Underwater Fashion--Pool

I have a high school senior client that is a competitive swimmer and model. For part of her senior photo session, she wants an underwater fashion shot. Always up for a challenge, I agreed! I am a certified diver, love the water and have a pool at my home.

The plan is to cover the deep end wall with black cloth secured to the bottom with weights. I'll have on scuba gear, and assistants on either side if I need them. The model will dive down and I'll shoot. My local rental house has a Sea & Sea DX2G to rent. I have questions:

1) Is this a good choice of cameras? I need fast shutter response and the ability to shoot wide angle to close quickly. If it's not good, let me know some alternates.

2) How to sync the camera (any camera) to studio lights around the edge of the pool, out of the water? This is a big question! I want to light the images as a fashion portrait and not just from on camera strobe or sunlight.

If I'm missing something obvious, let me know. This should be a fun summer project!!

Steve

http://www.circler-studios.com

Steve,

You can find some samples from a DX2G on my flikr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bencliffe/ most were taken with the Wide Angle lens attached, the one with the bubbles without.

Shutter lag can be an issue and it's not the quickest camera between shots, but it can get the job done. That being said I have switched out to a 7D and the DX2G is now my backup. If it helps my personel prefrence was to set the exposure compensation to 2/3 of a stop underexposed.

For triggering flashes with this camera your only choice is optical. Check with your rental agency to see if they rent Sea and Sea strobes as well, ideally for your application the 110alpha.

Getting suited up in dive gear is probably overkill. I free hold, and come up when the model comes up so we can work out the next shot together.

Cheers

Ben

Hey

Dont use scuba gear. Youll want to talk to your model as much as possible. Communication is essential.

Use an outdoor pool and natural light if its just a one off shoot. Get someone to use an umbrella to shade the black cloth to create the contrast between the model and background.

Cheers

Cal

www.calmero.com.au

Thanks for the tips. I am thinking about using an optical slave wrapped in clear plastic to fire the lights on the surface. The 110 alpha could point toward the slave that is plugged into my head above water. That would fire all the additional lights as well.

I'll probably drop the scuba idea. It may be too much.

So if it helps, it is fairly easy to modify a TOSLINK audio fiber cable to optically fire the strobes. I have modified a 25 foot cable ($23) to fire my strobes. Good for getting the strobes off axis.

My current use of this is to use a light stand as a boom, and have an assistant fly the strobe above the submerged model where the strobe is just above the waterline.

Cheers

Ben

Yes! This is what I'm looking for. Can you show me how to modify and exactly what you use? This would be perfect. My strobes have an optical eye and a 1/8 mini-jack to connect. How do you connect the TOSLINK to the camera and the strobes on the other end? I'm assuming you have the on camera flash firing underwater to then transmit to the strobes on land?

Thanks for the tips!!

Yes! This is what I'm looking for. Can you show me how to modify and exactly what you use? This would be perfect. My strobes have an optical eye and a 1/8 mini-jack to connect. How do you connect the TOSLINK to the camera and the strobes on the other end? I'm assuming you have the on camera flash firing underwater to then transmit to the strobes on land?

 

Thanks for the tips!!

Steve,

The following may help: http://apnewton.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html

Also use the keyword TOSLINK and search through the forums. You can drop my a PM with your e-mail address and I can touch base there too.

Cheers

BC

Thanks for that tip Cal.

Izzy

Izzy - seriously, I love that trick.

Cheers

Hi Steve,

Here's a link to a thread I started a couple years ago for my first pool fashion shoot:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...irst+UW+fashion

I got tons of great advice from some other guys on the forum so it might help. Cheers,

Chris

ok, been reading alot recently. The trick bag is growing and ideas are coming thick and fast.

Here's my questions... i hope to be doing a pool session with my pregnant wife sometime soon. My parents have a small pool at their place so we will start there and then maybe hire a pool later for the 'final' shoot before she pops.

At present i have 2x inon 240s, and a small epoque strobe which i was thinking i would use to fire as the slave to a topside setup. I only have 2 standard length nauticam optical cables, but can look at getting a longer one if needed.

My mum is a seamstress, so theres tons of black fabric lying around the house for the backdrop. We'll sew a pocket in for a chain weight.

I was thinking, one strobe on camera, as a fill in. One mounted to a circular float, secured to a pole to stop it floating away, which would hang just below the surface of the water pointing down on the wife as a main light. Should i softbox/umbrella/diffuse this somehow?

My brother is a music engineer so should have a spare TOSLINK cable, so may try this trick too.

We also have pro hair and make up on hand too.

Shooting with a 7d and tok10-17 and 8" dome.

Anything else we need to think of. She is 7months gone, so time is of the essence...

Olly

p.s trying it in the sea the other day, pregnant women float. She normally dives with 1 kg, but she just couldnt duck dive. We loaded her with 5kg belt under her dress just to get her below the surface!

hey

try raising the main light above the water surface with a pole or something. this way she can sink just below the surface and still be evenly lit.

Cal

More important than anything else, polish the water!

Loftus,

so that's how you do it!!! i was cleaning the sand.

Hi

I hade same situation this year here in Estonia. Our finest art college in Estonia, student choose Shies exam work underwater fashion.

We made several test before we made last shooting.

We used 4m deep pool. It was quite clean. Other pools was so dirty and there was practically impossible to shoot anything.

So. We had use Nikon D90, Ikelite housing, two Ikelite DS160 strobes, two studio strobes. We used to fire studio strobe long cable and slave sensor. We made it to water proof and taped this into one Ikelite strobes.

Here is some pictures what was referred to evaluate.

http://blog.scubaphoto.ee/?p=7

This project, here in Estonia, was so unique because no one have not made similar school project ever.

This blog is so new that is still testing period, but most important is pictures.

Best Regards

Aigar