Adam and I are a husband and wife team who moved to Maui from Australia in July 2014 to further pursue our wedding and underwater photography business.
This underwater session was a personal project of ours that we had been dreaming of since moving to Hawaii - we do a lot of shooting and while we love it, it is our job. To stay inspired we create shoots just for us, sessions that challenge our ability and creativity.
Joelle Perry loaned us two of the wedding gowns she designed (one of which she wore on her wedding day) and we got in touch with two free diving friends who know how to pull off underwater grace.
Our day began at 4am. We were fortunate that the conditions were pristine as the weather leading up to the session was terrible. We spent hours in the water with Leiha'aheo and Maika, and the results are below.
More info: lovewaterphoto.com
It is whale season here on Maui, so when we started the morning off with a humpback whale breaching 50 feet from our boat we were in for a special day!
As we worked you could hear the whales signing songs underwater.
Adam has spent all his life in the water growing up on Queensland's Sunshine Coast surfing and bodyboarding and has a natural ability for working in the ocean.
Originally I photographed only weddings and Adam only water, and 2 years ago before moving to Maui we combined our strengths to do both together as Love and Water.
Walking the tightrope under the sea.
Wind, clear skies and the water conditions all played as factors that could challenge us with this underwater shoot. We got lucky with perfect conditions which makes all the planning so worth it.
I took this image a few moments before Adam photographed the one above.
Maika and Leiha'aheo are free divers who had a great connection underwater.
Leiha'aheo and Maika had beautiful chemistry underwater.
We alternated between using a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 5D Mark III in our housings.
Sharing a kiss beneath the surface.
We used AquaTech underwater housings to shoot our underwater images.
The water clarity was perfect. We relied on natural light for all images.
I grew up in Virginia and moved to Australia to be with Adam in 2006, where he taught me how to surf and enjoy the ocean.
Adam photographed with a 15mm Canon lens and 35mm lens, and I used a 50mm lens.
Leiha'aheo used a mooring line to aid in her descent.