This is a complete article by guest authors Efra and Annabel who offer their experienced hand to immerse you in the fascinating world of underwater photography.
Photosub is a booming photographic discipline. Just look at the vast majority of manufacturers that bet on underwater cameras. Olympus, Sony, Nikon, Canon ?, all these brands have watertight amphibious cameras without the need for a case.
- And we’re not just talking about All Weather cameras (Amphibious) or the famous GoPro.
- Underwater casing brands have also set their sights on smartphones.
- With the ability to integrate specific lenses like angular or macro.
- ?.
And what do we mean by all this?
Finally, underwater photography is accessible to everyone.
The photosub is a photographic discipline with a number of peculiarities, the aquatic environment has its own rules and you have to adapt to it if you want to play at home, how to move around the seabed requires learning, the lighting technique is different and the equipment must adapt to the water.
But don’t panic, quite the opposite. If you know how to swim, with a little practice you will learn to dive and you will be able to portray a world very different from the one you are used to, new landscapes and animals never seen before await you, nature at its best, the place of origin of life that you know today.
Don’t you think that’s exciting?
Here are 9 tips for getting started with a good fin in underwater photography.
First of all, the most important thing is to enhance your aquatic experience. If you’re not comfortable in the water, you won’t take many good pictures.
You should know that there are 3 ways to practice this photographic discipline, do not think that photosub is reserved for divers.
It’s about swimming on the surface of the water with fins, mask and tube, depending on where or when you practice it, you’ll also need a combination, if you’re swimming in areas where there may be maritime traffic. (not recommended), use a signal buoy.
If you’re not a very good swimmer, you can wear a vest, but it’s an indicator that you still don’t feel comfortable in the water, are you still training?.
This mode is the easiest for a beginner, just know how to swim
The disadvantage is that always marking the camera from the surface limits you to composing an image or taking different frames, but if you are not very aquatic and want to start, snorkeling is your best option.
The difference with snorkeling is that you go down a few meters to the lungs, being able to access other shooting angles and marine subjects, if you choose to use a combination that makes you float, you will need a ballast belt to descend more easily. A signalling buoy will also be required if you practice in areas where boat traffic may occur.
This modality requires prior training and good physical condition, either with a specific course or practicing alone, always accompanied. You also don’t need to be a professional diver and go down 15 or 20 meters, between 2 and 5 you can start practicing underwater photography.
We love to photograph in apnea for its lightness, unlike scuba diving, you don’t have the air limitation you have in the tank and you don’t have to carry all the equipment.
Diving allows you to easily access different depths, without having to leave during the dive.
You can try different frames or compositions. This allows you to recreate yourself with other shooting angles and have more time to set up the camera. When you take free photos, background times should be much faster for these purposes.
This is our preferred modality, as it has plenty of time to measure light and work with a subject without having to climb to breathe.
Diving with autonomous equipment requires a diving course and gaining experience, it is not difficult, it is a relaxing sport that the vast majority can practice regardless of age.
When you’ve mastered diving equipment and buoyancy, it’s time to start taking underwater photos.
The necessary equipment is more complete: regulators, tank, weight, pressure gauge, deepen meter, vest, mask and snorkel, neoprene, compass, diving computer, signal buoy and knife.
Many photosubs rent the service of a boat in the dive centers, to be able to access spectacular places away from the coast, although you can also rent a bottle and practice the shallow.
Now that you know the different modalities and depending on which one you choose, our advice is to practice your aquatic skills before you start with the camera.
This is very important, not only for your safety, but also for the conservation of underwater ecosystems, you have to be very careful not to destroy corals with your fins, they are very fragile.
You can’t imagine how much life can be underwater!
Underwater photography is highly recommended for couples and self-diving is mandatory.
Once you’ve become a real frog man, it’s time to start flirting with the camera.
Underwater cases are a very important point when choosing your camera, each camera has its own specific covers and these will not work for different models of the same camera, keep in mind that there are no covers for all cameras and that these are made of polycarbonate or aluminum.
Polycarbonates are cheaper, less ergonomic and some do not give you access to all buttons, they are also more likely to fog and flood, aluminum ones are more expensive but solve all the defects of the former.
