New to underwater photography

[ScubaJoy65]

I just received my new camera and housing yesterday. I can't wait to take it underwater this weekend. But I'm wondering, how do you get the fish to stand still and pose. I'm just kidding. But seriously, once I jump in the water, any tips for me to get good shots, etc?

:scubadive

 

[alcina]

Welcome to the fun stuff!

There are lots of tips to be found here:
- be the best diver you can be before trying to take photos
- know your camera in the housing before you hit the water
- get close and then get closer
- know the minimum focus distance of your lens and don't get closer than that
- shoot upwards
- take more than one frame
- slow down...now slow down some more...no, more - s-l-o-w d-o-w-n!

Those are pretty broad but will certainly help you get started. For more in-depth help, check out the fabulous Sticky in the main UW photo area - you can get there via the pink link in my signature - as it is compiled from all the tidbits our members have offered over the past few years and it grows all the time!

Oh yeah, and have fun!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Welcome to the fun stuff!

There are lots of tips to be found here:
- be the best diver you can be before trying to take photos
- know your camera in the housing before you hit the water
- get close and then get closer
- know the minimum focus distance of your lens and don't get closer than that
- shoot upwards
- take more than one frame
- slow down...now slow down some more...no, more - s-l-o-w d-o-w-n!

Those are pretty broad but will certainly help you get started. For more in-depth help, check out the fabulous Sticky in the main UW photo area - you can get there via the pink link in my signature - as it is compiled from all the tidbits our members have offered over the past few years and it grows all the time!

Oh yeah, and have fun!

As usual excellent advice but the only thing I want to add to Alcina's advice is to expand on this:

- be the best diver you can be before trying to take photos

BUOYANCY!! BUOYANCY!! Make sure you have near perfect buoyancy control because the easiest thing to do when lining up a shot...is to hold your breath....never good. You do not want to shoot to the surface (I hope ) You also need to be able to get close and then closer without touching anything. This is the first thing you need to do before shooting pictures underwater. For your safety and those around you (including the reefs/fish etc.)

 

[ScubaJoy65]

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm still learning but my dive instructor told me I had better neutral buoyancy than most divers. So, if he's right - - I just have to focus on learning all the other stuff.

 

[ScubaSteve]

No matter what, if you are getting into UW photography, you are entering a whole new realm of diving. Diving is so much better with photography IMHO. I love nothing better than looking back at all my shots (good and bad ones) and then looking on here and trying to figure out how in the heck these people get the shots they do. I have a lot of goals to reach thanks to everybody on SB. WELCOME and share your photos often.

 

[parabolic]

First become a really good diver with excellent bouyancy control. But you've already heard that. Then when you find a good subject, stay with it, you might not find anything else worth photographing on this dive. One good image of a good subject is a lot better than 50 mediocre images of ho-hum subjects. Shoot lots of frames and try to change something in every frame (composition, angle, exposure, lighting...) Don't shoot down on anything, try to consistently shoot up or at least horizontal. Get as close as you can to your subjects. Fill the frame with your small subjects. Get the sun in your frame if you can, or at least the water surface. Keep your bubbles out of the frame. Learn to balance exposures between ambient light and strobe light. Let's see, did I miss anything.....I don't think so, it's really easy. Just kidding....good luck, ++Ken++

 

[Larry C]

You do not want to shoot to the surface (I hope )

I'm confused. Didn't Alcina say shoot upward?

Just kidding! All excellent advice. Be patient. You'll take lots of bad pictures before you take a few good ones. All the photographers I know take at least 20 pictures they'd rather throw away to get one keeper. The more you practice, the more keepers you'll get. One more-take care of your equipment. Rinse your rig after every dive day. Clean your o-rings and mating surfaces. Inspect everything before every dive. There is no such thing as too anal. Then learn about the creatures you're stalking. Get a couple of fish and nudibranch behavior books and study the locals to see where you'll find them and what they're afraid of. Get a patient dive buddy and learn each others habits, because they'll get bored waiting for you to take 20 shots of some fringehead, and you'll get mad that you took your head out of the hole it was in and nobody was there. It helps if your dive buddy is a good hunter and will find pictures for you. (Thank you Carol!)

 

[jkling17]

So, with that said, here are "the basics of underwater photography". Please note that this framework of observations is designed for those with a

decent compact camera and manufacturer's (inexpensive) housing. Also, shots will be taken for the most part between 10'- 65', and under relatively

calm open water conditions. In other words ... if you are diving on Punta Sur in Cozumel at 110' and flying along in a 2-4 knot current this page isn't for

you

1. Use a LOW ISO. Regardless of how nice your camera works on land, the rules are different underwater. Use ISO 100. I only use 200 now if my

shutter won't get fast enough to avoid blur. If I can't use 200 or better then I just skip the shot. If you use a higher ISO your shots will truly be full of

nasty artifacts and grain - I promise.

