When I had the idea to try my hand at underwater dog photography, I thought “how hard can it be”. I had seen those great photos of dogs underwater, with their mouths wide open, trying to get the ball. I even have a puzzle with those dogs (which was a bitch to put together). Thanks Seth Casteel who is the master of underwater dog photography!
When I was ready I put out a model call. I worked with nine dogs!
I had 3 sessions on the first day.
Albert was my first dog. He jumped in the pool over and over! Albert had great expressions and personality! It was a blast! Albert’s mom Courtney Perry took one of my favorite photos of me working in the pool! And side note Courtney is a fabulous photographer and you should check out her work!
My next session was with my friend Mary and her three labs, Stella, Hazel and Truman. In theory that was a super fun idea but in reality the dogs kept jumping on top of each other and me. I didn’t know there could be so much fur in the water in such a short time. And most of the images were blurry. We finally had to do them one at a time. It was a learning as I go session.
Then came Abby! She loved her ball so much and jumped in the water for a solid hour before she finally got tired. OMG! this is great! So excited for my next sessions!
As it turns out, I got excited too soon! All of the dogs that came over after the first day wouldn’t jump into the water. Or of the few times they would jump in they didn’t want their heads under the water. I had to get a little more creative!
Charlie is a sweet little poodle who was scared to jump but would sit on the steps and get the ball.
Finch and Beeks would jump but they kept their faces out of the water. Lots of images of legs!
Buster jumped but again but not much face.
So to answer the question how hard can it be? Very hard but when you get “the shot” totally worth it!