Our advice is that if your budget is tight and the camera is very simple or waterproof, buy one in polycarbonate, if you have left the dough in a good room do the same with the cover.
If you’re already a photographer, you’ll have your camera. Find out if there is a waterproof case specific to your model.
Diving in an SLR camera can be very expensive. One option is to consider starting with an advanced compact. Although this is already a personal decision.
If you don’t have a camera or photographic concepts, it’s best to start with a compact submersible. First, you can start with automatic mode and focus on composition and framing. When you master these techniques a little bit, you’ll go into manual mode. .
Keep in mind that not all compact cameras have manual mode and, in the long run, if you want to keep evolving, you’ll need them, don’t forget this when buying your first camera.
These are very common in photosub and are used by many users thanks to their versatility. Compact cameras have a great advantage, you can wear different wet lenses without leaving the water.
As a good reader of the Photographer’s Blog, you already know the importance of using specific lenses for your sessions, wet lenses are placed in underwater enclosures and there are different types, you can wear macro, angular or endoscopic lenses during the same immersion.
On the other hand, the sensors of the compact ones are smaller compared to those of the SLRs or without mirror, but you have advanced compacts like the Sony RX100 V with very good image quality and manual mode.
Unlike conventional compacts that require a case, they are sealed and waterproof to a certain depth, they can also be equipped with a case and be subjected to a greater pressure / depth.
If you like pure minimalism and opt for a small, bulky outfit, these cameras are ideal.
Due to its small size, it is very easy to frame and access places like small cracks. This is a great advantage in macro photography, with one hand you can frame and you can reach places that with bulky equipment would be impossible.
The glue is its small sensor and most do not have manual mode, but you have to take into account the performance of some models like the Olympus TG4 or TG5 with its very powerful macro without the need for lens. allows you to change the aperture, ISO and make a manual white balance.
Reflection and no mirror
This is the preferred option for those looking for the best image quality at all costs, literally.
The problem is not the camera body, it is the price of the housing and facades that protect the lenses from water, and not all housing manufacturers offer cheap SLR/no mirror models.
In addition, to change your lens it is necessary to get out of the water, although there is also the possibility of placing wet lenses in the case.
Another drawback is its large volume and the clutter of the set
Therefore, this option ends up being valid only for the most experienced underwater photographers.
Our advice is that if you are starting to do it with a compact or amphibious, if over time you become addicted to underwater photography and feel the need, will you make the leap to the older sisters?Or not?.
At first you have too much to master your aquatic skills to jump into the water with such a cumbersome camera, don’t forget that you start and want to have fun, bet on minimalism.
If you’re still evaluating whether photosub is right for you, think before investing: photography isn’t a cheap pastime, let alone underwater.
If light is the most important thing in terrestrial photography, in underwater photography it is much more important, because you are in a denser environment than air.
As you gain more depth and distance, the colors are absorbed, first the red, followed by orange, yellow and green, until everything is monochrome blue.
There are more underwater factors that influence your images, refraction makes you see objects 33% larger and 25% closer, also the reflection by which, depending on the angle of impact of the sun’s rays on the surface of the water, they enter more or less light.
The physics class aside and in short, what you need to know is that the deeper you dive, the more artificial light needs from a light bulb or flash.
Since you started our advice is to make it very shallow, we take out nice stickers of between 2 and 5 meters without artificial light, if you dive at noon, with sun, without clouds and with calm water, that’s when more light comes in. water, in this way you will make the most of natural light.
It is good to practice in shallow water at first, even if you are already a veteran photosub, you will often want to go shallow because you have much more light and more time to train.
At first, you may not have an external flash and you will need to use your camera’s built-in flash. This little flash will be good for the macro and nothing else. But if you dive shallowly, even if you shoot without flash, you can get more colorful photos at 3 meters than 10 meters.
When shooting without flash and if your camera allows it, perform a white balance (WB) in manual mode at the depth you are working on. If you do not have the WB in manual mode, use automatic on cloudy days. In this way, you will recover the red tones that are the first to be lost.
There are a number of filters to use during the first few meters and be able to recover warm colors, although depending on the water these filters can be red, magenta or orange.
