Nicholas Barba balances his love for water polo with his academics very well. All his classes are Advanced Placement classes, like Physics and Biology, His Letterman jacket behind is one of his most prized possessions. 1 Speedlite aimed at his books in the foreground. Another Speedlite at about 11 o’clock aimed at his jacket. Main light is a 300Ws White Lightning strobe with a grid aimed at his face. All strobes were fitted with 1/4 CTO gels.
I’ve always loved challenging myself when it comes to photography.
Whether it was getting in on a plane in a dogfight or rappelling off a cliff, having a camera in those instances meant I could replace my fears with my strong desire to come up with exciting images that are unusual.
Keeping his cool– Despite the frigid water temperature, Nicholas was a good sport. My main light, a Canon 600-EX-RT Speedlite at camera right, was triggered by Yongnuo YN-600-EX transmitter. Canon 40D with 17-35mm lens. ISO 400 1/250 f8
So when Staci called and asked if I could photograph her son Nicholas, a high school senior who is a water polo player and all round high achieving student, I was excited.
It meant instead of the run-of-the-mill images, my subject Nicholas would give me a chance to try shooting in water.
I decided that the photo shoot would be a two-parter because shooting in water or a pool requires some finessing since I don’t own an underwater housing.
The water in the pool was frigid. Poor Nicholas braved the 60℉ water like a trooper. I had it a lot easier since I didn’t entirely immerse myself. I did have to guess quite a bit on my framing since I didn’t have the benefit of an articulating LCD monitor or use of the viewfinder.ISO 400 1/250 f2.8 17mm Canon 40D 17-35 2.8 zoom.
Before we wrapped things up, I had Nicholas pose for a few pictures with the ball.
Using the hedge as the background was easiest as we were in his uncle’s backyard. I used my WL 800 as the accent or backlight (about 2 o’clock) and my Canon 600EX-RT as my main light (camera left).
Behind-the-scenes– We were in the water for about 20 minutes before we quit. Nicholas mentioned something about not being able to feel his toes and fingers lol. Photo by his mother Staci
