Ever since becoming photographer I have admired several photographers for their ability to capture beautiful subjects underwater in a timeless, romantic way. With this being said, I would have never had imagined how hard it is to capture such a subject and how difficult an underwater shoot is when you’re working against every element possible! Whilst I was in Hawaii for my two day workshop I met an amazing girl called Valerie and it just turns out that her dad worked at a snorkelling/diving centre – she offered for me to go out on the boat to go and have fun… if it’s one thing people close to me know about me, it’s that I am ALWAYS thinking photography. How could I pass such an amazing opportunity to try out some underwater photography?

I rented an SPL underwater camera housing for my Canon 5dmkII from Maui Photographics and without much thought into it – off we went out to sea. Bear in mind I had underwater photographic knowledge and my experience with snorkelling went as far as Discovery Cove in Florida back in around 2003 you could say I was jumping into it a little quick but I always find by throwing myself into situations I learn how to do things quicker than reading from the book. A few things I picked up during my shoot were that LIGHT is the most important element, without light the shots look incredibly flat. If you’re shooting in the sea stay close to the surface and shoot when the sun is at it’s highest – in Hawaii the water is clear so this is why the rays shine through, this made for an interesting effect with the theme I was going for..

Valerie was an amazingly patient and hardworking model for this.. with her family their for support and her dad being a free diver we were able to take a range of shots even in just under thirty minutes. Despite me getting sea sick half way through the course and dealing with changes of light I don’t think I did too badly! I am really interested to pursue underwater photography further. I am re-visiting Hawaii (Oahu and Maui) this October so I’m hoping to try various different themes throughout my stay…!

Thank you to stylist Polly for the beautiful dress, Valerie & your family for your patience and kindness and Kevin for your assistance!

BEHIND THE SCENES

Me & Valerie testing out the water.. photo by Kevin Garrison.

FINAL SHOTS