Fine-art underwater photo and video sessions in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area — ninety-degree water in January, and no swimming experience required. I have been photographing people for forty years and working underwater since 2018, with a posing coach and a safety swimmer in the water for every session.
Individuals, couples, concepts, mermaids, beach and commercial work. Have a look, then tell me what you have in mind.
Our most popular session is with a single person. Taking the time to work one-on-one is a genuinely rewarding experience, and it is where most of the images on this page came from.
We will talk before the session — tips for the best outcomes, outfits, props, and what you want from the final results. You do not need to be a swimmer, and you do not need to have modeled before. Sessions run in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area, around ninety degrees year-round, with a posing coach and a safety swimmer in the water with you the whole time.
You are welcome to invite friends, helpers, and anyone else who will cheer you on, give suggestions, and make the experience more fun — for you and for everyone involved. Underwater photography is collaborative and entertaining, and it is not an afternoon you will forget.
One-hour and two-hour sessions, from $750.
Underwater portrait of a dancer in a flowing blue gown, heated pool, Orlando FL
Underwater portrait of a performer with flowing pink hair looking at the camera and smiling
Underwater portrait of a woman with long, flowing hair in a red dress
Ballet dancer en pointe underwater, in a white dress, arms extended, bubbles rising, Orlando underwater photography
Two people in one frame underwater is harder than it looks, and better than it sounds. You are both holding a breath, both moving in three dimensions, and both trying to find each other in water that will not hold still. When it works, it produces something you cannot get on dry land — a moment of contact with nothing else in the world touching either of you.
Engagements, anniversaries, siblings, dance and performance partners. Some couples arrive with a clear idea; most arrive with a feeling. Both are workable.
Wardrobe and props matter more here than in any other kind of session, so we plan them together beforehand. Two sets of fabric behave very differently from one. Neither of you needs to be a swimmer — sessions run where you can stand, in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area, warm year-round, with a posing coach and a safety swimmer in the water the entire time.
Couples sessions from $950.
A different kind of session — quieter, more deliberate, and aimed at making a piece of art rather than a portrait. We work with performers, dancers, creatives, and people who simply want to make something extraordinary to hang in their own home or give to someone who matters.
These sessions lean on light, fabric, form and stillness. They tend to take longer to plan and produce fewer frames, and the ones they do produce are usually the ones people end up printing large.
If you have an idea for something artistic, elegant or outside the box, let's have a no-obligation conversation about how to make it. Bring a reference, a colour, a piece of music — anything that gives us a direction to start from.
Your images are yours. Nothing from a session is ever shared, published or posted without your express written consent.
Sessions from $750.
Dreaming up a concept and then finding the costumes, props and technique to bring it to life is a challenge, and enormously rewarding when it works. Sometimes it is a spur-of-the-moment "what if we try…" idea; more often it is well thought out in advance, and we arrive with the gear and the mindset to make it happen.
We treat the initial concept as a jumping-off point and then go where the process takes us. Underwater, nothing goes exactly as planned — but the happy accidents are frequently better than the plan. Good preparation, plenty of options, and a willingness to be flexible are what make these sessions work.
Some concepts need significant post-production. The "Nightmare Before Christmas" images on this page are an example, and that work has to be factored into the planning, the time and the cost from the beginning.
Sessions take place in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area, year-round.
Have an idea you want to try?
Florida has been making mermaids since 1947, and the appetite for it has never really gone away. Some of the people on this page are professional mermaids with their own tails and years in the water. Others had never worn a monofin before the morning of the shoot. Both make good pictures.
A tail changes everything about how you move — it locks your legs together, changes your buoyancy, and turns swimming into something closer to dancing. It takes a little getting used to, which is why we spend the first part of every session simply in the water with no camera out.
Bring your own tail if you have one. If you do not, we will talk through options and fabric alternatives during the pre-production call.
Sessions run in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area, warm year-round, with a posing coach and a safety swimmer in the water the whole time. You do not need to be a strong swimmer.
Whether you want images for an engagement announcement or a post-wedding "trash the dress" session, this is one of the most enjoyable days on the calendar. A wedding dress underwater is a genuinely spectacular thing — all that fabric finally gets to do what it always wanted to do.
A few practical notes. Bring the dress you are willing to get wet; most survive perfectly well, but that is a decision to make with clear eyes. Long veils and layered skirts photograph beautifully and are heavy to move in, so we plan the shot list around that. And because the pool is heated year-round, a December wedding is no obstacle — you are not waiting for summer to do this.
We can shoot as a couple or solo, and it works equally well before the wedding or long after it.
Tell us your ideas, concepts and inspirations, and let's set up a no-obligation conversation about the specifics.
Commissions for advertising, editorial, promotional and other commercial projects are welcome. Product work, campaign imagery, editorial features, and underwater video for brands and agencies.
Working underwater adds real constraints to a commercial shoot — lighting, colour, buoyancy, and the simple fact that everything takes longer below the surface. Forty years of professional portrait and studio work, and eight of them underwater, is largely about knowing how to plan around those constraints so the shoot day stays on schedule.
Sessions can run in a private heated saltwater pool in the Orlando area, at your location, or on the Central Florida coast, depending on what the project needs.
Send us your concepts, requirements, timeline and budget, and we will come back with an approach and a quote. Aerial, environmental, lifestyle, portrait and studio photography and video are also available through Macbeth Studio.
