Into the Emerald Depths

Under heavy skies, in a bay sheltered from the wind and waves we slipped into the water. Coco felt the cold shock immediately, but bravely pressed on until the water climbed over her head and she descended to the emerald depths

Setting up the Shoot

This concept started easily enough. Coco posted on a Facebook group that she was interested in doing a shoot if anyone had an interesting concept. I replied and mentioned that I can do underwater photography. We quickly started discussing a couple concepts around that and landed on doing a shoot in December on Whidbey Island.

One of the main things we had to consider with this shoot is that the Salish Sea is cold, especially in December. But that's also when the best visibility is. So we had to plan extensively how to get the shots we needed, while also ensuring that we were doing the shoot in a way that kept Coco safe. I reached out to Melissa Kegler, and ice swimmer I knew from a previous shoot to make sure that we were planning the shoot with multiple safety measures in place.

This planning led to us bringing in two safety swimmers, plus a shore safety person, and a backup photographer. We also set up strict limits on how long Coco could be in the water before needing to spend a warming period on shore. All of these guidelines, along with role descriptions, and bailout points were listed in a document and sent out to the team well before the shoot.

Photo credit: Rachel Slemons Photography

The Shoot

After a week of good weather, the shoot day dawned overcast and windy. When I got to the primary beach, I was greeted by 5' waves crashing against the beach. We hoped things would calm down, but by the time Coco got to the island things were still too dangerous to get in the water. After a brief moment of panic, we pivoted and made our way across Deception pass to check out Bowman Bay and Rosario Beach. We consulted with Melissa, our safety swimmer, and Rosario won out. The water was calm and from the shore it looked clear enough, so we started hauling out kit and prepping to get in the water.

But, the Salish being itself, when I finally got in the water with the camera I realized that instead of the 10-20 foot visibility I was praying for, we had maybe 6 feet of visibility. And once you hit 5 feet, things started getting real fuzzy real fast. But we were there, I was in my wetsuit, Coco had changed into the dress, and my swimmers were suited up and ready to go. After making peace with the fact that my initial concept wasn't going to work, I gave the final lets go for it and see what we get.

With a few deep breaths and some questioning of life choices, Coco stepped into the water. And I started shooting, praying that this would work.

I'll let you be the judge of how it turned out.