Moving water can allow you to create a number of moods, from artistic to very glamourous and sexy.

Lighting Diagram
Obviously the main concern is safety – mains-powered strobes and water do not mix. The strobes were positioned far enough away that if they fell they could not reach the water. They were also weighted down. They are also of course on full RCD trips.
The principal light is the honeycombed strobe on the left, the softbox on the right provides a little fill at a very low level.

My studio …

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1) Do something whacky
 
Now, where to start with this.  Let’s say you’ve got a teenage girl wants some shots of her in the prom dress.  Well, you start off with the obvious safety shots, but then you start thinking…  Against graffiti, in a skip, in a swimming pool, water poured over her head, in a field, in a burnt out car, on a roof, with her head in a paper bag, with silly make-up…   Now not all of these are going to work – but keep thinking
 
2) Go Dutch
 
The Dutch …

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1) Never use on-camera flash
 
Because everytime it gives you the “rabbit in the headlights” – demonising red-eye look.  It really is the worst kind of lighting you can imagine.  Basically the further away from the camera you can get the flash the better.   use flash cords or radio triggers, depending on how far away you need to put your flash.
 
2) The 45 degree rule
 
The convention is that the flash should be 45 degrees to the side of the sitters face, and 45 degrees above the sitters eyeline.   The height bit …

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1) If its cropped, crop deliberately.
 
No half measures on cropping, either something is in shot, or its not.
 
2) Crop limbs, don’t amputate them
 
If you need to crop a limb, then crop it at the mid-point, cropping near the end of an arm or leg will make it look like the hand or foot has been amputated.
 
3) Don’t be afraid to lose the top of the head
 
Shooting a headshot with the top of the head in actually gives you quite an unpleasant composition with the eyes too low in the frame.  …

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1) Use an ultra-wide lens for fun
 
By ultra-wide I mean 24mm or less – all the way down to a full 180 degree fish-eye.  Now when shooting this wide you get lots of distortion, so the trick is to frame and compose to make the most of that distortion.   What is close to the camera will look huge, what is even only a little distance away will look absolutely tiny.
 
2) Use a long lens for portraits
 
Somewhere along the line it became “common knowledge” that a 50mm lens is the correct …

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