At the end of 2007, I finally gave in and started doing senior portraits. And so began an adventure in juggling student schedules, soothing the occasional overbearing parent, and trying my best to figure out what kind of “look” each individual senior was going for.
It probably goes without saying that the most enjoyable sessions were always with those who wanted to get adventurous in their images. Kristen, a swimmer, wanted images by the pool where she had spent so much of her high school years.
Not having the funding for an actual underwater camera housing, it was off to the local pet store where I purchased a $30 twenty-two gallon fish tank. I set up studio strobes on the pool deck and had my assistant Andy hold the fish tank (open side up) partially underwater. I lay down on the pool deck, held my camera at arms length inside the fish tank, and shot blindly as Kristen tried her best to hover in place underwater and keep her eyes open. Oh, and we only had the pool for 20 minutes.
Out of 30 plus images, about four came out properly exposed and in focus. Kristen had her pool photographs and I later convinced her to put on a wetsuit and jump into 40 degree water under the cruise ship piers... in the middle of a wind storm. But that’s probably a story for another time.
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