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An underwater picture shoot that befell 6.4 metres beneath the floor of Georgian Bay has been confirmed to be a Guinness World Report.

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Hamilton-born photographer Steven Haining, Brantford mannequin Ciara Antoski and a crew of divers staged the record-setting shoot on the rudder of the W.L. Wetmore Shipwreck on the Fathom 5 Nationwide Marine Park in Tobermory, Ont.

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The shoot noticed Antoski courageous temperatures of 14 levels for so long as half-hour straight, earlier than warming up and diving again into Tobermory’s famed turquoise waters. In complete, the crew visited 5 ship wrecks over 4 days, in a shoot that took longer than three months to plan.

The ultimate product is the world report for the deepest underwater mannequin picture shoot.

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It’s not a report that’s going to face lengthy, nonetheless, as Haining is in the midst of planning one other record-setting shoot in Tobermory that can happen in September.

“We’re planning to beat it by a considerable quantity,” he tells Nationwide Put up from Orlando, in between pre-production conferences for the upcoming try.

The final shoot befell in July 2021 and was impressed, at first, from a joke. In the midst of the pandemic, Haining, who primarily makes a speciality of portrait work, was brainstorming concepts of find out how to accomplish a shoot amid COVID restrictions.

“We have been joking that if all of us wore our scuba gear and walked across the studio with our tanks, we may all hang around once more. Then we have been like, hey, wait a minute, we may truly construct units within the pool and truly do a shoot,” he says.

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From there, the thought unfold to capturing on location. Tobermory, the shipwreck capital of Canada, had lengthy been a web site that had captured Haining’s curiosity. The freshwater has saved the shipwrecks, upwards of 20, well-preserved and Haining figured it might make the proper web site to carry a mannequin.

He had beforehand labored with Antoski on various events and, in a coincidence, she had not too long ago accomplished her scuba diving certification.

However spending as much as half-hour underwater in frigid temperatures meant {that a} host of security measures, together with a diver assigned to provide air to Antoski, needed to be put into place. The crew additionally needed to work out methods to speak underwater, like utilizing lights and signal language.

In preparation for the shoot, Antoski practised holding her breath in chilly water and plunged into ice baths to get snug with the temperature drop.

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The staff took to the water in drysuits, apart from Haining, who opted for a much less cumbersome wetsuit, and Antoski, who wore solely a costume and a weight belt.

There have been 4 folks underwater, 4 folks close by in assist boats and extra crew onshore.

“Security was the largest factor,” Haining says. “The individuals who see the images like them as a result of they’re cool images, however the dive group, I believe, realizes how many individuals have been behind the scenes and the way a lot follow it took and the way a lot work went into it.”

He says they weren’t planning on setting a report within the first shoot, it was extra concerning the expertise and attending to do one thing artistic within the midst of the pandemic lockdowns. He credit Antoski for being keen to push herself to her limits and the belief she positioned within the crew.

“We went in with no expectations and I stated if it’s too chilly, we’ll simply all get in fits and we’ll go dive for enjoyable after which we nonetheless get a weekend away. The entire purpose it occurred is as a result of (Antoski) wished to do it greater than anyone else.”

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The following shoot may see Haining and his crew break the report by greater than 20 metres.

It will likely be a considerably extra technical dive, he says, and far of the identical crew might be again. The mannequin, nonetheless, would be the security diver from the primary shoot. The plan is for her to take to the water in a robe with an extended practice, requiring extra security divers to assist management the setting.

“Now that we’ve executed it, and we’ve realized and we’ve gone to different locations and practised, we’ve set this very bold objective,” he says.

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