The Long Beach studio is a purpose-built underwater portrait environment, heated and maintained year-round. Each set is designed specifically for underwater use – conceived from the ground up for how light, fabric, and the human body behave beneath the surface.
Whether you’re searching for underwater maternity photography, underwater boudoir, underwater cosplay, or something entirely your own, the set you shoot in shapes everything about the final image. Every set is available to Studio and Deluxe clients. Mini sessions are photographed on the Light & Ethereal set.
Light & Ethereal
The white studio is where most clients start, and for good reason. The walls and floor reflect light in every direction, creating an even, luminous quality that makes the water almost invisible, leaving the subject suspended in what reads as open space.
It’s the most versatile set in the studio. Underwater maternity photography works particularly well here – the white environment removes all distraction and puts the focus entirely on the body, the fabric, and the connection between mother and water. Couples find it equally effective, with the neutral background keeping the eye on the relationship rather than the surroundings. For anyone new to underwater portrait photography, it’s the cleanest introduction to what the medium can do.
Dark & Moody
A black background that removes all context and turns the water into something closer to deep ocean or open space. The effect is cinematic without requiring cinematic posing – the environment carries the atmosphere, and the subject simply needs to be present within it.
Underwater boudoir work finds a natural home here. The dark background creates depth and shadow in a way the white studio doesn’t, and the more directional lighting lends itself to the kind of intimate, dramatic portraiture that boudoir photography calls for. Bold outfit colours – deep reds, electric blues, jewel tones – read with particular clarity against the black. Maternity clients who want something more dramatic than the white studio tend to gravitate here too.
Sunken Garden
A garden environment built beneath the surface – flowering vines, lush greenery, and warm colour set against the cool blue of the water. The set transforms the studio into a specific place, with the narrative possibilities that come with it.
Fantasy and cosplay underwater photography is where this set performs at its best. The environment already reads as otherworldly, so elaborate costuming and conceptual looks feel entirely at home rather than incongruous. It also works well for underwater maternity photography with a more romantic or natural leaning, and for mermaid portrait sessions where the greenery and colour provide a backdrop closer to open water than the studio sets do. Two configurations are available – a lighter, more romantic version and a darker, more gothic variation.
Cloud Room
Underwater clouds – built specifically for this environment and behaving as no above-water prop equivalent could, drifting and shifting as the water moves around them. The effect in the final image is of a subject suspended in sky rather than water.
It’s a set that consistently attracts aerial performers and dancers who want to bring their practice underwater, where everything slows and the relationship between body and air is inverted. Fantasy and cosplay underwater photography also finds a natural fit here, particularly for winged characters, sky-based concepts, or anything that calls for a sense of weightless altitude. White and pale outfits sit particularly well against the cloud texture.
Mirror Room
Floating acrylic mirrors positioned beneath the surface to catch and multiply the subject’s reflection, creating a fractured environment in which the subject appears to extend in every direction.
Underwater boudoir and fine art nude photography work with particular power in this set, partly because the mirrors reward considered posing, and partly because the multiplication of the image creates an abstract quality that shifts intimate work away from the literal and toward something more compositional. Mermaid portrait sessions also suit this environment well – a tail reflected across multiple planes reads very differently from how it reads against a plain background. The Mirror Room rewards confident subjects who’ve had some experience of underwater work.
Moon Swing
A flower-wrapped swing suspended beneath the surface, with a glowing moon positioned behind the subject. The moon is a practical light source rather than a composite addition, which gives the images a warmth that distinguishes them from the rest of the studio work.
The swing gives clients something physical to interact with, making this one of the more accessible sets for those newer to underwater portrait photography. There’s a natural relationship between body and prop that the camera responds to, and the romantic, whimsical quality of the environment suits flowing fabrics, pale tones, and portrait work with a fairy-tale leaning. Underwater maternity photography with a more dreamlike concept finds a strong home here.
Pole & Aerials
A fully rigged apparatus set for performers who want to bring their practice underwater, where gravity becomes optional and every movement slows to half its above-water speed. The studio accommodates pole, aerial hoop, trapeze, and silks, with the apparatus mounted from the pool structure above.
Moves that require downward force on land can often be performed in reverse underwater, using buoyancy in place of gravity. For pole dancers, aerialists, and circus performers, underwater photography tends to produce images that even experienced performers find surprising – familiar movements transformed by the medium into something they haven’t seen from the outside before.
Baroque Room
A fully built ornate room – panelled walls, decorative mouldings, period detail – submerged in the pool and photographed from within. The set takes several days to construct and is available exclusively in the Deluxe package.
It’s the most architecturally complete environment in the studio, and the one that produces the most consistently disorienting images – domestic and familiar on one level, impossible on another. Mermaid portrait photography in a period room creates a specific visual tension that’s hard to achieve any other way. Conceptual and fine art underwater photography clients who want an environment with genuine structural presence rather than a backdrop tend to find this is the set they’ve been looking for.
Available exclusively in the Deluxe package.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need experience to pose underwater?
No experience is necessary at any tier. Every session begins with breath-hold coaching and buoyancy guidance before a single photograph is taken. Most clients have never posed underwater before their first session here, and that’s entirely normal.
Which set suits underwater maternity photography?
The Light & Ethereal set is the most popular choice for underwater maternity photography – the white environment keeps the focus on the body and the fabric, and the even lighting is forgiving in all the right ways. The Moon Swing and Sunken Garden are worth considering for clients who want something with more narrative texture.
Which set suits underwater boudoir photography?
Dark & Moody is the most natural fit for underwater boudoir, offering depth, shadow, and a cinematic quality that suits intimate portraiture. The Mirror Room is worth considering for clients who want something more abstract and compositionally unusual.
Which set suits underwater cosplay and fantasy photography?
The Sunken Garden, Cloud Room, and Baroque Room all suit cosplay and fantasy underwater photography, depending on the concept. The Sunken Garden reads as a natural world, the Cloud Room as something aerial and ethereal, and the Baroque Room as a period interior. For mermaid portrait photography specifically, the Mirror Room is also a strong option.
Can I shoot multiple sets in one session?
Studio clients choose one set per session. Deluxe clients choose any three sets across a four-hour session, with enough time to develop each environment properly rather than rushing between them.
What should I wear?
Lighter, more flowing fabrics – organza, chiffon, silk – behave best underwater across all sets. Brighter colours read more clearly than darker ones on the Light & Ethereal set; bolder and deeper tones suit the Dark & Moody and Baroque Room environments. Full outfit guidance is part of every pre-session consultation.
Are the sets available for commercial bookings?
Yes. Commercial rates and licensing are handled separately from the portrait studio pricing – enquiries can be made via brettstanley.com.