Freediving Portraits

Freediving is the quietest way to be in the water. You go down on a single breath, the noise falls away, and everything slows to light, water and the long line of your own body. These portraits hold that feeling: the calm of being completely at home in the ocean, and the lightness of flying.

A freediver in a magenta top reaches up as she rises through a shaft of light in black water, long fins trailing below her.

A freediver in a pink bikini and blue fins sits on a rock in a spring, pale light falling through green weed above her.

A freediver in a black wetsuit sits on a cave ledge with her fins in her lap, a bright light shining above her in dark water.

A freediver in an orange top stretches one arm up as she glides past a wreck, her blue fins trailing, fish above her in hazy blue water.

Where we shoot

A freediver in a blue wetsuit climbs a rock face in a spring, one arm stretched up the stone and a mask on her face.

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 freediver drifts down a blue reef wall in sunbeams, kelp and coral rising on one side, her long fins trailing.

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.

A freediver in a white swimsuit arches backward just under the surface of deep blue water, her mask and long fins trailing, a reef far below.

Start to finish

A freediver in a rainbow top sits on a rock in a dark cave, a torch lighting her face and long fins in her hand.

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 freediver with purple hair and long white fins swims head first down a dark channel in the reef.

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 freediver in a black suit rises past a large sea fan on a reef, sunbeams angling down from the surface.

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.

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.

An orange-suited freediver swims up past a wreck, seen from behind, with fish scattered through hazy blue water.

Safety

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

Abbey and Justin are both certified lifeguards. Justin shoots, and he’s been photographing underwater for over a decade; he’s also a PADI Dive Instructor. Abbey is an experienced freediver, a PADI Freediver and PADI Mermaid Instructor, and she 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.

Extras for your session

Couples and groups
More than one person in the frame, coached together.
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.