Walking on water? There was a bit of trickery in the angle but that adds to the allure and I feel makes you look twice at this photo. I also really like how it seems as though Zandi is standing on an endless ocean.
It may sound like a cliche, but often shots that are not planned are the ones you end up liking the most. There was a tidal pool and at high tide the water was flowing over the wall. We got Zandi to walk on the edge of this wall to get an effect of her walking on water with this seemingly infinite ocean behind her. I had no housing here, so it was a quick, last-minute (and risky) decision to rest the camera on the surface of the water to get the low angle.
What were your goals and hopes from this shoot? What surprised you (for the good and the bad)? Did you have a specific image or story you wanted to tell?
My goals were to portray some sense of the freedom and size of the ocean while making the most of flow and colors. The one image I was after was to make it look as though she was reaching another world, with water and bubbles making a vortex around her, and with some planning we got pretty close. Teamwork was so important in this and because 90% of the shoot was underwater, communication was key. We had some special moments!
This shoot was intense and the athletes were operating at a very high level. When you’re documenting an athlete at that level, what are you looking for so you can make sure you capture that story? What’s going through your mind?
Always have a camera ready and your finger on the trigger. It’s that simple and that complicated all at the same time. You have to shoot every moment possible, sometimes when you least expect it, you can capture that magic moment.
