Take a bit of fantasy, roll in some cosplay, a dash of whimsy and then stir in a serious amount of athletic skill and dance prowess -- the result is mermaid diving. Well, merperson  diving, but everyone knows what a mermaid is, so male or female we'll go with that. If mermaid diving has been below your radar, check out this and this -- it's a genuine diving-dance-artform that's rapidly growing in popularity.

As you might imagine, imagers love shooting mermaid divers, and in fact have been doing so for some time. My team produced this shot in 2009

This is a composite of six images to produce the final result you see here. The model isn't holding anything -- he's just pretending to, knowing I will put the crystal ball in later. The mermaid is Linden Wolbert, who "mermaids" professionally. The diver is Jonathan Goodwin, an escapologist and member of the Illusionists broadway act.

See the Behind Scenes gallery for some shots of the setup. The final image was used for this magazine cover.

as a cover for the Undersea Journal. But what is new is how fast mermaid diving's becoming popular, which broadens the opportunities for people like me who love to shoot photos of them. These talented divers are PADI Mermaid Instructor Trainers – the teachers who teach the teachers – showing us that whatever one's first impressions are, not only is mermaid diving a camera-worthy expressive team underwater ballet but a

genuine athletic endeavor that requires grace, body control, swimming ability and focus. It's something anyone can do and enjoy, yet spend years improving and mastering. If you've ever wished you were a fish give it a try.

Then maybe we can shoot something cool.

This was an outtake from the crystal ball shoot. I adjusted it in processing a great deal, but the final is spell binding.