Fish Kids ‘Roscoe’

This is from 2004. It’s one of three images created for Kings Swim, to promote their advanced swimming programs.

The image is built from about ten separate shots. Most of the parts were shot as 5×4" black and white negatives with fairly low contrast. I think the camera used was a Hasselblad FlexBody, which allowed the depth of field axis to be angled. I know it was a Hasselblad, but didn’t know the model at the time. The specs and date seem to match though.

The gills are from a gummy shark. The background is a piece of metal, with reflections created by shining lights into a tub of water. Various backgrounds were created by kicking the tub and taking shots until we ended up with enough material for the three images of the campaign.

I guess these days things would be done quite differently. It was a lot of fun creating effects like this with physical things. It’s an old piece, but I still really like it.

Photographer — Rod Schaffer
Art Director — David Stephens
Retoucher/Art — Me
Client — Kings Swim