Making an Image: 'Reeflections!'

I once read that there are 'picture takers and image makers'. Once every so often I get a chance to try to become an image maker. A few months ago I came across a pose that intrigued me and began to wonder how the photographer made the image. My rendition of it is featured above. How the picture was made is explained below.

You can see the photograph captures a reflection of the model and was taken in a swimming pool. Once I figured out that the photographer did not stand the pool up on edge, I figured I could make this image. I needed a model and engaged Aja Vickers who at the time owned Pleasure Diver Dive Charter services here in Key Largo. We prevailed upon the hospitality of the Marina Del Marr Resort, also in Key Largo, for the use of their pool.

I showed Aja the pose the evening before and she, fortunately for me, had studied it well and had already thought through what she needed to do to make the pose. I loaded a Canon dSLR into a housing, grabbed a mask, and we met on a Sunday morning and began making the image.

To make the pose, Aja would drape her legs over the edge of the pool and then lean back down into the water and next would raise her hands to just barely touch the water's surface. I perched myself on a small poolside table weighted underwater with softweights. We did this while breath-holding and spent a bit over an hour at it.

To me capturing reflections is a cool technique. Both in underwater photography and topside photography. The camera settings I used were: ISO 100, Auto White Balance, 1/200th of a second for shutter speed and an aperture of F-16. The lens's focal length was 18mm in front of a cropped, DX, sensor.. But that was just half the shot. The other part was the headsup position the model, Aja, ends up in. How was 'that' to be accomplished?

In the digital paradigm of underwater photography we are also the developer of our 'film'. The rest of the image was made in Photoshop and by simply 'rotating' the frame 90 degrees counterclockwise.

I try to teach to my students of underwater photography that when they see an image that intrigues them to ask how that image was made rather than ask 'what type of camera' was used. While I detailed the camera and its settings in this blog, you can see that the type of camera used had little to do with the making of this image.

It was great fun working with Aja, thank you Aja, in making this image and I hope it was fun for you to read about it here in this blog. And that you enjoy the image!

lg

Oh, I almost forgot; to order a print go here: http://www.postersize-it.com/Larry-Gates-gallery-2.html

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