Meet Monica Silver | Underwater Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Monica Silver and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Monica, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think risk is extremely important in life. It gets us out of our comfort zone and forces us to push boundaries. You find out a lot about yourself by taking risks. Where I am today with my photography is because I took a risk. I was an accountant and I hated it. The birth of my son rekindled my love of photography and I knew that I couldn’t go back to what I was doing. So I risked financial security and went for it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was specializing in pregnancy and newborn portraiture and was looking for something that would set me apart from my competition. I started seeing some underwater portrait shots on social media and I immediately knew, because of my love of being in the water, that that was what I was looking for. Please excuse the pun, but, I jumped in with both feet! I bought an underwater housing and strobes for the camera I had and signed up for a workshop. My husband thought I was crazy as we didn’t even have a swimming pool at the time. So, I used friends’ and clients’ pools and sometimes even a community pool. I thankfully have my own pool now so I get to have much more control over the environment. There was definitely a big learning curve in how to manipulate the light the way that I wanted to in the water. It’s involved a bit of DIY but I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on it now. I’m really proud of my most recent personal shoot; I built an underwater wisteria garden set and photographed my model in a couture dress. It was, to say the least, a labor of love! It was a big challenge figuring out what to use to make sure this sank here or that floated there. Now, I’m working on designing my next set. I love the challenge!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve lived in the Temecula Valley for almost 2 years now, so close to home would be watching the hot air balloons take off early in the morning from wine country, lunch and a show in Old Town Temecula. I took my daughter to see Beauty and the Beast at the community theater and it was such a great performance at a really reasonable cost. Dinner would be at Umi Sushi at Pechanga casino. You have to have oysters there! If we wanted to venture a little ways away, we would head down to San Diego. A morning fishing trip out of Fisherman’s landing, lunch at OB Noodle House in Ocean Beach, explore the tide pools, walk around downtown La Jolla, photograph Sunset Cliffs, at sunset of course, and then a delicious dinner at Sally’s Fish House at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate my shoutout to my best friend and first underwater photography instructor Tristine Davis. I met Tristine in 2016 when I took a workshop she was teaching. We became fast friends (as we have a lot in common) and through the years she has always been there to help and guide me. We live on opposite coasts but when we are able to spend time together, it always includes the water. She’s the most kind and patient person I know.

Website: www.monicasilverphotography.com

Instagram: @underwatermonica

Facebook: www.facebook.com/monicasilverphotography

Image Credits
Image 1: Model – Melle Jones Image 3: Model – Sarah Baucom Image 4: Model – Tristine Davis Image 5: Model – Sarah Baucom Image 6: Model – Melle Jones