Shapes you can only make underwater

The water takes your weight, and your body finds shapes it could never hold standing up. Silk and lingerie bloom and swirl, light comes down in rays across your skin, and the underside of the surface gives you a second version of yourself in the same frame.

Abbey is in the water beside you the whole time, telling you where to look and how to position your body for your best angles. Most people arrive worried about how their body will look, and it rarely lasts past the first few frames. Afterward they tell us how easy it was and that they could have stayed in all day.

A woman in sheer tan lingerie arches back in black water, a veil of amber fabric trailing from one hand, her reflection hanging above.

A woman in a red beaded costume, red gloves and thigh-high boots draws a red bow in dark purple water, her reflection hanging above her.

A woman arches backward in red lingerie and flowing red silk, a bright light glowing at her waist and her reflection hanging above her in dark water.

A woman in a red bikini top kneels in dark water as red and pink rose petals drift around her, her reflection above.

I had never done anything like this before, so I was a little nervous, but Justin and Abbey made me feel super comfortable and confident and I am so glad I did this! Anyone thinking about trying underwater boudoir should absolutely go for it.
Denise

No two sessions alike

Everyone has a different idea of how they want to look. Some want lingerie. Others want to move and dance with fabric, to be completely nude in the simplicity of the water and light, or to go edgy and playful with dramatic color. We decide wardrobe and concept with you on a call before the day. Bring a reference, a mood, or only a feeling, and we’ll build from there.

Everyone has their own reason to book: a birthday that ends in a zero, the far side of a divorce, or having finally stopped waiting for a better time.

A woman wrapped in long red silk twists in dark water, the fabric sweeping around her and her reflection above. A woman in a dark silhouette crouches on platform heels at the surface of a pool, magenta and cyan light rippling across the water around her.

Where we shoot

The studio pool and natural water give you two different pictures, and choosing between them comes first. When the plan is to play with light and color in dramatic ways, the pool is where we go.

A woman in a pale sheer gown floats on her side in a sunlit pool, one arm raised, light rippling across the pool floor and her reflection above.

The studio pool, Fullerton

Heated to 90°F, so you stay warm from the first frame to the last. Your own playlist plays underwater while you work, and a screen at the edge of the pool shows the frames we just shot. Watching yourself become one of these pictures is usually the moment the nerves go. A second feed runs to the living room, where whoever came with you can watch. There’s a private changing room and a bathroom. See the studio.

This is the most predictable water we work in: the same conditions every session, whatever the weather. The most stylized sessions happen here: high fashion, fine art, and any picture with a lot to get right in one frame. If you haven’t done this before, this is the water to start in.

A woman in white lingerie and trailing fabric floats on her side in a clear spring, golden autumn trees reflected on the surface above her.

Springs and cenotes

Springs and cenotes hold the clearest water we ever work in. Limestone walls and cavern mouths stand behind you, and light comes down through the opening in beams with crisp edges. Some drop away into the deep. Others are shallow enough to capture the floor, the surface and the trees standing above them in one frame.

A spring is the hybrid. It looks like nowhere you could build, and the water behaves like the studio: the temperature holds, the visibility holds, and the water stays calm. Choose a spring when you want the natural version and a day you can plan.

A woman in lingerie and long freediving fins swims down a deep blue reef wall in the open ocean, sunlight at the surface far above her.

The ocean

Kelp forests run up toward the light. A reef opens out behind you, sunlight breaks apart as it comes down through the surface, and fish move through the shot while we work. Out here an animal can swim into the frame and change the picture entirely. We have photographed people in the water with sharks and with mantas, close enough that the animal is the second subject.

An ocean session is an adventure. Conditions decide what the day looks like, and a large part of what we do out here is read the water and build the shot around it. The frame nobody planned is often the one you end up printing.

An open water session runs somewhere we have already dived and scouted, which out here is a safety decision before it is a creative one. We bring a team of safety divers, sized to the location, and every client rehearses the session in the pool before it goes anywhere near open water. Choose the ocean when you want the pictures to feel wild.

Start to finish

A woman in a sparkling pink bodysuit rises on one leg through dark blue water, red rose petals drifting around her and a beam of light falling from above.

Plan it

Get in touch to book a consultation. We get to know you and your project, then plan the session with you down to the creative details, including the best time and place to shoot, anywhere in the world.

A woman in a red bra and briefs reaches up into billowing red silk, one bare foot extended below her, a red-lit reflection above her in black water.

Shoot it

Our goal is to transform you into a stunning work of art, and to make the day itself fun, collaborative and safe, so you can be at your best. You should leave having created images that make you feel great about yourself and about what you can accomplish.

A woman with wavy blonde hair lifts both arms above her head in strappy gold lace lingerie against black water.

Deliver it

We share previews of every image captured during your session. You pick your favorites, and every one you choose goes through our creative editing process.

The water is warm The pool is heated to 90°F, so you’re comfortable from the first frame to the last.
Coached on the day Justin and Abbey are both in the water with you. Abbey coaches your breath-hold and your posing, and Justin talks you through every frame.
A few seconds underwater A frame takes one short breath-hold, and you rest at the surface in between.

After the shoot

Your digital gallery

Your private proofing gallery goes up within a week of the session, and the finished images follow four to six weeks after you’ve made your selections.

Art for your wall

We believe every image is a piece of art, one-of-a-kind and made to hang proudly on your wall. They hold up at gallery size because the frames were shot and finished for it, on canvas, on metal, or framed behind glass. Tell us where you want to show your work, and we’ll work out which printing options fit it. We can also show you what a piece will look like in your own space before you order.

A woman in pale patterned lingerie hangs just below the surface in dark blue water, her reflection above her.

Safety

Teaching you the breath-hold and the posing is part of every session, so you arrive as you are. A frame takes only a few seconds underwater.

We’ve been water people our whole lives, so safety gets planned before the pictures do.

Justin shoots, and he’s been photographing underwater for over a decade; he’s also a PADI Dive Instructor. Abbey coaches, in the water beside you the whole time: how to go down, how to make it look easy, when to come up. She’s a PADI Mermaid Instructor and an experienced freediver who spent years teaching children to swim.

Everything runs at your pace. You go down when you’re ready, you come up when you want to, and you rest at the surface as long as you like in between.

Who’s in the room

Justin and Abbey are the only two people in the water. Abbey coaches your breath-hold and your posing, and Justin talks you through every frame. You’re welcome to bring a partner, a friend or family, who settle into the living room next door and watch the underwater feed on the big screen.

Extras for your session

Hair and makeup
We book a professional artist for you on request, one who works in waterproof makeup and hair that holds up underwater.
Gowns and fabrics
Gowns and lengths of fabric to rent from our own collection, chosen to flow underwater.
Behind the scenes video
Your session, filmed from above and below the water: raw clips, an edited reel, or both.
Fine art prints
Canvas, metal or framed. They hold up at gallery size because the frames were shot and finished for it.