Hopefully Future Diver wondering about Photography

[mi000ke]

I was (still am) an experienced landscape/wildlife photographer who got into diving and underwater photography just a few years ago. As already mentioned, the whole concept of managing light is vastly different underwater. I had to get used to taking photos of subjects that were fractions of an inch way rather than fractions of a mile, and how to best position strobes - something I almost never use on land.

With that background, the way that worked well for me was to first dive with an old point and shoot (Canon s110) that had manual settings, optical zoom, supported RAW format - and not to use strobes - just ambient light. (RAW is important as you will need to correct white balance in post processing if not using strobes). So, just the camera in a housing. With no strobe and shooting RAW, you can get pretty good photos of things at a distance, whereas with a strobe you have to be pretty close (you'll learn about backscatter soon enough). And by not using strobes you will eliminate one more piece of equipment to worry about. By shooting at a distance you will eliminate some of the buoyancy control issues. As you get more comfortable diving with a camera in your hands and controlling your buoyancy you can try getting closer to your subjects. Eventually you will be able to get very close and hold your position. And when you get to that point, as I eventually (sort of) did, you can then think about adding a strobe and maybe upgrading your camera and lenses.

Oh, and the other advantage of using an old camera is if the housing floods (and as a few folks have mentioned, eventually they always seem to) it will be a less expensive hit.

Good luck!

 

[Darnold9999]

Agree - if I get one good picture on a dive I consider that a very good dive.

 

[Doc Harry]

Agree - if I get one good picture on a dive I consider that a very good dive.

Dang. What kind of camera are you using?

I've been a photographer for 50+ years. I used to get that kind of success with slide film (one good photo out of each roll of film).

But now with a full-size digital SLR, about 50% to 75% of my underwater photos are keepers, and a full 10% are outstanding.

 

[Edward3c]

Dang. What kind of camera are you using?

I've been a photographer for 50+ years. I used to get that kind of success with slide film (one good photo out of each roll of film).

But now with a full-size digital SLR, about 50% to 75% of my underwater photos are keepers, and a full 10% are outstanding.

I think that’s the difference between a point and shot and your SLR. I’m getting around 15% of shots with my TG6.

 

[Doc Harry]

I think that’s the difference between a point and shot and your SLR. I’m getting around 15% of shots with my TG6.

Agree.

A P&S is for showing friends terrible photos and saying "I was there."

A dSLR is for taking nice photos.

 

[dmaziuk]

A dSLR is for taking photos as in you're not diving: you're driving the dSLR around looking for next shot.

 

[Darnold9999]

Dang. What kind of camera are you using?

I've been a photographer for 50+ years. I used to get that kind of success with slide film (one good photo out of each roll of film).

But now with a full-size digital SLR, about 50% to 75% of my underwater photos are keepers, and a full 10% are outstanding.

I think we might be talking about different things. At the end of a dive trip of say 30 dives I will have 20 to 40 pictures that I think are worth showing to others. I will have 20 or 30 more that are good but not ones I am excited about and then another 200 or so that I will keep. Everything else gets deleted. All that don’t get deleted are technically good, ie a picture that faithfully reproduced what I intended - however not necessarily a great photograph. If you are doing significantly better than that I envy your skills!

 

[hedonist222]

Something to keep in mind is that there demarcation between a photographer and a diver who happens to have a camera.

A lot of times I'll here people say "oh, hes a photographer", and when I started diving solo that soon turned into "Oh, thats why hes a solo diver, hes a photographer".

No, I am diver who happens to have a camera. I have had countless dives where I didn't feel the need to take my camera out because either there was nothing special to photograph or I knew the conditions (whether visibility or current) would hinder me from getting a good photograph.

I am indifferent if I surface without having taken a single photograph.

My point is, you could have a camera with you at any stage - so long as it is not the focus of your dive as you begin to hone in skills.

 

[EdwardMH]

Something to keep in mind is that there demarcation between a photographer and a diver who happens to have a camera.

A lot of times I'll here people say "oh, hes a photographer", and when I started diving that soon turned into "Oh, thats why hes a solo diver, hes a p photographer".

No, I am diver who happens to have a camera. I have had countless dives where I didn't feel the need to take my camera out because either there was nothing special to photograph or I knew the conditions (whether visibility or current) would hinder me from getting a good photograph.

I am indifferent if I surface without having taken a single photograph.

My point is, you could have a camera with you at any stage - so long as it is not the focus of your dive as you begin to hone in skills.

Absolutely agree, I do not grab a camera every time I go outdoors, to a park or something. I have to be in the mood and the conditions have to be favorable for the imaging I desire. Often I just want to walk outside and enjoy the sights and sounds around me.

 

[EdwardMH]

Task overload is a serious risk in diving. Underwater photography is complex. It is really easy to get inattentive to anything else when doing it. And being inattentive when diving is not a good thing.

I would recommend being certified with OW and AOW and if you can Rescue. I would not recommend photography until you have about 40 dives under your belt. You want to be able to handle diving pretty much automatically. Also peak performance buoyancy is a good one. I have found in my photography that buoyancy control is critical.

Thanks, 40+ dives gives me a better idea what to work towards.