When Speedo recently rented out an indoor pool in Goshen, New York, for its new “Speedo Fit” campaign, the challenge was to create compelling images that would appeal to athletes and fitness enthusiasts seeking a competitive edge.  The company approached Los Angeles-based photographer Aaron Okayama to shoot Olympic Swimmers Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin (who is shown here) performing physically demanding workouts underwater using kettle bells, concrete balls and more.

Okayama used a few 18K HMI’s to recreate the look of sunlight from the water’s surface, and then used multiple underwater HMI’s and light modifiers to control the mood from beneath the surface. Second to lighting, he says his biggest challenge was composition, “But luckily for us, Missy is a super hero and was able to just scoop up the concrete ball and fly away!”

(Captured using a Nikon D810 and a 16-35mm lens protected by Nauticam’s D810 underwater housing.)

© Aaron Okayama

 Check out more Photos of the Day, and email [email protected] for submissions.