This Summer, I decided to explore the underwater world photographically. I discovered many things, most importantly, how difficult it is. There are many keys to producing a great underwater image, all of which I learned the hard way (by making mistakes). I believe it is equally as challenging for the photographer and the model, both of us doing our best to stay calm and get into position, while not breathing and trying to manipulate our own weight in an anti-gravity chamber. Clean water is a must and direct sunlight is a definite plus. This eliminates as much murk as possible and the direct sunlight allows for the magical patterns of refracting starlight to fall upon the skin of the subject and create an atmospheric background. I always began with a vague idea of what I was going for paired with a storage of inspiration from work I admire by Howard Schatz. From that point, the images seemed to evolve naturally into their own context. Enjoy.
