Beginner’s Guide to Underwater Photography

The underwater world is full of fascinating creatures, colours and textures that when captured on camera can produce some of the most striking images you are likely to see. Whether you are into scuba diving, snorkelling, swimming or surfing, there is no reason why you can’t share your experiences with admiring friends. Digital cameras make it a whole lot easier to get great images under the waves, so here’s a few tips to help even novice photographers snap some striking photos.



The right gear
The best news is you don’t have to buy a new camera, or even break to the bank, to get into underwater photography. Waterproof plastic housings are available for a wide range of point-and-shoot cameras that most importantly keep the water out but still allow you to use most of the camera’s functionality, flash included. When choosing housings, make sure it is completely compatible with your camera, is watertight and still allows you to comfortably use it. The price will depend on your camera type and model, but as a guide, housings for Canon cameras can range from $65 to $375. If you really want to get serious there are specialised underwater cameras and you can expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars into the thousands. Whether it’s a housing or camera you buy, make sure you check how much water pressure they can handle, which is usually referred to in terms of depth.

Some Underwater Photography Techniques

Some wonder wheat swimming in the ocean is like, but don't wish to learn how to dive. Underwater photography can bring the underwater world to the surface. Underwater photographers have taken it upon themselves to bring the underwater world to those who don't wish to dive or never had the chance. While all photography is an art the underwater world needs special skills to bring the highest quality alive. Unlike wildlife photography the underwater world needs to be viewed up close. That is to say the marine life needs to be photographed closely. This is because of the water.


Photo: PhotopediaPhotos

The water refracts images often distorting them so the closer you are to your subject the less water you have between you and the subject. Underwater photography requires a great deal of patience. You subject may swim quickly by like the shark, whale or dolphin, or they may hide with in the coral popping out only when danger is not felt. Water holds particles; most usually living organisms called plankton because these particles often float by while you are trying to take a picture you can loose contrast and sharpness of the image. Marine life uses the premise of hiding more than speed or survival of the fittest. This means you will often find your subject camouflaged rather than out in the open.

Underwater Photography technique

Underwater photographers combining two techniques for take a shot in the water which dark and dim. The first is to get the camera as close to the photographic subject as possible, minimizing the horizontal loss of color. This is best achieved by using wide-angle lenses, which allow very close focus, or macro lenses, where the subject is often only inches away from the camera. In practical terms, serious underwater photographers consider any more than about 3 ft/1 m of water between camera and subject to be unacceptable. The second technique is the use of flash to restore any color lost vertically through the water column.


Photo: ozancokdeger.com

One other important difficulty in taking photographs underwater is that water is never gin clear, there are always myriads of minute animals and plants and other particles suspended in the water. The lack of clarity limits the distance we can see to about one hundred feet even in the clearest water. Since water is the major obstacle we try to reduce the amount of it between the camera lens and our subject by getting in close, certainly no more than one third of the distance we can see and usually much closer than this.

Since underwater photography is often performed while scuba diving, it is important that the diver-photographer be sufficiently skilled so that it remains a reasonably safe activity. Good scuba technique also has an impact on the quality of images, since marine life is less likely to be scared away by a calm diver, and the environment is less likely to be damaged or disturbed. There is the possibility of encountering poor conditions, such as heavy currents, tidal flow, or poor visibility. Generally, underwater photographers try to avoid these situations whenever possible.

So, to getting close to your subject, an invaluable technique for underwater photography using artificial light is to ensure that as little as possible of the light from the strobe is reflected back into the lens by particles in the water. This can be achieved by holding the strobe higher and to the left of your camera and aiming it at the subject so that only the water nearest the subject, and not the water nearest the lens, is illuminated. Since you need to get close, you should move slowly so as not to disturb your subject. Set up your camera and strobe ready for use before you make the approach, so that if you are using a manual system, you need only to make minor adjustments to the focus and aperture once in the desired position. Try to photograph your subject from an interesting angle, preferably framing it so that the background is not cluttered.

Underwater photography

Most people who use to dive in underwater would like to take a photo about fishes or plants that at underwater sea. So, if you want to do. it would be use by Underwater camera for use under water as well. Therefore, you must know to take its by Underwater photography.



Photo: cameldive.com

Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while snorkeling or swimming. Underwater imaging is considered an especially challenging area of photography, since it requires very specialized equipment and techniques to be successful.

Despite these challenges, it offers the possibility of many exciting and rare photographic opportunities. Animals such as fish and marine mammals are the most common subjects, but photographers also pursue shipwrecks, submerged cave systems, underwater "landscapes", and portraits of fellow divers.

The primary obstacle faced by underwater photographers is the extreme loss of color and contrast when submerged to any significant depth. The longer wavelengths of sunlight are absorbed quickly by the surrounding water, so even to the naked eye everything appears blue-green in color. The loss of color not only increases vertically through the water column, but also horizontally, so subjects further away from the camera will also appear colorless and indistinct. This effect is true even in apparently clear water, such as that found around tropical coral reefs.