Imaginarium 2012 With VonZipper : Michael Muller uses custom waterproof 1,200-watt strobes with surfers

9/26/2012 ISO 1200 Magazine 0 Comments

Michael Muller: It started with underwater lights—specifically ones I invented about four years ago while I was shooting a Speedo campaign. At the time I was trying every underwater lighting system. In my head, I wanted to bring a Great White shark into the studio, and I was trying to figure out how to do that. At that point the strongest strobe I could find to use underwater was 400 watts, so I ended up getting together with a couple of guys—a fabricator and a mass engineer—and we were able to make a waterproof pro photo strobe head that uses 1,200 watts. We have six patents on it, and it allows me to bring a full-blown studio in the water.