By JOHN CLANTON Multimedia Producer on Apr 4, 2013, at 1:35 PM Updated on 4/04 at 1:35 PM
Breonna Barker, a sophomore at Broken Arrow High School, poses in the pool where the swim team practices at the Salvation Army Broken Arrow Boys & Girls Club on Friday, March 15, 2013. Broken Arrow's Breonna Barker is the All-Metro swimmer of the year. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Months ago, my neighbors set a perfectly good 10 gallon fish tank on the curb for trash day. I stopped and picked it up, but it sat in my garage for weeks. I figured I'd either get an assignment I could use it on or that my wife would upgrade our pet fish Fluffy's accommodations.
A few weeks ago I finally got my chance. I went to Broken Arrow to photograph All-Metro Swimmer of the year Breonna Barker. I took the aquarium and my swim trunks so I could make a more interesting portrait of her.
The Aquarium worked perfectly, although it was more buoyant than I thought it would be. I'm sure Breonna was choking back a smile watching me try to dog paddle with my feet and using my arms to simultaneously push an aquarium down in the water and take pictures at the same time.
I used a Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-105mm lens for all of the underwater portraits. I wish now I'd used the second body to photograph my camera floating in the deep end of the Salvation Army Broken Arrow Boys & Girls Club pool.
And after all that, Fluffy the Beta ended up with much more room to swim around in.
Breonna Barker, a sophomore at Broken Arrow High School and the Tulsa World's All-Metro Swimmer of the Year, recently won the 100 freestyle for the second time setting a new state record. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Breonna Barker says she still swims for fun and that it's not always for practice. A sophomore at Broken Arrow High School, poses in the pool where the swim team practices at the Salvation Army Broken Arrow Boys & Girls Club on Friday, March 15, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
