A women drowned after being pulled under by the weight of her wedding gown during a photo shoot, it is a tragic reminder to those of us that work with models and water, especially those that are dressed up in cumbersome clothing, that we sometime do not realize the extend of the danger we put our subject in.
It fairly upsets me that this photographer (which I know) lost track of its working environment and ended up ill prepared for this situation. Having an assistant or life guard available with a simple floating line ready for deployment, it would/should have saved the poor women from drowning. Please make it a point to remember never to take for granted the things that look easy.
While this was a land based wedding photo shoot in a river with mild current and not a underwater shoot, the logic remain the same, when working in or around water, safety of our model should be paramount, there are a few of us on this forum that do underwater studio photography, and while I am sure we all take necessary precaution for the protection of our models (I know I do, sometime even to what might appears ridiculous to some), but if you know of anyone that does this kind of work and is unprepared, I would urge you to pass the message along.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best is still the best approach IMO.
