Underwater Portrait

When I got the assignment to shoot images of a few high school swim teams, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted something different than the usual "half head above water in the middle of a swim stroke" images that usually run. Instead, I figured I'd do an underwater portrait of the team captains. I thought it'd be an interesting challenge. I had no idea how fun it would be, too.

For safety's sake, I'd use battery-powered strobes to light the portrait. Turns out that the water acts as a super diffuser, so I got some nice soft light without using any modifiers on the speedlights. I got the lights all set up and tested exposure before I called the athletes out of practice.

I also did some test shots before I called the athletes over, and got a good idea of the area of coverage I'd have with my wide angle lens. I showed the test shots to the swimmers, so they knew where they'd need to be. Just out of the frame above, the lane line comes to a "T," so they knew as long as they stayed just behind that "T" painted on the ground, they'd be good to go. It's a bit of a bummer that the one girl's fingers found their way out of the frame above, but I still like the frame.

I gave the swimmers some pretty specific instructions: I wanted their feet off the ground and knees bent. I figured floating feet would be a definite visual cue that the athletes were indeed underwater, in case the image ran in B&W and/or was cropped tightly. I also reminded them to smile, look toward the camera at the same time, and not exhale, since the bubbles might block their faces.

What I didn't say -- and didn't think of at all -- was that they needed to exhale completely before they went under. One of the swimmers would get in position, then start floating upwards, still holding her "pose," while valiantly trying to will herself to sink. Once her teammate reminded her that air makes you float -- after a lot of giggling -- things worked out fine.

Anyway, I ended up doing several underwater portraits for different teams, and the images reproduced well in print. I'm hoping I get to expand on the technique in future assignments.