Filters are usually wet and can be fixed and removed from the housing without leaving the water.
They are an alternative to artificial light. They usually stop being effective after about 12 meters, depending on the light conditions and the time of day.
These filters do not stain light red. What they do is soften the dominant colors like blue and leave the colors that are lost in the first meters, reds, oranges, etc. This compensates for the lack of existing reds.
Be careful when using them very close to the surface or with the flash, as the photos will come out with a red key, and it is recommended to take care of the white balance when using them.
Unlike the flash, with filters, you don’t have as many problems with the appearance of particles as you’ll see later.
Keep in mind that when you place a filter, even if you make up for reds, subtract some light, you may need to open the aperture or increase the ISO, so we recommend buying quality products.
Some cameras have underwater photography mode and the result is similar to that obtained with filters, if you don’t have artificial light, use this semi-automatic mode.
External flashes are usually used in photosub, one or two according to the photographer’s preferences. With two flashes, you have much greater coverage for environmental photography. The vast majority work with fiber optics and slave to trade with built-in flash. .
When diving at depths between 10 and 30 meters, its use is mandatory. With the camera’s built-in small flash, you’re limited to macro photography and small subjects very close to the lens.
Effective management of one or two external flashes depends on how you place them, the distance of the subject, the aperture and the power of the flash, and you have to know how to place them to avoid suspended particles. With practice and experience, everything is fulfilled ?.
Our advice is to start with the built-in camera flash, remember that you are always evaluating if you like this fan and that a specific waterproof flash is not really cheap.
There are many particles suspended underwater, there are days that more and others less, but to a greater or lesser degree, are always present.
The problem is when there is a great distance between the lens and the subject, when this happens, all particles in the path of the flash light light light up.
That’s why in macrophotography, since there is such a short distance between the target and the subject, it’s easy not to drop so many particles. If you fire the built-in flash over long distances, you’ll have a photo full of particles.
You can find shrimp, crabs and fish in small crevices, even if you practice shallow depth in lots of light, if these little ones are in the shade where the sun’s rays can’t reach them, you won’t even be able to do it. focus on them.
Tip: In these cases, you must turn on the camera focus light or use a small focus. Once you’ve focused, use the built-in flash. The flash light will bounce off the walls inside the crack, which will give you a homogeneous image. If you want to back up a small subject in the foreground, you can use it as an additional flash.
If you already know that the photosub is hitting you, getting an external flash is a very good investment, think that if you change the camera and case in the future, you can continue to use it.
There is a saying in the photosub: a simple camera with flash is more effective than an advanced camera without light support.
There are good flashes, relatively inexpensive and light like the Inon S2000 that give very good performance. If you buy an external flash, you have a whole new range of possibilities.
With an external flash, it has much wider coverage and can access ambient photography, other larger creatures and train to greater depth without the limitation of the built-in flash.
External flashes are attached to an articulated arm of different lengths, so you can vary the impact of the flash.
To avoid particles, never direct the flash directly to the subject, do so indirectly, place it in such a way that only residual light reaches it.
Don’t forget our tips, start with the built-in flash and when you’ve already made the most of it, you can get an external one.
In underwater photography you have to get much closer than in terrestrial photography, so angle lenses, micro angle, fisheye and macro are used a lot. Long telephoto objatives don’t make much sense underwater.
Is this due to the peculiarities of the aquatic environment such as reflection, density, particles, color absorption?Underwater, the range of lightning is much less than on earth.
There are situations where you’ll have to settle for a blue monochrome photo, such as a sunken ship. No matter how powerful your flash is, you won’t be able to illuminate the whole scene.
In these cases, and with good visibility, you will have to expose yourself to natural light, if there is not much depth, the filters and the white balance will be very useful.
To recover colors with the flash, get as close as possible to the subjects.
At first, everyone tries to hunt down the fish that represents them, and what they get are images of the tail of the fleeing fish, to approach a subject you have to earn their trust, this is achieved by approaching without abruptness. movements and hoping that animals will not feel threatened. When they trust you, many of them zoom in on your camera.
It also depends on the theme, there are those that are practically static like opistobranquios, which are small and colorful sea slugs, or star sea stars, these animals are ideal to start practicing.
