Lee and I are wrapping up our trip to WPPI in Las Vegas which is basically the largest wedding convention in the US. So today after meeting with tons of wedding professionals we thought it might be fun to showcase an underwater bridal shoot. Jonathan Ryan is a wedding photographer in Canterbury, England and in this video he is using a few strobes, a Nikon D3, and our favorite Ewa-Marine underwater housing to take some unique bridals underwater. It's pretty interesting to see how Jonathan syncs his strobes underwater since radio transmitters are pretty much useless around water.
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If you think that is impressive, you should check out a client of ours. Kevin Beasley has been photographing brides, couples, seniors, etc underwater for a while now. He has some really great work.
http://www.underwaterbrides.com
I checked Kevin's website and his shots look like thousand times sharper and clearer then those in this video. Johnatan should probably change the water in the pool someday…
Very cool stuff.
I as PADI Rescue Diver myself and photographer whenever we do underwater video/photo and/or shoot on the water or on/in boats etc.. I always have a certified rescue diver/swimmer standing by, even in a pool setting. I personally have my gear set up standing by as well as another diver incase I am the one needing rescue.
It may seem like over kill to some but if you spend enough time on the water you see that accidents happen fast and are usually really bad when they do. You rarely hear about a minor boating accident. 95% of all diving accidents happen at the surface and with everyone focusing on "The Shot" someone must be watching out for safety.
Every dive shop in America has a rescue diver for hire and its usually very cheap. Less than a hundred bucks a day, in some cases they will do it for a lot less. Just ask.
Also most Sheriff departments have dive rescue crews and will come out and use you as a training op, all you have to do is ask.
Anyway my two cents...But as for the video great stuff especially wit the strobes
very cool video, nicely explained, been waiting to see this JR, not dissapointed mate.
Great look at an underwater shoot. Loved the walkthrough of the lighting set-up.
The one thing that bothered me a bit, though, was I didn't feel like the final images quite captured the bridal fashion. The combination of the poses and the light brought the focus more to the model's faces than to what they were wearing. Also, the light seemed to fall off very quickly and the dresses got lost in the darkness.
Hmm, is it me or are those shots not great?
Interesting technique though.
Kie - It's not just you
Martin - I looked at Kevin's site too and I couldn't agree with you more. LOVED the shots there.
I think the fact that Kevin shoots outdoors has something to do with it. The sunlight brightens the shot up way more than a strobe EVER could, especially underwater.
It's not just the light, for me a rim light on the shots would have helped give the models more of a depth with in the images but the overall image quality seems cloudy and soft. Obviously could just be the video player but I'd be interested in seeing a good resolution version of them.
I'd like to see more of the dresses and have them be a bit clearer. It works for these shots, but they're just a little too cloudy for me.
GFCI outlets save lives....just saying...since they are worried they will kill their subjects with the strobes LOL!
awwww no tethered shoothing? =(