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MASON — A location was scouted, models picked and swimwear borrowed.

But the orchestration of the Dayton Daily News' swimwear shoot at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason was nowhere near complete.

The hardest work started with a request from veteran Dayton Daily News photographer Lisa Powell.

For this photo shoot to work, cameras, lights, crew, models, flip-flops, colorful totes and roughly 24 swim trunks, bikinis, tankinis and one-piece swimsuits had to be at Great Wolf Lodge by 7:30 a.m.

Powell wanted the first scene shot by the time giggling, splashing children entered the vibrantly colored wonderland of an indoor water park located about 45 minutes south of Dayton.

That meant an ungodly 5:16 a.m. rise for me.

Powell and Dayton Daily News photographer Chris Stewart, her back-up for the assignment, got up even earlier. And against a dense wet fog, they loaded up a company car with digital cameras, lights, light stands and other equipment.

Despite invisible black ice patches, the DaytonDaily

News.com Web team and four models from the Roof-Goenner Talent Agency also hit the road from various Miami Valley communities.

Why do it?

The reason seems simple enough — there was a story to do.

The chill in the air said it was time for sleigh rides and snowmen, but the calendar said otherwise.

Spring break would be here soon, and swimsuits were already popping up in area stores.

The Dayton Daily News highlights swimsuits annually, but this year we wanted to do something different — use our growing newspaper and online resources to present readers with a look at the making of a photo shoot.

Shorts weather

The cold wasn't a concern once we entered the water park.

The lodge's brochures don't lie — it's always a wet and balmy 84 degrees at Great Wolf Lodge's water park.

The temperature might be great if you are on vacation, but is a challenge if you're moving swimwear as well as a lot of equipment around a 79,000-square-foot structure.

"The heat was probably the hardest part," said DaytonDailyNews.com videographer Chris Griffith. "The (camera) lenses kept fogging up from the moisture in the air."

Griffith and DaytonDailyNews.com reporter Meghan Crosby recorded the swimsuit session for a Web site presentation.

I played water girl when I wasn't fitting suits with models and collaborating with Powell on which model should wear what suit and accessories and what suits looked best together.

One goal was to show theme and trends.

Walking back and forth between a makeshift dressing area to the moving site of the shoot was a workout. Like mostly everyone else, I changed into shorts after the first shot, no longer concerned with the cool weather beyond the park's lobby door.

What a view

As for that first location, models Rodney Veal of Dayton and Ann Reynolds of Centerville took a splash. The pair, who have worked on assignments together in the past, climbed into clear tubes on the Crooked Creek lazy river.

While a child would love the twisting river, it wasn't the most elegant background. Great Wolf Lodge is geared for the young and young at heart. One has only to hear the wolf call in the park or see the two giant beaver statues working in hard hats on the lazy river for proof.

Powell's focus was clearly not on the beavers or the howling wolf as she stood above us all on a landing leading to the entrance to some of the park's 11 water slides.

As Stewart positioned lights from below, Powell gave direction by radio.

Wolf Lodge lifeguard Thomas Riemann of Sharonville agreed to get in the soon rushing water to position Reynolds and Veal for the shot that ended up on the Life section cover of Sunday's paper. It was just one of hundreds of photos taken at the park.

"I tried to look for backgrounds that could be simple," Powell explained. "You don't want it to distract from the swimsuits."

Professional attitude

The heat wasn't the only obstacle once the water park came alive shortly before 9 a.m.

Water gushed, burst and poured all around. It became harder for Reynolds and Veal to maintain their positions for what Powell considered a possible Life section cover shot.

One bump to the head on the pool later, Veal said it was all a part of the job.

Like Reynolds, Veal has worked as a model in Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus for several years.

The Stivers School for the Arts teacher said his background in dance helps him in the modeling business, partly because he's use to holding position.

"Just don't ask me to do a double tour," he said.

Lights, camera, action

Modeling is obviously more than just lying around in a plastic tube.

On the next shot, model Jessica Stewart of Troy fanned a red, black and white Liz Claiborne pareo borrowed from the Centerville Elder-Beerman back and forth, over and over again as Powell took shots from various angles, and Chris Stewart adjusted lights and offered opinions.

Later, Jessica Stewart pretended to walk with a water park umbrella during a shot with South African born Eshika Sewchuran of Xenia.

Before long, parents and their energetic young children packed the park. At yet another location, Reynolds, a former Bengals cheerleader, leapt into Veal's arms as he smiled big and twirled her in semicircles.

The pair kept those smiles even as a towheaded 5-year-old vacationing from Michigan paused in front of them, looked straight ahead and picked his nose.

They laughed when Powell's shooting was over.

A six-hour tour

During the roughly six-hour photo session, we moved to a half dozen locations as Powell worked to shoot around park guests.

"Even though we were in the same place, I wanted each picture to look different. It's not only about what the clothes look like, it's about setting a mood for the readers," said Powell, who used a Canon EOS-1D.

Dayton Daily News readers and taste were kept in mind, Powell said.

"I wanted (the photos) to be fun, but not sexy, not what you see in Sports Illustrated," she said. "For editorial photography, you want to create a mood."

In truth, the assignment wasn't over when we left Mason that day. The work of compressing down photos, video and notes was ahead of us.

> See what swimwear styles are in for 2007

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2384 or arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com.