Oh, hey gang!
Chase here.
The other day I was checking out my friend Melissa Morley's website I saw that she had
really cool photos of models and dresses.
And they were floating in like this infinite abyss.
And I assumed that she shot these in a giant photography tank.
So, I asked her where it was.
She's like: "No, I shot all of those in a $25-dollar kiddie pool that I got off Amazon."
I wanted to know how she did that.
So, I volunteered to buy all the supplies she would need to do it again.
If she would come to my office and let me record the process.
So, I could show you guys.
Despite the fact that the day we ended up picking turned into a freezing cold, rainy,
ugly October day.
We were able to get some really cool glamour shots outside-here's how.
Rolling?
Okay.
Are we both going to cross our legs?
::Hardy Chase Chuckle:: ;)
I mean…that's happening?
I'm sitting here with my friend Melissa Morley so, we've got your pool.
We have an air pump to fill it up.
Oh yeah, definitely make sure you have an air pump.
It's not going to work if you don't have it.
Get one that plugs into the wall, so you don't have to deal with charging your batteries.
I would say it probably took our production assistant 15/20 minutes to fill it up with
an air pump.
Yes.
Definitely necessary.
Yes.
After that, you kind of have to think about, do you want to use the actual background of
the pool itself which this is like a white plastic.
I originally shot with the black sheeting for this kind of like expansive, infinite,
bottomless look.
For today I thought we would do, a blue tarp surface.
One thing to keep in mind when you're buying your tarps is to think about the texture.
This look looks like a tarp.
The plastic sheeting does not--it's smooth and you're going to have an easier time in
post with that.
So, if you're not comfortable like doing a little bit of post work on a tarp to do like
a blur on it, go with the sheeting.
How do you go about finding a makeup artist and a model?
If you're just starting out you don't really have your network established where you can
just kind of call whoever you think would be best to work with you, use Instagram or
any social media as a tool to just reach out.
Be like Hey! love your portfolio which Would you be interested in collaborating on a shoot
with me?
You know you're asking someone to work for nothing so be mindful of, maybe get lunch
for everybody just going to treat your crew right.
When I first asked Mel to this, the first she said was choosing the right location was
going to be the most important part.
I know that a parking lot doesn't seem like the most ideal location for a beautiful glamour
shoot.
It's ugly as heck.
It's outside on a day that was freezing cold and rainy.
There were puddles collecting all over the parking lot that I had to physically sweep
out with a broom.
They were cars coming and going all day long.
But that just goes to show that you can pull the shoot off almost anywhere as long as you
have a few key components.
We had power nearby, even though we chose not to use lights that day because it was
raining.
We had a place for the makeup artist to set up, a place for the model to change.
We had more than enough room for the pool in a single parking spot.
We had a ladder that was already just sitting in the basement.
We had arguably, the most important thing, a warm water supply.
One the things to consider is where you're getting your water from and usually you just
pull it out from your hose.
It's cold when it comes out of your hose.
If the water temperature is really cold she's not going to be able to move as well and be
stiff.
The answer to that ended up being pretty cheap and simple, I went to the hardware store and
I found this little adapter only cost $5 dollars and it allowed me to hook a garden hose up
to a hot water line under the sink.
In about 35 minutes we have that pool filled up, that felt like a bathtub.
We were ready to get shooting.
We kept it really simple, lighting we just stuck with the natural light that work great--got
really like, soft, even lighting.
I only pulled a reflector in once just when you're doing the close-up beauty.
Just because when she's like kind of dip down in the water--because we don't have a strong
light source we're not getting that reflection off the bottom of the pool to really fill
in like you know the under eyes.
Hey Simm, can you pull her hair out?
Just a little?
I noticed that you had the makeup artist helping you, kind of wrangle her dress and hair.
If you can get a stylist, get a stylist.
It'll make life easier have someone paying attention the garments all the time.
Makeup artist who pays attention to her and hair and what can help like push the size
of the pool so you like a nice rippling effect.
Do you ever consider adding white reflection lines to maybe give the impression that there's
more motion in the water?
Yes, it's just selectively so let's say you really like the shape of one that's happening
over on the side, I just copy it and move it over and maybe liquify it so it kinda changes
shape a little bit.
We left the hose running on like half speed the whole time we were shooting.
So, there is always warm water piping in the pool for the model.
But I eventually had to drain a lot of the water from the pool because it got too full.
I know it looks like the model's just kind of effortlessly floating there.
But it's actually pretty difficult for her to keep her head above water unless she can
reach the bottom of the pool with her hands to support herself.
The deeper the pool got, the harder that was for her.
So, word to the wise, don't fill the pool up all the way like I initially want to.
Fill it up halfway, see how the model feels and if you can get away with a little more,
put it in there.
I shot wide open again to help reduce some of this tarp texture that's happening in the
background and then for the beauty stuff I like to go to at least f8.
That way you're getting focus like all the way through the planes of her face.
You'll noticing in some that may be the tip of her nose is isn't in-focus, but our eyes
are.
Very, cool.
Wow!
The wind has picked up It is misting again, you look very, very, cold.
I'm chilly.
But I think we're ready to wrap things up.
But thank you for coming out today is there any final statement you'd like to tell anyone
taking on the kiddie pool shoot?
If it's your first time doing a pool shoot, just keep it basic.
Have fun.
Alright, well we certainly did that.
Thank you for coming out and thank you for watching!
Alright well we did have a lot of fun that day.
I really like seeing what Mel is able to accomplish for under $90 bucks in such a gross location.
For more tutorials like this, keep an eye out on B&H's YouTube page, or bhphotovideo.com.
Once again, thank you for watching.
::Chase breathing heavy::
Stop it!