most important is being comfortable in and under the water with your eyes open and nose unplugged. ( sounds obvious but many people have trouble)
face control: Avoid holding your breath with your cheeks. Practice relaxing your face and tightening your face and relaxing it again before the shoot. That way you know how it feels to have your face relaxed and the muscle memory to do it underwater when you need to.
Buoyancy control is extremely important for underwater shoots. Sometime the photog will ask you to be just under the surface to get that awesome reflection, and other times might want you laying on the bottom of the pool. Knowing how much weight you need, how to exhale and sink, being comfortable in all water levels is a good thing to practice and to know. Since this is your first shoot, let the photographer know with what elements you are comfortable so they can work with you.
From a photography standpoint. It's really helpful when the model understands light and where to be. If the model is using artificial light in the form of strobes or constant light then your eyes should be lit. This means you would need to face the main light ( referred to as a key light). Normally you can "feel" where the most light is. Make sure you are lit and not your tail
. With natural light you don't need to worry about being so precisely in the light.
I do a lot of underwater photography and have been on the other side too.
http://www.1breathphotos.com
Good luck and remember to have fun
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