This summer I did a personal shoot where I combined my day in the pool with a beauty shoot and a lifestyle shoot. Since I’m a contributing photographer with Corbis Images, I wanted to add more lifestyle images to my catalog for licensing. But I also wanted to add more beauty images to my underwater portfolio. This shoot was a good way to kill two birds with one stone. (Sorry, little birdies!) But what ended up being the best thing about the whole shoot was that I had the chance to work with so many of my friends on a sunny, summer Sunday afternoon!
For a while now, I’d been wanting to shoot with my dear friend, Kristina Emerson. Kristina is a model with American Apparel USA and was an absolute natural in the pool. She could hold her breath way longer than anyone else on set! I had to keep popping up for a quick sip of air during our sessions. We were all set with the wardrobe, too, since we were able to pull from her collection of American Apparel swimsuits.
I also wanted to shoot in a pool that would give me a different look for this set of images; something a little darker and with some character. It turned out that my good friend, Benjo Arwas, who himself is an incredibly talented photographer, has a pool and was willing to let me take it over for the day. His backyard pool really set the scene for a fun and comfortable environment.
To capture my images, I typically need 2 assistants in the pool with me. And for this shoot, there was no way that I was going to work without my favorite first assistant, the superhero photographer/retoucher/fellow Brooks alum/former roommate, Liz Bretz. Growing up mostly in Hawaii has made her part fish, which is just what I need in a water assistant! Liz is also a brilliant photographer and is such a big part of my process, inspiration, and accomplishments.
For my second assistant, I decided to bring on Katie Brill, an emerging photographer who had expressed interest in assisting me. When I’m working with assistants for the first time, I always want them to come to a personal shoot first to get the lay of the land (well, water actually) in an environment where there is room to learn and adjust to the unusual environment. Considering all the potential obstacles she faced on this shoot — an unusual environment, her first time working with me, and with everyone else on the shoot being good friends and acting pretty silly for most of the day, Katie did an amazing job!
We started off shooting the lifestyle images. For makeup, it was easier to start with a light, fresh look and then build to a heavier look later for the beauty shots. I worked with my amazing makeup artist, Megan Sutherland, to create a fun, fresh look for Kristina. Here are some of our favorites from the lifestyle session:
After a short break and some lunch in the sun, we jumped back in the pool for our beauty shoot. For these shots, Megan came up with the idea of adding some reflective sequins to Kristina’s face for one of the looks. To add a little product to our beauty shots, I collaborated with jewelry designer Romy Sky for all of the jewelry.
Looking back on it, it was an all encompassing example of why I shoot underwater. I get to have so much fun and when I’m doing a personal shoot, I get to curate who is on board with me. It is so amazing to realize who many talented people I know and that we ended up working really well together. Everyone brings not only there skill sets, but the passion and excitement for it. That energy translates into the finished images.
Very big thank you to everyone for coming together and creating this amazing work.
Model: Kristina Emerson, @kristinaemerson
Makeup: Megan Sutherland, www.megansutherland.net
Jewelry: Romy Sky, www.romysky.com
Assistant #1: Liz Bretz, lizbretz.com
Assistant #2: Katie Brill, www.katiebrill.com
Pool: Benjo Arwas, benjoarwas.com
Next up: Behind the scenes stills and video from this shoot!
With Held Breath 