Underwater Photography

Scuba diving had become real for me when I took a camera underwater for the first time.

I remember taking my first underwater photographs.
Chasing fish around and collecting many photographs of tails. Blurred kelp shots with bright sunlight that looked more like angels headlights than anything else.

I persevered. Friends gave me tips and tricks and I took a few courses.
I really wanted to remember my underwater experiences and to be able to look back through the photographs – and wanted to be able, to be proud, to show them to others; especially non-divers.

Alot of those early photographs have been sent to the recycle bin.
I did keep a few of them however, there was something in the composition, or it was a marine creature that was quite remarkable.
And I do flick back through them every now and again to see what mistakes I might have made (which in turn shows me how far I have come). And it seems I might have kept one or two which inspired me to write this post.

I *think* there is an eel in there somewhere! Breaking all the rules - not close, shooting down. Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve - 2008

Over the last few years, the price of point and shoot camera’s and underwater housings has come down a lot.
Cameras are smaller and lighter and fit in your BCD pocket – or there are many lanyards that attach your camera and housing to your D-rings so you can pull them out when all those amazing creatures come past or you find them hiding in the wall or the kelp.

Now it is even easier to pop your camera into a housing and take it on a dive – or a snorkel – with you.
And with the increase in mega-pixels and the lenses that a lot of these cameras come with, you do not need an SLR or a Digital SLR camera to capture some fine memories – and have printed and mounted on your wall.

I now own a DSLR – a Nikon D300 and whilst I can’t deny that it does not make a difference to the quality of the images, I also cannot deny that I was more than happy for quite a few years with the non DSLR cameras that I owned.
My most recent underwater camera was a Sea & Sea DX-1200HD with a YS-27 strobe. Prior to this, I had a Casio Exilim with a built in flash.

I have had people ask me what system I used and how I take some of these photographs so here are my basics for Underwater Point & Shoot Photography.

Setting up your camera

• Shoot in RAW

The RAW format retains every piece of data captured. For fine tuning our photographs later, we have a lot more options if we should in RAW. If you camera has the option, get a bigger memory card and shoot in RAW. You won’t be sorry.

• Low ISO

If you have the ability to change the ISO speed on your camera, set it as low as possible.

ISO still refers to the camera’s sensor sensitivity to light. Lower numbers are less light sensitive and produce better quality images.

• White Balance

99% of the time, I use Auto White Balance however new cameras have an underwater mode/scene setting. You will probably have noticed that just about everything looks a shade of blue (or green) underwater so we want our camera to realise what is white and then all other colours will be set accordingly.

• Getting set up

Set your camera up at home before you leave and then only ever take it out of the housing if you absolutely absolutely absolutely have to!

Trying to prepare your system on the boat – or even the morning of – is just asking for trouble. Take the time and do it properly and hopefully your camera will stay dry for years.

Ensure you have a new memory card and fresh batteries!

Photographing on a dive

• Positioning

My main suggestion – is Get Close.
The less water that is between your lens and the subject, the less likely it is that your flash or strobe will reflect off particles in the water which show up as back scatter. Using a digital zoom will reduce the quality of the photograph so move closer.

While you are positioning yourself, please watch your buoyancy.
Something that you might start to hear a lot is that photographers cause the most damage to our underwater playground so let’s just not give people a reason to think this.

Good positioning is one of the easiest ways to improve your underwater photography (and just quietly – underwater photography is one of the best ways to improve your buoyancy!).

• Lighting

Try and take advantage of as much natural light as possible.

The majority of point and shoot cameras have a flash however our flashes generally highlight particles in the water first – and then we get that dreaded back scatter. You can pop a diffuser on your housing to lessen the effect of the flash. Some cameras also have the ability to control the intensity of the flash.

The best solution is to use an off camera flash. A strobe – or two – on an arm.

• Shoot Up

Looking at a photograph of a nudibranch seemingly peering down at you is a bit nicer that the top of its body – or its foot!

A photograph that is shot at eye level, or has a hint of surface, is more pleasing to the eye. I find that 95% of my photographs that I really like are all shot looking upwards.

• Have patience

Scuba diving can be hard without handling a camera, trying to get to grips with your buoyancy, keeping in touch with your buddy and finding your way back to the boat.

Don’t get frustrated – give yourself time.

Adjustments when we get home

• Cropping

Composition is very important however computer software gives us the opportunity to crop our photographs once we download them at home. If your camera has not obeyed the rule of thirds underwater, you can fix this later. You can also remove some of the backgrounds which distract from the photograph you actually wanted to take.

For example;

A Blue Eyed Triplefin (actually my Dive Mistress logo) perched on a rock. Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve - 2008

Then with a little cropping, straightening the image, and adding a vignette …

Its a fish! Easier to see without a cluttered background

Experiment a little – digital photography means we can shoot a lot more than with film.

Find a style that you like – it is your interpretation of our underwater world after all.

At the end of the day, the only things that matter are that we enjoy our diving, that we are happy with the photographs we take …

and that our cameras remain dry!!

I’d love to see any of your photographs so leave me a comment or tweet me – let’s talk photography.