HUGE THANK YOU! I was able to make "Beta Fish" with your help :)

[bkstumpf]

I've been lurking on this forum for the last month. I'm an underwater photographer and I was working to pull together a mermaid shoot - three tailmakers flaked on me. So my model and I decided to make our own.

This forum helped us tremendously. You really have no idea. :)
We are now going to head out to the Yucatan to shoot our 'beta inspired' mermaid monsters.

We could not have pulled this together without all the knowledge here... I am seriously blown away by all the talent. <3

Here is a shot of one of the tails - captured from video from our recent 'swim test'. It is not 'full costume'... but rest assured when we get into the underwater caves, there will be some magic.

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As a side note, if anyone is interested to learn more about the project and the book I am doing... you can find details here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/271642832/mermaids

I just really want you guys to see how much you helped me. I am a very, very thankful photographer.

[Spindrift]

That looks fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing, and I'm happy you were able to find the information here!

[Jadestone]

The tail is beautiful!! Good luck with your project, do let us know if it works out :) I'd love to see more pictures

[AniaR]

so amazing congrats

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Agrijag2000, I actually was thinking of calling attention to your kickstarter. One of my facebook friends actually posted it on the Deliria: Faerie Tales for A New Millenium Roleplaying Game, and people seem impressed... the idea to use the cenotes is brilliant, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[bkstumpf]

Joy&Raptors - no way! How frickin' cool is that?? I'm thinking I need to add some more 'print' incentives to my kickstarter. I've never done this before... but I'm thinking that would be nice to do. Do you have a link I can see to Deliria?

I'm soooo excited to get down to the cenotes to shoot. I will DEF post pics - I could NOT have done this without the mernetwork. :)

[Mermaid Celissa]

I love the tail! It's so bright and flowy and gorgeous!

[Blondie]

Looks just like a beta fish :) Congrats!

[Ashe]

Beautiful! i saw a bunch of betta fish at the petstore with those colors!

[bkstumpf]

Thank you Celissa!
We wanted to do something a little different... so we combined our silicone structure with chiffon fabrics to give a lot of 'waft' and 'wave' when the moved. :) I'm really happy with how they look underwater.

We are even adding more fabric 'fins' this week - they will attach on the backside - and be our 'dorsal' fins. This should give us the full effect we are looking for in the shots. :) :)

[Azurin Luna]

Wow, the tail reminds me of the goldfish dance in Fantasia (if that makes sense) I love the flowing tail. Is it hard to swim in? I made my tail longer and it made harder for me to swim in.

[bkstumpf]

Hi Azurin!
The tail is a bit more work to swim in due to the 'drag' from the fabric fluke - it extends about 3-4 feet behind the model. It looks fantastic on camera, but when the shoot is over, we might be 'thinning' it a bit for her if she wants to do any serious swimming. I get the feeling however, she will be booking some more 'static' positioning gigs... mermaid in a tank... photoshoots... parties, etc. So she may not mind the extra drag long term.

She has told me however, that she definitely gets a work out. :)

How large is your fluke?
I've been thinking of making one more mermaid - without the fabric... but with a rather large silicone fluke... and was wondering how that would swim. I love the flowing effect we have made with the beta's, but I do not think they are practical for ocean swimming.

[Ilonka]

That is soooooo pretty!!!

[LittleTreasure]

That is absolutely stunning! And your work - amazing. I have a question - are there monofins of some kind in the tails on your kickstarter page? The flukes look transparent!

[bkstumpf]

LittleTreasure - Thanks!
There are monofins in each... a finis fin. The orange tail has a child's size fin (the model is quite petite) and the green tail has a full size adult fin. We also did it a 'little different' in that the neoprene skeleton has an opening at the bottom that the monofin slips into and out of. This allowed for the girls to keep their monofins and practice without the full costume. PLUS as a bonus, it makes transportation of the tail much easier as we can roll it up pretty small.

