Florida photographer sets new world record by capturing model in photoshoot 163 feet underwater

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida photographer went more than 163 feet under for a record-breaking photoshoot.

According to Steve Haining, the photoshoot “feels like a story… Contrasting the beauty and calm and elegance of a model on something that, otherwise would be decaying.”

Haining, from Orlando, combined his two favorite hobbies: photography and deep sea diving to tell this story. But he wanted a unique backdrop.

Steve Haining, a celebrity photographer known for his portrait work, shared that he sought out a unique location as a personal challenge. He wanted to push boundaries and capture something different from his usual projects.

A challenge met off the coast of Pompano Beach at a depth of 163.3 feet in the Atlantic Ocean at the site of The Hydro shipwreck.

Haining, the model Ciara Antoski from Canada and several safety divers descended on December 19th of 2024.

During the photoshoot, the divers were equipped with their wet suits, tanks, and masks. In contrast, the model Antoski dived in a dress without any scuba gear. Under the careful supervision of her safety diver, she posed underwater, receiving oxygen through a mask when needed. Haining had only brief moments to photograph each pose before the model had to resurface for air.

“We couldn’t talk underwater so we used hand signals to communicate,” said Haining.

The dive from beginning to end took about an hour, but the photoshoot only lasted about 15 minutes. The experience caught the attention of Guinness World Records, as the deepest underwater model photoshoot in the world.

“My favorite photo was the one where Ciara is standing off to the side and she’s looking back at the structure. I feel like it tells a story about the wreck. She’s not just a model in that photo, she’s telling a story and the look on her face is just calm,” said Haining. “The deeper you go underwater, the more you lose color. You lose reds pretty much at the first twenty feet and then every warm color turns to blue then ultimately gray… I like the challenge of figuring out how to bring that color back into the photos.”

Antoski has done deep sea modeling before, having years of training and experience. Haining and Antoski previously broke a world record for deep sea diving. Haining outfitted his camera with special equipment to be able to capture the images beyond the no decompression limit. Both have had extensive training with deep sea diving, Haining crediting Isla Divers in Casselberry for training and support in this record-breaking feat. He said it took about a year to plan coordinating the trip with several safety divers taking the plunge with them.

So what’s next for Haining? He said he may try to break another record.

“These photos, I hope will ultimately end up in a gallery,” said Haining. “I just want people to see it and appreciate that it’s a model in a place most people will never see in their life and the amount of beauty untouched by the world.”