( CNN ) -- On a sunny day at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena , California , in 1991 , photographer Kirk Weddle was setting up to shoot what would become an iconic image in rock music . Spencer Elden was chosen from pictures of 12 babies to grace Nirvana ? s `` Nevermind '' CD cover . Weddle 's close friend , artist and designer Rick Elden , remembers that day well because he had brought his 4-month-old son to the pool for Weddle to shoot . Weddle had been tapped to create the cover for what would become Nirvana 's breakthrough album `` Nevermind . '' `` We went to the same college together , '' Elden said of his friendship with Weddle . `` We were tight buddies and we 'd been through a lot together . '' To hear Elden tell it , the shoot was just another job in a long string of photo shoots for musical acts during his association with Weddle . `` Keep in mind we shot the Temptations , and so many bands , '' he said . On the day of the Nirvana shoot , Weddle was said to be working on an idea dreamed up by the band 's relatively unknown frontman , Kurt Cobain , Elden said . `` Rumor had it that Cobain had the original concept of wanting to show a mother giving birth under water , '' Elden said . `` but the compromise was to have a baby swimming under water . Or so that 's what I was told . '' A dozen infants including Elden 's first-born son Spencer were signed up for the photo shoot in the pool that week . On that particular day only Spencer was scheduled to swim for Weddle . Read more about what Spencer Elden is doing now . The boy was in good hands , said Elden , a certified lifeguard . And even at 4 months , Spencer was a good swimmer , he said . However , `` if you do n't pull them up , they will drown , '' he joked . `` There 's tricks to it : You blow in the kid 's face and it creates a gag reflex . Infants have a gag reflex , as we all do . You hold him up really close to your face . You blow into him really hard . They gasp , and into the water they go . '' Weddle then shot just 18 frames , according to Elden . `` We only had a half a second '' before the shoot was over and little Spencer was plucked from the water . `` Boom , boom , boom . End of story , '' he said . `` We got paid $ 200 . '' Years later , Spencer Elden , now a 17-year-old high school graduate , returned to that same Pasadena pool complex to compete as a swimmer and water polo player on the club team . Read how Nirvana changed iReporters ' lives . He said he 's still a pretty good swimmer . `` I have n't been swimming as much lately as I 'd like to , but I plan on starting swimming next summer , '' he said .
Dad of underwater baby on Nirvana album dishes details on 1991 photo shoot . ` ` If you do n't pull them up , they will fall , '' joked dad , a certified lifeguard . Photographer Kirk Weddle chose baby 's photo from that of the other kids . Actual photo shoot lasted only two frames , says dad . ` ` We ##ddle paid $ 200 ''