Have Underwater Camera, Will Travel {Austin Underwater Photography}

The surface of my pool has seen better days. It's looking like I'll need to resurface it before next season so I started to think about changing the color of the pool when I resurface it. Currently it's white, which is great for some things, not so great for others.

Most of the time I extract from the white to put my model or client into an ocean or some other water setting to create that illusion. White is great for extracting on some people but not so great on others. It gets harder to extract a fair skinned person, for instance, when their skin is almost the same color as the pool lining. Water is a natural filter for red so a lot of skin tones appear much fairer than they are under the water because you can't see the red in their skin.

So when I went to a party at a friend's house in Austin and saw her gorgeous pool I got curious about it. It's actually a dark gray color. I wondered how that would look under water. She was kind enough to let me shoot a session there so I could consider the coloring for my own pool.

My favorite mermaid in the world was kind enough to volunteer for me (after promising Chinese food and a latte) and I love the results. She quite fair skinned and her hair is mermaid perfect. But I'm biased because she's my daughter.

Feel free to let me know what you think. I'm leaning toward changing my pool color next season after this session.



Here's a little behind the scenes shot to show you the color of the lining before any edits.



And here it is with Keela in the water without any edits.

Lisa On Location Photography

Pushing My Limits Under the Water {Texas Underwater Photography}

When I'm working under the water and the model or client tells me she'll do whatever I want, it forces me to think outside the box.

I wanted to start working with more props under water when I worked with Kelsey this summer.

Kelsey is a very intelligent girl and she loves history, she lettered in Latin in high school. She's studying astronomy in college. She's very talented and artistic so I wanted to draw from that in our underwater session.

We played around with some mythology and we also decided to try some unique urban concepts in our shoot.

Kelsey always does amazing under the water. She can relax her face and stare into the camera with such serene intensity that you'd never know she was in the water. Thanks so much, Kelsey, for helping me push the envelope a little further each time with our sessions.



Lisa On Location Photography

When You Find an Amazing Vintage Wedding Gown in a Thrift Store, You Take it in the Pool {Texas Underwater Photographer}

I promised more peeks at some of the underwater sessions I photographed over the summer so here's the next beauty I want to tell you about. Miss Pat Phantasma is a model who specializes in alternative photo shoots. She had never done an underwater session before. The unique thing about Pati in the water is that she floats. She's extremely buoyant.

Over the years I've encountered people with many different degrees of buoyancy. It has a little bit to do with the shape or size of the person, and a lot to do with the lung capacity of a person. Some of my clients sink pretty easily, others have to work to get deep in the water. Pati was one of them.

I have weights that I can put around the waist or ankles of my clients, but that ends up being more work for me in post processing so I try to avoid it. In the end we were able to get some lovely images of Pati.

And she fit perfectly in this gorgeous hand made vintage wedding gown I found in a thrift store for $10. It's finds like this that excite me and I have other visions for this dress. I'm not done with it yet. Maybe Pati will join me in a spooky creekbed for a La Llorona shoot. Can't wait!

Lisa On Location Photography

The Perfect Mermaid Model Swims into my Underwater Studio {Texas Underwater Photography}

I've failed miserably at keeping you posted on the underwater sessions this summer so I thought I'd submit them all in a series.

First I'd like to introduce you to Something Blue. She's a performer with Jigglewatts Burlesque Review.
Miss Blue put a lot of work into her session before she ever got here. She practiced on her own the weekend before trying all the tips I'd sent her to help her prepare. It's not often that I get such a dedicated mermaid into the water.

She's also a dancer so she's knows how to move and how to pose. It was a very productive session. I'll be sharing images from this session for years to come!


Lisa On Location Photography

Perfect Love at Remi's Ridge {New Braunfels Wedding Photography}

Kaitlyn and Taylor were married recently at Remi's Ridge at Hidden Falls near Spring Branch.
,br> It was a perfect day and these two are obviously so in love. Taylor's reaction when he saw Kaitlyn in her gown walking down the aisle was one of the most heartfelt reactions I've seen and I've seen over 300 weddings!

The whole evening was fun and I was so happy to be able to work with a couple of my favorite vendors, Ray with San Antonio's Best DJ, and Dayna with Stella Haus Productions.

Thank you for trusting me to capture this special day for you!



Lisa On Location Photography