Underwater picture

Cassidy - just below the surface, originally uploaded by rob-the-org.

I took this picture last summer in our backyard pool - with a simple disposable Fuji (film) underwater camera. Cassidy has been taking swimming lesson's since she was a toddler - and each session they try to take a underwater picture to sell to the parents. Emphasis on 'try' because it is an indoor pool and unless the light is just right - the pictures are usually pretty murky. So I was trying to take a half decent underwater picture to share with family and friends.

Skip ahead to this Spring. I post and share my pictures via Flickr. On Flickr there are groups for different interests. Several months ago I had come across the Popular Photography magazine group on Flickr and joined it. Every couple of months the staff from PopPhoto will post requests for specific types or themes for pictures that they need for upcoming issues.

In March - there was a request for an underwater picture taken with a compact camera (not with a high end SLR in a housing) and I submitted this picture. The staff at PopPhoto contacted me and asked me to sign a release for the picture.

I didn't find out that it was actually going to be published - until the June 2009 issue was published. My picture appears on page 55 as part of the tip on "How to... Dive in using a compact".

[The tips should be published on the PopPhoto web site at some point in the next couple of weeks. When it is - I will include the link to the article].