sospix wrote:
I shoot a lot of surf, beach, island looks, water is an integral part of the look  .  .  .  plus, I usually get rained on whilst shootin', does that count  .  .  .    You're welcome to get soppin' wet in front of my lens anytime Miss Z!

SOS

That does count, especially when it rains it for sure counts as "wetlook"!

Ty for the offer, I might take you up on that someday! You're not too far away from me.

Rob Photosby wrote:
Shooting underwater is a highly specialised genre, both technically difficult and expensive (housings leak and drowned cameras no longer work), so only a small fraction of photographers on MM who say they offer underwater shoots actually do.

If you want to link up with people who have an interest in underwater model photography, you will find useful groups on another social media platform.

Incidentally, my avatar was shot underwater.

Wow, just checked out your page and you have some phenomenal underwater photos!!

I've experimented some with my own knock-off Go Pro camera underwater but the quality isn't as good as the bigger lense cameras and the places with lights.

Eric212Grapher wrote:
I've been shooting more and more underwater, and I do love it. I have not yet ventured from swimming pools. Likely next season.

I started with a small underwater point-n-shoot for a specific concept I had with rubber ducks. Then I got a case for a better point-n-shoot I had. When I stumbled into a Facebook Marketplace housing for a DSLR which was my backup to my backup, I bought it, and then the real fun began.

Two summers with the underwater housing and strobes have made clear to me that this is perfect for me during the summers. I wilt in the summer heat and humidity after just a little bit of time; however, I can spend hours in a swimming pool only getting out to pee.

I'm still trying to improve my editing of UW images.

Thanks for sharing your own experience and story with how you got into the underwater genre! It's cute how it started with rubber ducks.

The editing part does look like it would be a slight learning curve - esp with the warping effect the water has (fish eye effect) and also generally a blue hue to alot of photos and/or soft light

Model Sarah wrote:
This is literally the only genre I have not done in my long modeling career. I cannot swim. Sigh.

If you felt called to- you could see if there was a swimming class near you.
Even if not for modeling purposes, it can be useful to know how to swim for a variety of reasons!
Also it is great exercise and can be alot of fun.

If you did want to get into underwater modeling without learning how to swim, you could always start with practicing in a bathtub or somewhere shallow and see how well you can compose your facial expressions and such!

Zura wrote:
If you felt called to- you could see if there was a swimming class near you.
Even if not for modeling purposes, it can be useful to know how to swim for a variety of reasons!
Also it is great exercise and can be alot of fun.

If you did want to get into underwater modeling without learning how to swim, you could always start with practicing in a bathtub or somewhere shallow and see how well you can compose your facial expressions and such!

Dear, I have been modeling for 20 years professionally. I don't have a problem with facial expressions. I have been in water all over the world. I am speaking of like being in a pool or body of water really deep learning how to pose and swim at the same time. I have missed out on several opportunities to do this with photographers because I cannot swim - including Kim Weston's 2nd workshop I did with him because it was underwater photography.

Unfortunately, it is mostly psychological at this point. A lot harder than taking a swim class.

Model Sarah wrote:
Unfortunately, it is mostly psychological at this point. A lot harder than taking a swim class.

It's funny - I can swim but won't go into most bodies of water past where I can stand and be mostly out of the water. The only deep water I'll swim in is a swimming pool lol. Something about water I can't easily see through freaks me out. Even if it were a tank, if the water was dark and I couldn't see everywhere around myself, it's a big no.

So I've missed out on some underwater stuff. Definitely a psychological thing here too. I feel the same way about really tall grass or cornfields. If I can't easily see in a lot of directions in a place where I don't have anywhere to easily hide, I'm going to pass.

Model Sarah wrote:
This is literally the only genre I have not done in my long modeling career. I cannot swim. Sigh.

I was sad to read this because I have seen your work over the years and I think that you would make an excellent underwater model irrespective of whether you can swim or not. 

Provided that a model can touch the bottom of the pool and still have her head out of the water, swimming ability runs a distant second to body awareness and you have the latter by the truckload.

Over the years, I have had a number of models who could not swim, including one model who is very well known in your part of the world.  I confined them to the shallower two-thirds of my pool and they performed just as well as expert swimmers.

So, if you have an opportunity in the future, just work where you can comfortably stand in the water. 

Deep water is nice, but it is also very tiring to work in and rarely essential.  If you look at my portfolio, you will find a number of underwater photos, and none of them were taken in water deeper than 1.5M.  Some them were taken in as little as 90cm (3 ft) of water.

Zura wrote:
I have gotten super into underwater modeling lately (as well as some wetlook). It's been my absolute favorite genre I've ever modeled in.

It's my favorite to shoot! And much for the same reasons.

I hope to find more places to align with these types of shoots. I have not found very many on MM and not many posts about this topic either. Hence why I am wanting to create one!

It's a fairly expensive and time-consuming subgenre for photographers to get into, and, due to the complexity of the shoots, it can be a challenge to find a suitable location, schedule, and a model who can pull it off. So it's a bit of a niche. Hell, I have my own pool, and still did *zero* shoots this year. Just couldn't find a model, a free day, and good weather on the same weekend. C'est la vie. Enjoy it when you have the opportunity!

Here's my underwater portfolio (it changes randomly on a daily basis):

https://tallent.us/gallery/underwater

An MM model I've worked with a few times, Astrid Kallsen, has hosted events for models who want to learn more about underwater modeling. If she does another one, it might be something you'd want to check out!

https://www.modelmayhem.com/etherealastrid