19th Nov 2007
underwater flash flavor magic
I have been following the work from a Louisiana photographer who seems to be breaking all the rules and taking the “brides in the water” craze to an entirely different level. I’ve shot a few of these underwater sessions but nothing like this. What I love about Kevin’s work is the passion he puts into the job to get it done and get it done RIGHT!
Kevin Beasley writes:
The idea for shooting under came to me after some serious soul searching for a new(er) idea. The first underwater photo I had ever seen was from Larry Peters, (a senior portrait photographer in Ohio). Not only is shooting in UW time consuming and challenging, it is also very expensive! I had a very sizable initial investment to purchase an UW housing for my 5d, UW flash, UW port, Accessories and DRESSES. I never intended shooting UW to be a Trash the dress so I actually purchased 3 wedding dresses from 3 different type of materials to learn how each would respond to the treatment.
My clients have really risen to the challenge of shooting these images. Most of my brides actually practice in preparation for their shoots. They practice breathing, body movement and posture in their free time. When I got started with this, I was amazed by all the work involved in making these sessions successful!
These shots take place in an ordinary pool in the middle of the afternoon. The stage for shooting UW is exactly the same as shooting in a normal studio except all the elements (stage, setup, equipment, bride, photographer) are completely UNDER WATER, which makes everything very difficult. Because of the danger of being electrocuted, using anything in the water or anywhere near the water that plugs into an outlet is out of the question!
The lighting power comes from 4AA batteries in an UW flash. The flash output is set to -2 stops underexposed in TTL mode. The flash is off camera left or right, mounted on a special arm that attaches to the housing. Flash position adjusted to subject location. All images shot with a 5d in AV mode with careful care taken to control all available light so that it is soft and has low impact on the subject.
When I first saw Kevin’s stuff on Trash the Dress I was absolutely blown away! I called Kevin and asked him a little bit about this process and he gave me an in depth run down of his process. Kevin prefers to keep some of his techniques and ideas proprietary at this point, which I don’t blame the guy, who else has the “underwater bridal” on their package list? Not many if any other wedding photographers that I know of. I say hats off to Kevin for making a cutting edge product in an extreme environment. I’m very impressed by his setup.. I’ve been drooling over shooting with a complete underwater rig, but I’d have to drop $10,000 USD to even get close to the setup he has! One day Kevin 
I recommend a visit to Kevin’s blog where you can see even more killer imagery…. Like this one:
So be sure to check out Underwater Bridal Photographer, Kevin Beasley
Anybody have any thoughts for Kevin? Comments? I’m keeping my eye on him for sure, great motivation!
Cheers,
Matt
I have been following the work from a Louisiana photographer who seems to be breaking all the rules and taking the “brides in the water” craze to an entirely different level. I’ve shot a few of these underwater sessions but nothing like this. What I love about Kevin’s work is the passion he puts into the job to get it done and get it done RIGHT!
Kevin Beasley writes:
The idea for shooting under came to me after some serious soul searching for a new(er) idea. The first underwater photo I had ever seen was from Larry Peters, (a senior portrait photographer in Ohio). Not only is shooting in UW time consuming and challenging, it is also very expensive! I had a very sizable initial investment to purchase an UW housing for my 5d, UW flash, UW port, Accessories and DRESSES. I never intended shooting UW to be a Trash the dress so I actually purchased 3 wedding dresses from 3 different type of materials to learn how each would respond to the treatment.
My clients have really risen to the challenge of shooting these images. Most of my brides actually practice in preparation for their shoots. They practice breathing, body movement and posture in their free time. When I got started with this, I was amazed by all the work involved in making these sessions successful!
These shots take place in an ordinary pool in the middle of the afternoon. The stage for shooting UW is exactly the same as shooting in a normal studio except all the elements (stage, setup, equipment, bride, photographer) are completely UNDER WATER, which makes everything very difficult. Because of the danger of being electrocuted, using anything in the water or anywhere near the water that plugs into an outlet is out of the question!
The lighting power comes from 4AA batteries in an UW flash. The flash output is set to -2 stops underexposed in TTL mode. The flash is off camera left or right, mounted on a special arm that attaches to the housing. Flash position adjusted to subject location. All images shot with a 5d in AV mode with careful care taken to control all available light so that it is soft and has low impact on the subject.
When I first saw Kevin’s stuff on Trash the Dress I was absolutely blown away! I called Kevin and asked him a little bit about this process and he gave me an in depth run down of his process. Kevin prefers to keep some of his techniques and ideas proprietary at this point, which I don’t blame the guy, who else has the “underwater bridal” on their package list? Not many if any other wedding photographers that I know of. I say hats off to Kevin for making a cutting edge product in an extreme environment. I’m very impressed by his setup.. I’ve been drooling over shooting with a complete underwater rig, but I’d have to drop $10,000 USD to even get close to the setup he has! One day Kevin
I recommend a visit to Kevin’s blog where you can see even more killer imagery…. Like this one:
So be sure to check out Underwater Bridal Photographer, Kevin Beasley
Anybody have any thoughts for Kevin? Comments? I’m keeping my eye on him for sure, great motivation!
Cheers,
Matt
Posted by matt under 
Photographers, Kevin Beasley 
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