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Triathletes are a different breed of competitor. They are some of the toughest athletes around—often enduring intense physical pain to finish three continuous races in swimming, cycling and running. Kristyna Archer, a photographer based in LA, recently worked with a new triathlon apparel brand, Tribe, to create a series of images that show the dedication of a triathlete.
While the shoot day consisted of running, biking and swimming photos, Kristyna’s most challenging (and fun) shoot of the day was in the water:
The challenge is of course how to efficiently shoot underwater fast, as it’s almost like you are in space floating around. So everything is a bit more slowed down with composing, focusing and getting the shot. You can use a combination of weight belts, flippers and things to help move around the water faster.
While the running and biking photos were more focused on the garments and logos, Kristyna said the art director wanted to focus the swimming photos more on “wider, epic hero shots that evoked the right dedication of a triathlete.” Kristyna had shot underwater for fun before, but she was excited to tackle the project for a client.
Visually my work is rooted in vibrant colors, edgy lighting, energetic motion and editing to those offbeat moments. The fluidity and whimsy of underwater photography caters to my style.
I learned that I love the whimsy and happenstance associated with underwater work, and that it always feels more fine art to me. Every frame with bubbles, buoyancy and motion are these beautiful, graceful, quiet moments and I just want to keep shooting more of it. In a way there inherently is a lot of room for error in terms of usable frames with underwater work, but it’s sort of what I like about it as well is that you discover these interesting in between moments of antigravity.
Kristyna has shared some behind-the-scenes photos of the “marathon” shoot day with us below (that assistant in the first image deserves a raise!):
To see more of Kristyna’s work, visit kristynaarcher.com.