underwater "fashion" photography

[matt215 3]

anyone ever take underwater photos of a model with "flowing" clothing? i've seen some cool photos of this type and would like to know how to take these images. how do you set up for it, where do you find a model, what type of clothing, etc?

[loftus 42]

I would strongly recommend you pick up one of Howard Schatz's books like H20 or Pool Light to get started with ideas and a review of his techniques.

Some points:

Clean water, clean water ,clean water, have a balanced pH as close to 7.4 as possible.

Use dancers where possible, have them practice dropping to the bottom of the pool just by exhaling and staying there for 20-30 seconds. Often it is good to start gradually with partially submerged shots.

Use a wide angle lens like a Nikon 16mm, get close

I generally use 2 strobes with one at half the power of the other, sometimes a third outside

Keep arms and legs in the plane of the photograph to avoid distortion.

Some of my shots are here (some nudity)

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffinorlando/Pool...olio/index.html

[matt215 3]

yeah! yeah! that's what i'm talking about. indoor pool or outdoor?

how did you find and contact your models? how did your bring up the nudity thing?

[loftus 42]

These are all in my outdoor pool.

It will really depend on the model. There are online modeling agencies like One model Place and model Mayhem, but of course you will have to pay. Best to start with friends in clothes, maybe friends who know friends etc.

[CADiver 1]

These are all in my outdoor pool.

It will really depend on the model. There are online modeling agencies like One model Place and model Mayhem, but of course you will have to pay. Best to start with friends in clothes, maybe friends who know friends etc.

 

Very nice pictures !

[matt215 3]

what type of lighting .... daylight, nighttime, overcast?

 

how/what did you use to get the black background?

 

so cool!

[loftus 42]

At the moment I use 4 black king size sheets sewn together with a chain threaded through the bottom and sandbags. Still have to burn in quite often and spotting no matter how hard I try to keep my pool clean.

All different times for lighting depending on how much ambient light I want. Generally here in Florida starting mid to late afternoon working into the evening if necessary, works well.

[Dutchybert 0]

Wow, what a great pictures. I still have to go a loooooong way:)

[emaltorio 0]

These are all in my outdoor pool.

It will really depend on the model. There are online modeling agencies like One model Place and model Mayhem, but of course you will have to pay. Best to start with friends in clothes, maybe friends who know friends etc.

 

Or patients ? I will pose for a discount