Very interesting, thanks!  I can't say I like the final result, but the process he went through was good to hear.  It's good to be reminded that it's really about doing whatever it takes - even if that means building your own tools.  I go through phases of doing that myself.

I would have been interested to see what the result would have been if he'd used a diffusing material that could be crinkled up (I've never tried that) - or used some bounce light via crinkled surfaces.  I'd have thought that would have given more of a rippled water light effect on the skin.

REALLY made me laugh when he said 'a week at F11'.  LOL!  I'm sure we've all had that feeling!

What?  You mean just shoot it in a pool?  What sort of fun is that? 

What?  You mean just shoot it in a pool?  What sort of fun is that? 

I would have shot it in studio, but I would have known how to light it in a similar fashion without testing (I'm not very impressed by the results). I would have also shot it in medium format digital with a tilt lens, no need for 8x10" here.

Renting a real pool would also have been an option, I have no clue why they would have wanted to shoot the image using a particular pool.