Welcome to Curaçao Diving Paradise

Miranda Perik, a well-known photographer in Curacao, approached me some time ago with the question if I, as an underwater photographer, was interested to try something new: an underwater photo shoot with models. And sure I was. After quite some preparation and organization the happening took place on Saturday January 16, 2010 in the swimming pool of the Moon Restaurant and Lounge in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.

Miranda had asked three models, Paula, Roxanne and Sabrina, to cooperate and they all were prepared to do this experiment. None of us had any experience with this kind of photo shoot.
We started the day at about 10:30AM. First a topside photo shoot by Miranda was planned with each of the three models. So they all got their normal light make-up and as soon as Paula was ready Miranda started taking pictures of her in the beautiful surroundings of Moon. After Paula it was Roxanne next and finally Sabrina. The sun was shining intermittently so we hade some pauses waiting for the good light.

After her topside photo shoot Paula got her "extreme" make-up for the underwater session. Grossly exaggerated colors were expected to give a similar effect under water as the light make-up during the topside shoot. And it was expected to last in the water.
Because it was the first try at this for all people involved Paula had the hardest job being the first to be under water. Basically what we did was this: Miranda and I were under water waiting for Paula to come down. She had to take a deep breath, get under water on or near the floor and then try to act as natural as possible taking her poses while Miranda and I were taking pictures. Not an easy task because she had to open her mouth and eyes and take a pose. Getting more and more experienced we got the hang of it and we made some adjustments to get more and better results. When Paula after a number of shots didn't get back under water we all surfaced and she told us that it takes a lot of energy to do this and that she wanted to take a break. So we continued with Roxanne and Sabrina. After a break for lunch we did a second shoot under water. Given the fact that this was a first try at this for all of us the results are more than acceptable. There are certainly lessons learnt for the next time and that was a major goal for this experiment.

More pictures of this shoot can be found in the pictures section, subsection Special Photo Shoots.