To deal with the transition to chiffon, we increased the layering over the monofin, and then allowed it to flow out to transparent at the ends. The entire tail was then covered in a silicone 'fluke' skeleton to give it structure... seen here:
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[bkstumpf]

As a side note, the overall 'fit' of each tail is very tailored... we actually need to use lubricant to get the girls in and out of them... restrictive, yes... but there is no 'bunching' around the knees and it looks very slick.

Ilonka - I must have digested your tail-making experience a dozen times over the last month! Love your tail!

[LittleTreasure]

[QUOTE]LittleTreasure - Thanks!
There are monofins in each... a finis fin. The orange tail has a child's size fin (the model is quite petite) and the green tail has a full size adult fin. We also did it a 'little different' in that the neoprene skeleton has an opening at the bottom that the monofin slips into and out of. This allowed for the girls to keep their monofins and practice without the full costume. PLUS as a bonus, it makes transportation of the tail much easier as we can roll it up pretty small.

To deal with the transition to chiffon, we increased the layering over the monofin, and then allowed it to flow out to transparent at the ends. The entire tail was then covered in a silicone 'fluke' skeleton to give it structure... seen here: [QUOTE]

Very clever... Thanks for sharing!

[Azurin Luna]

Hi Azurin!
The tail is a bit more work to swim in due to the 'drag' from the fabric fluke - it extends about 3-4 feet behind the model. It looks fantastic on camera, but when the shoot is over, we might be 'thinning' it a bit for her if she wants to do any serious swimming. I get the feeling however, she will be booking some more 'static' positioning gigs... mermaid in a tank... photoshoots... parties, etc. So she may not mind the extra drag long term.

She has told me however, that she definitely gets a work out. :)

How large is your fluke?
I've been thinking of making one more mermaid - without the fabric... but with a rather large silicone fluke... and was wondering how that would swim. I love the flowing effect we have made with the beta's, but I do not think they are practical for ocean swimming.

Yeah, I get a good workout too with my tail, though mine isn't that long, about a feet long. Here you can see the added lenght to my tail.
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s425/AzurinLuna/th_360c04b5.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/albums/s425/AzurinLuna/?action=view&current=360c04b5.jpg)

[Sea Pearl]

That tail is so pretty! I'm pleased you found so many helpful things on here to get it made.

[bkstumpf]

Hi Everyone - We've been 'on set' for about a week, and I wanted to share a couple of the shots - made possible by this forum. :)
This is just a small taste, but I'm really happy with the way everything is turning out.

Thanks again...61676168

[bkstumpf]

and one more... ;-)
Thank you!!
B

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[Mermaid Saphira]

Incredible tail!! I am in awe! :D

[ShyMer]

Gorgeous!

[Delphine]

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Gorgeous work, agrijag! Love the shots you posted. Last year, I had one, too (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/belletomermaid/metamorphosis-into-mermaid). I'm really happy to see a fellow artist ran a successful Kickstarter mermaid project--Phenomenal job!

[lynsea]

Cannot WAIT to see more pictures!

[Mermaid Danielle]

Beautiful! Congrats!

[AniaR]

STUNNING photos

[courtneymermaid]

Wow! Beautiful photos! Absolutely enchanting!

[jukumerboii]

these tails are stunning and so unique...n I love the whole beautiful on land and monsters in the sea concept

[lynsea]

Im still a tad confused about the monofin. From the photos, it looks clear in which case I assume you used a lexan sheet but I'm not sure. Care to explain?

[Mermaid Allie]

I am in complete and total awe. Would you consider selling these?!

[MermaidAlaina]

This is GORGEOUS! You guys did an amazing job on the tails! I want one like this! ;)

[Odette]

i love how unique it looks and was made. the photos are wonderful!

[Mertara]

so flowy!

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

The most ethereal tails I have ever seen! I'm in love!

[Echidna]

Incredible!
I've always thought that the cenotes would be a perfect spot to do fairy-like mermaid shots.

And the tails tempt me to use my veils on my tails xD
I've considered it before, didn't want to ruin the veils, but now that I see how a tail can look like with some chiffon attached...wow.