Water by Nikola Viens

The Fearless Jump into Water Shots By Nikola Viens @lilyjamesphoto

Hi! My name is Nikola, more commonly known in the IG world as Lily James Photo and I am so excited to share this lesson on incorporating water in your images. I have been photographing professionally for only about a year but I absolutely love shooting in and around water especially in the Summer with my two young kids. So let’s dive right in shall we?

Taken with iPhone 12 from inside a kiddie pool facing upward to shoot through the water. Edited in LR Mobile.

How does water help tell your story?

The first thing I do when I approach water in my images is to think about what place the water has in helping tell my story. Water is a super emotive element to capture, it often helps express the feeling behind the image. It can be playful and nostalgic: splashing in the ocean at the beach or running through a sprinkler, drinking out of a hose or piling bubbles on your head in the bath. It can be still and serene: like a sunset over a lake or a paddle moving a kayak through calm waters, fishing in the early morning or the first winter snowfall. It can even help express those solemn moments: a single teardrop, an empty fish tank or rain water falling over the last summer bloom. How is water going to tell your story? Once you have identified this in your vision (it can be as specific as wanting to capture dew drops in the morning light or as broad as capturing a family trip to the pool), you want to figure out your ideal gear for your capture.

Canon 6D Mark II- 50mm Reverse freelensed

Choosing the right gear and keeping it safe.

This was my most asked question when surveying followers about shooting with water and I totally get it. Exposing your expensive gear to something that could very well damage it makes us super uncomfortable. This is why it's so important to choose the right camera to both achieve the quality and vision you have, but also within your comfort zone with keeping your camera protected. Sometimes when I go to the beach or on a boat, I know I will never feel comfortable bringing my camera (a huge factor in why I bought a GoPro) so I will bring that or just rely on my phone for those outings. While they will never give you quite the same quality image, you will probably be surprised at how well you can achieve your water captures with your phone. There are also tons of underwater housing options for your DSLR and GoPro as well you can google and find plenty of highly rated ones.

GoPro Hero 10- Edited in LR mobile to add warmth, reduce greens, add clarity.

Gear I use and when:

Canon 6D Mark II

I would say I use this in about 60% of my water images. When going to the beach or the pool I ALWAYS store mine in a Gallon Ziplock bag (so classy, I know) but it always makes me feel better knowing it has that extra protection when not in use). I often opt for my 50mm lens over my 35mm because it gives amazing bokeh and I am often outdoors with plenty of room.

Places I use it: For large scale pictures of my kids at the lake/ocean, pictures in rain or snow when there are places for me to stand under (like my covered porch or thick trees), inside water images such as bathtub or baby bathing sink stories.

Places I don’t use it: Public pools, boats/kayaks/anything that floats (unless I am in the water capturing that at a safe waist deep level) or underwater. I personally don't own housing for my camera and maybe one day I will, but I find my GoPro or phone take really great images so I gravitate toward those for underwater photography.

Canon 6D Mark II 50 mm lens. Edited in LR Mobile to increase clarity and warmth.

GoPro Hero 10 Black

I almost always carry this wherever I go in addition to my phone. I take all my BTS videos with it because it captures amazing cinematic 4K video. I also take it fearlessly into the ocean, lake, pool, etc. I've stuck it in deep holes of sand, put it on the bottom of a lake to capture fish, buried it in snow to try to get a snowman’s perspective and it has withstood all the elements. That being said, there is a subscription plan you can buy with your GoPro in most countries that I highly recommend because no matter the damage they will replace it no questions asked (check the GoPro website for more details.)

Places I use it: Underwater, anywhere there is full sun or partially cloudy skies, in the pool, at the beach, in the snow, on the ice when we skate, etc.

Places I don’t use it: For indoor portraits, for detailed large scale images, for close up face shots (due to the lens distortion.)

My #1 tip for GoPro users: Play. With. Your. Perspective. You have to treat this like a fixed prime 16mm lens and use your own body as the zoom. Get low, get close, shoot from many different angles and if you can’t see well with the viewfinder, connect it to your phone using the Quik app and shoot with it from your phone.

GoPro Hero 10- Taken by hand hanging over the side of the kayak- Decreased clarity and texture, increased exposure and contrast to enhance sky/reflection.

iPhone 13

I use my phone for a surprising amount of water images. It is waterproof (except the charging port will not work until it dries completely so use wireless charging if that is an issue for you.) It does an amazing job capturing wide angels and also the portrait mode captures moving water in such a beautiful and unique way. If you are worried about completely submerging your phone, try turning it upside down and only submerging the lens portion of it. It’s so convenient and I will take, edit and post an image all on my phone (using lightroom mobile.)

Places I use it: Pretty much everywhere.

Places I don’t use it: Client work, high quality portrait images.

iPhone 12 Portrait mode- Increased clarity and warmth in LR Mobile.

Editing Water Images

I edit 90% of my personal images on my Phone using LR Mobile. How you edit your water image really depends on how you want the water to look.

For glassy, still water- I decrease the clarity and texture, I may play with the dehaze and contrast sliders and then adjust the warmth/greens until it looks how I want.

For water with movement or droplets- I would brush over it with a mask and increase clarity and texture to enhance the water and perhaps add blues.

For skin tones- I treat skin tones in water very similar to those when working with lots of greens. Warmth and purples are key to balancing out skin tones and making water seem less blue/green. Play around with those color sliders and subject masks until it looks right to you!

I cannot wait to see what water images you all come up with! Make sure to share your final images by using #p52_water so we can see. And always feel free to DM me @lilyjamesphoto with any questions.

Canon 6D Mark ii- 50mm lens (f1.8)- Edited to enhance that water bokeh with contrast and dehaze mask on the background.