Blenios are other suitable subjects for easy photography, they are small benthic fish that do not usually swim long distances and always roam the rocks, are curious, photogenic and if you don’t scare them they will pose for you.
You also have corals, rock formations, algae and sponges to compose your underwater landscapes, if you open your eyes well you will discover that there is a lot of life to represent underwater, but do it with patience and respect.
Remember that you are just a spectator, do not touch or harass any animal or plant, collect memories and leave nothing but bubbles.
To take home a good underwater photo, you will have to look for an attractive place, underwater life usually proliferates near the coast, in rocky areas full of plants such as posidonia, underwater coexist all kinds of animals and many seek refuge from predators.
Dive near the rocks and stay alert. In a single stone you can find different animals and some can hide, chickens, crabs, nudibranquios, shrimp or offspring of all that, there are animals that are easier to see as many species of fish, but being fast, they require more practice. to immortalize them.
If you enter a sandy area, near the shore of a beach full of bathers?Bichito you’re going to find ?.
As mentioned above, divers often use a boat to get to the dive sites. These points are already located in the dive centers and you will receive a shot. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good ground dives to practice.
Don’t forget the fresh water, either. Although there is not the same explosion of life as at sea, you can discover other very attractive faunas such as amphibians, crustaceans, reptiles or river fish. In freshwater, there are usually submerged logs and beautiful aquatic plants to compose your images. The place has good visibility, you can take attractive photos.
You also have the pools. Unless abandoned, you’ll find little wildlife;), but they’re very good at practicing underwater portraiture thanks to their good visibility and shallow depth.
Keep in mind that each sea is different, diving in tropical seas is not the same as in the Mediterranean, each has its own ecosystem, another temperature or a different visibility, this is another reason to plan your next vacation.
Wherever you go, do it together and be careful. Don’t get in the water in bad weather or with little training, and before you go into unwell places look for information.
The technique you’re going to use is basically the same as for terrestrial photography. Everything you’ve learned on the photographer’s blog will help. Obviously, you’ll have to adapt it to the underwater environment and you’ll have less light than on land.
Forget long-exposure photographs or long telephoto objes!
If you have an automatic compact camera, you will need to use certain automations in your favor such as semi-automatic ones. And if, for example, you need fast speed, use sports mode or kids playing. To make a macro, use flower mode. Also semi-automatic mode on cloudy days, to find heat in your photos if your camera doesn’t hit with the automatic WB.
If your camera is in manual mode, you’ll have more control over your photos. Use the flash and aperture, as well as the distance to the subject, to control the correct exposure of the scene covered by the flash light. the background where the flash doesn’t reach, it will do so with shutter speed.
Do grounding techniques also work underwater?
Photograph animals at eye level, use the law of the eye, look for escape points, or apply the thirds rule.
Underwater, there are many textures. You can recreate yourself with the roughness of corals, the scales of a fish or the whims of sea urchins. You can also take portraits, underwater landscapes or a complaint photo if you find debris.
That’s the best advice we can give you. Keep in mind that many divers learn underwater photography techniques, you’ve already won it, now you lack mastery of the aquatic environment.
It is often said that a diver is more likely to learn underwater photography than a photographer to learn how to dive.
But with the advent of so many action cameras, amphibious cameras or mobile phone cases, that’s changing. Or when you go to the beach, don’t you see a lot of people with a GoPro or underwater cameras?And they’re not divers. What sets you apart from them is that you love photography and you already have a good base.
At first, it’s normal that your photos don’t work out, but everything will come if you’re persistent and photographers do a lot.
Remember that to practice photosub you do not have to do it with bottle, but if you decide to do a freediving course you probably do not regret, the diving courses are very fun and are designed for everyone. Family. It is a very quiet sport and brings you closer to nature as few sports do.
Have a lot of fun as a couple, enjoy the sea and, above all, give the opportunity to a discipline as exciting as underwater photography.
71% of the Earth’s surface is made up of water?Well done and well blue!
This is an article by Efra and Annabel, underwater and Viajarbuceando. com photographers, you can also follow their work on Instagram and Facebook, or learn about diving lessons here.
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