All images by Tracie Maglosky. Used with permission.
“As strange as this may sound, underwater photography is so amazingly meditative.” says photographer Tracie Maglosky about her underwater portrait photography. “Under the water there is very little sound and/or smells…since most creatives have peaked senses, eliminating a few is never a bad thing. It forces you to give all of your vision to the moment and distractions are minimized greatly.” Tracie is an Olympus Visionary who has been featured on the site before for this kind of work and her lighting style. Seriously though, who ever thought of doing an Underwater Maternity Photo Shoot?
Beneath the surface, Tracie feels incredibly liberated as an artist–further citing that she feels that anything is possible. She owes this in part of her ability to manipulate the surroundings to exactly how she sees and imagines them in her mind. To boot, her clients feel the same way.
Being a Creative
“As portrait photographers, we all strive to stand out in what can seem at times like a saturated market.” says Tracie. “I’m addicted to giving my clients the opportunity to have captures that are both artistic and original. Underwater photography is an effort we both make together!” Indeed, Tracie confirms that it’s a collaborative process that gets her out of the studio and instead in the water.
“They don’t see everyone doing it. They want to be first at something that few are offering. Underwater portraits are just breathtaking…who wouldn’t want to be in those images? ;)”
The Concepts
Doing this type of work isn’t exactly simple though: especially when working with a maternity client. In fact, communication is key though difficult at times. However, Tracie tells us that her clients understand her weirdness and embrace her for it. She states that she’s expressive and descriptive. These sessions require planning meetings where things like color, clothing, etc. More often than not though, they usually just let Tracie do her thing.
So why do an underwater maternity shoot? Tracie says “So many reasons:”
1. Weightlessness – what a wonderful feeling for a pregnant mama! Since most of our maternity shoots take place between 30-33 weeks, we’re in the third trimester and weightless is not a descriptor most of our moms would use to describe how they feel about themselves.
2. Comfort – In Cincinnati, it’s HOT in the summer….and HUMID! Ask a woman in her third trimester to swim and the answer will most likely be a resounding YES!!!
3. Flow – In maternity photography in general, I strive for flowing material with a magical overtone in the images we create. The water does this naturally and each image becomes it’s own ink blot in terms of how the material flows and renders in the imagery.
4. Similarity – How amazing to see Mom-to-be in the same environment of sorts as her growing baby? I love that relationship in the image! It’s a womb within a womb.