This Sunday was a lovely day for a backyard pool shoot! I had some weekend plans fall through and thought I would take advantage of the time to see if Alyssa was available on a day when it wasn’t raining. I was really glad that it worked out because there are only so many 80-degree days left in the summer and you want a warm day to do something like this on. I enlisted my husband, Stephen, to assist with the shoot, setting up the pool, and taking behind-the-scenes pictures and short video clips. This shoot was not at all high-tech, just Stephen using my cell phone, a small backyard pool, and pretty things to put in the pool with Alyssa. This just goes to show that with a little creativity, you can achieve something magical.
Putting this all together was pretty straightforward, but there are a handful of things to consider if you would like to try it out for yourself. I’ll go over all the details to keep in mind so that you can prevent any setbacks in your own experimentation. Planning started with the day, I wanted sunshine and warmth! It had been raining quite a bit, but the weather held out for us and it was a beautiful day. I was really lucky that Alyssa Russo was available. I had been watching the shade in our backyard a couple of days prior and knew that by 3 pm the concrete patio was in complete shade. I scheduled for 2 pm to start as early as possible because I knew we would need set-up time.
The next part was putting the set together. I wanted to do 3 looks to get some variety. I knew I wanted to play with color, so I planned one colorful look, one bright muted color, and one black look. I needed fabric backdrops that I could put underwater. I went with the rose backdrop for one look and went with a medium gray cloth for the other two looks. I thought about what look to have Alyssa do for her make-up, and went with a natural look, but a little extra. Alyssa did a great job and was able to use all waterproof make-up. I requested she leave her hair natural and skip the lotion.
We have a lovely, but messy pine tree over the area where I set up. This means that we were continually cleaning little bits of pine trees out of the water. Stephen put a pad under the pool, it’s nice to have something between you and the concrete. He then filled the pool to 6 or 7 inches of water. This pool has an air ring that keeps it afloat at your water level. We ended up having to let some water out when Alyssa laid down. I wanted her face to be out of the water without her having to hold a crunch the whole time. The water felt plenty warm to the touch, but we started with 2 kettles of boiling water anyways. It was still far too cold so we kept adding until she wasn’t sure if she needed another one or not, and we put that last one in just in case. I don’t recall how many it was all together, but she was a trooper and also her temperature was adjusting while we used an electric kettle to heat water. We had hand sanitizer and plenty of towels on hand.
I used a 3 step, step stool to get a higher angle and had her keep her chin angled towards the camera. I used my Spyder holster and locked my camera to it when I was making adjustments over the water. I also used a hand strap to protect against dropping my camera on Alyssa, in the water, or on the concrete… With wearing a mask and also Alyssa’s ears were often underwater, it was difficult for her to hear my directions. I usually use my own body to show what I’m asking for in posing and that worked out pretty well. With this type of photoshoot, you want to take the time to get beautiful poses, but you also need to keep in mind that it’s not the most comfortable position for Alyssa to be in. I had a robe prepared and had allowed time for breaks in between looks, but once she was acclimated to the water temperature, Alyssa preferred to keep moving through them and I don’t blame her! Overall, the set took about an hour and a half.
Although I did move around to both sides of the pool to try to get different angles, there is a limit to the poses you can do. You pretty much have lain-down poses only. The real fun here is the water. The water has a constantly changing texture in the ripples and movement and the reflections were really neat. I could control the reflection I was getting by changing my angle and I could control how much reflection I ended up within post-processing by lifting or deepening shadows. The darker it is under the water, the more reflection I ended up with. I thought that the last set would be cool because I was floating these black pieces of tule in the water that looked somewhat mystical, but the show stopper ended up being the reflection of the pine tree with bits of sky that reflected more clearly off the darker set. I ended up really liking the green and black with Alyssa’s skin tone. To see what I mean, check out the bottom image.
Projects like this just re-energize me. So often I am focused on what I don’t have and can’t do, but when I am challenged to be a little more creative with what I do have, I create a different look altogether. I loved doing this set. I loved editing these images. I loved experimenting with water reflections. I can’t wait for my next project.
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