuck at the bottom of the pool....but it wasn't the case at all. They helped me stay down just enough that I didn't have to fight to stay down while trying to get the shot.
After we were out and the camera was taken out of the case...not a drop! It was dry dry dry and I feel a little bit in love with Aquatech. Santa?......
I did edit these image more than I usually do. More cropping and cleaning and color adjusting...but it was fun. I loved the more fine art feel to this shoot and enjoyed my computer time with them afterwards.
The color balance was tricky. While I was shooting I could feel most of these turning into BW images. I knew it would help with the color issue and add to the moodiness that already existed.
I have to thank David again for letting me borrow his gear. He pretty much outfitted me with the housing, camera, lens, weights and googles. Amazing and so kind.
Now...who else wants to go for a swim?