Underwater pictures creates the phantasm of defying gravity, nevertheless it additionally escalates the challenges. Whereas Kristina Sherk is primarily identified for her Washington, DC headshot pictures and Photoshop programs, her ardour is underwater pictures, even when which means planning each breath and worrying about issues like whether or not or not the lights will float away. Sherk just lately shared a behind-the-scenes take a look at how she created a full studio set-up, together with lighting and a backdrop, inside a swimming pool. The result’s a surprising, colourful portrait worthy of a sea goddess.
Sherk explains that the session was a private shoot designed for sparking creativity and exploring. “I attempt to do at the least three inventive ‘progress centered’ shoots a 12 months as a way to all the time continue to learn and rising,” she says. “They’re all the time a lot enjoyable, and it’s laborious to not study by trial and error.”
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For this shoot, Sherk labored carefully with Robbert Minnick, a fellow underwater photographer, who with Sherk hosts an annual underwater pictures and modeling workshop in The Bahamas. Minnick graciously allowed Sherk to make use of his pool on the Chesapeake Bay Diving Middle in Virginia Seashore. Apart from offering the 16-foot pool “studio,” Minnick additionally helped plan out the lighting. Sherk sketched out some concepts and despatched them over to Minnick. Apart from having a background in worldwide opera set design, Minnick was additionally capable of calculate if the lights would sink or float utilizing Archimedes’ precept, which Sherk refers to as “math genius sorcery.” His calculations helped inform the right way to hold the lights underwater.
The lights in query have been Nanlite Pavo tubes and their underwater housing. Utilizing an app, the lights will be set to completely different colours or to randomly loop for extra selection. The staff used two tall C stands laying on the aspect of the pool deck to succeed in out into the water, then secured the lights utilizing Hollywood clamps and growth arms so the lights prolonged vertically into the water.
Desirous to exaggerate the pure reflections created on the floor of the pool, Sherk used a plexiglass mirror on the backside of the shallow finish. A black vinyl backdrop eradicated distractions so the mannequin, the lights and the reflections might be the star of the picture.
Sherk cautions that discovering fashions with underwater expertise is extremely essential. For this shoot, she known as in an area underwater performing group, Sisterhood of Sirens, and requested them to deliver vibrant neon and iridescent costumes. “Underwater pictures shoots are all the time difficult, even on the times when every thing goes proper,” Sherk says. “The mannequin is unable to see the photographer, hear the photographer, heck — they’ll’t even breathe whereas the shoot is happening! Plus, in the event that they flip their heads too far upwards, water rushes into their sinuses and causes excruciating ache. All of the whereas, they should look stunning and swish. It’s rather a lot to ask of a mannequin. And it’s extremely essential to work with fashions who’ve expertise modeling underwater.”
“If the fashions are in any respect inexperienced or if they’re in water deeper than they’ll stand, I all the time have a security diver within the water ensuring the mannequin is okay,” Sherk provides. “Underwater fashions can rapidly turn into tangled in material, or lose their orientation due to the character of the shoots so having a security diver is extraordinarily essential.”
Whereas this shoot concerned a variety of planning, Sherk says that her inventive shoots are all about exploring and studying by trial and error. Sherk’s two favourite pictures from the session concerned pleased accidents. At one a part of the shoot, the sunshine got here unclamped, however the skilled mannequin grabbed onto it and continued posing, making a triangle slightly than the unique deliberate rectangle. “At that time, as quickly as I noticed the brand new form (a triangle as a substitute of a rectangle) I knew we would have liked to maintain it like that,” Sherk mentioned. “That was pleased accident primary. I by no means envisioned the lights in a triangle form, nevertheless it labored so a lot better within the picture.”
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The second unintentional discovery got here because the bigger of the Nanlite tubes ran out of battery after working at full energy for greater than an hour. Not fairly prepared to go away the water but, Sherk requested mannequin Staci to free-style whereas holding the smaller mild tubes — a choice that resulted in her favourite picture of the complete session. Earlier than heading underwater, Sherk walked Staci by the right way to maintain the lights to keep away from overexposing the face or unflattering up lighting. “Since she was holding the one mild sources within the picture, not solely would she be liable for modeling, but additionally for holding the lighting that was illuminating her! Not a simple ask,” Sherk says.
For that remaining freestyle picture, Sherk flipped the picture the other way up in Photoshop, making the mannequin seem as if she’s floating above the water ripples slightly than beneath it. Jackie Sera Retouching completed the picture.
5 Underwater Lighting Ideas from Kristina Sherk
- Lighting appears to be like completely different underwater. Due to how mild travels by environment (water or air), all colours of sunshine obtain a blue tinge when taking a coloured mild underwater. You’ll must compensate for that. Making your mild colours just a little hotter than you prefer to within the air will translate to the appropriate coloration beneath the water.
- Underwater mild generally is a double edged sword. It permits you to illuminate your topic, nevertheless it additionally illuminates every thing else floating within the water column between your lens and your mannequin. Attempt to shoot with the widest lens you will have, so you may lower the quantity of water between you and your topic. This can lower the quantity of particulate that’s illuminated by your underwater lights. Additionally attempt to verify the water you’re capturing in is as clear as attainable.
- When capturing in open water, use on digital camera flash to fill in shadows. I usually flip my fashions so their backs are going through the solar. Then I exploit my strobe to light up them. This protects them from getting specular highlights from the place the solar is refracted whereas passing by the ripples on the highest of the water.
- When capturing with a black backdrop within the water, attempt to condense the spill of the sunshine as a lot as attainable. Use grids in your modifiers to verify the sunshine solely goes the place you need it to go, and never on the background.
- Enjoyable reality: When photographing faces underwater, you’ll by no means see catch lights. It’s one thing to do with the refraction of the sunshine rays. I feel it’s tremendous cool.
Observe Kristina Sherk on Instagram for extra underwater pictures and ideas.
Kristina Sherk is a retoucher and Photoshop educator based mostly. She loves “translating Photoshop” for photographers, and her means to show retouching is second to none. Her WPPI seminars are on LightRoom cell and utilizing AI for portraits. Her Photograph Stroll known as Improve Headshots with Catchlights: Placing a Steadiness Between Pure and Fixed Mild.
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Lastly Get Organized: Easy Images Workflow and Archiving
Kristina’s Lightroom Mini Course Bundle
Intro to Lightroom for Portrait Photographers
Retouching Eyes in Lightroom
Retouching Pores and skin in Lightroom
Dodge & Burn in Lightroom