2. Use manual white balance (also known as custom white balance). This will help your shots come out with nice colors, even at depth, without a strobe

or light or flash. Otherwise, your pics will be tinted green, blue or green/blue. Ok - sure - you could do post-processing on all of them afterward but

that's a fair bit of work since "one size" doesn't fit all.

Hopefully your camera supports manual WB. Even if it does, it may not be possible to set inside a housing - some Sony's are like this (big lcd but

must use stylus to access various features).

2a. Ok, Jeff - so now that I'm sold ... HOW do I use custom white balance?

Get yourself a nice underwater photo slate, and keep it clipped to your BC, preferably with some kind of extender so that you have easy access and

can't lose it. Technically, you could use any bright clean white plastic slate and get good results though. But if you do - do NOT write on the side that

you use it for wb. I happen to use the PADI photo slate - it fits in my bc pocket and has a clip on it for my extenders.

Note: the PADI slate is white on one side and grey on the back. You CAN use the grey side or the white side. Though I usually use the white.

Tell your camera to "set manual white balance". Consult your manual for how to do this. On the Fuji it takes a few button pushes. Now, the camera will

want you to depress the shutter to set it. Per the following illustration, hold your camera roughly horizontal and position the slate so that it just barely fills

your lcd (your lcd should look all white, with no fingers poking into the "shot").

Ok - now hit your shutter button. If you have a decent exposure, you should get a message from your camera like "white balance set", or "ok" etc. This

means that you are set for manual wb for the approximate depth that you are currently at.

So - let's talk about that now a bit. Generally, it will be to your advantage to keep diving around a certain depth (+/- say 5 feet), so that your white

balance setting is pretty close for shot after shot. If you are constantly varying your depth, then either you'll need to keep resetting your wb - or your

shots will vary in their quality of color. If I'm going to err in one direction though - I'd rather have a wb that was taken a bit deeper than where I am now

than the reverse. The result will be a photo that is somewhat too vivid. To me, this is better than having muted colors and trying to add them back in (if

at all). Picasa is really good at fixing this if you need (and it's free).

So, if I'm planing on following the reef along and staying between 40-50', then I'll probably set my wb around 45-47'. This wb is also appropriate if I'm

at say 35-40 but shooting into deeper water. If I'll be diving between 35-45 then I'll do my wb around 40-45.

Sometimes, your camera (just like mine) won't accept the wb when you try to set it. This happens to me more often in dimmer afternoon light and at

greater depth. You can just try it again once or twice. If that still doesn't work, then try changing your exposure to +2 and try it. Or - you can up your

ISO to say 400 or 800 and then try it. The latter usually works for me. Just remember to set your ISO back to 100 afterwards or your shots

will be grainy and have lots of artifacts. At relatively shallow depths, say down to 35', custom wb should take easily.

2c. Again - custom WB is so very important for getting accurate colors underwater - especially if you wish to avoid any post processing work. The only

post processing that I am interested in doing is really generic - reduce size, rotate and crop. This is pretty easy, and can be done with bulk operations

instead of one at a time. Multiple Image Resizer is very useful for this and is free. Picasa is also free and well worth looking at.

3. Avoid using flash - suppress that flash! If you have a good WB then the shots will have LOTS of really nice color in them. This will also

prevent the backscatter effect of particles in the water. Note: if you have manual wb set and use flash also then the shots will be WAY too vivid.

Always set your WB to auto when using flash (and set back to custom afterwards).

4. Use Full manual mode This really is pretty simple - the camera does all the heavy lifting. Now some folks like using <a

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_priority"> Aperture Priority (AP) </a> , and some folks like using <a

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_priority"> Shutter Priority (SP) </a>.

Ok ... so what do I recommend? What should YOU do? Well ... it depends.
4a. If the conditions are nice and calm and the light is good, then my preference is to use AP, set my F-Stop to f5 or f5.6 and let the camera choose

my shutter speed. But ...
4b. If there's a little bit of surge or current, then SP can be the way to go - set to 1/125 and your shots will usually be in focus. This can also be good if

you're trying to freeze action with fast moving fish - you may need to go faster - 1/250 or perhaps even quicker.
4c. But ... what do I really do? I like to take a shot of macro shots and like to vary my F-stop, play around a lot with depth of field and composition. So,

even when the conditions aren't the best I usually use just AP.

5. Keep your lens zoomed-out all the way Don't zoom in unless you can't get closer to your subject.

5a. If possible, disable digital zoom entirely . If you can't disable it then simply do not use it. Digital zoom quality is terrible. Ok ... on that

zoom rule - sometimes it's not a bad thing to zoom in just a little bit but initially I'd recommend the following instead:

6. Get closer to your subject! You are probably not as close as you think you are!

7. Take LOTS of shots of anything that you want to get. Many times a shot will look great on your camera's lcd and then later look pretty bad on

the laptop. So long as my subject is willing I try to take at LEAST 5 shots of anything that looks interesting. Change up your angles and compositions.

Many times I'll take 7-10 shots to get one that I really like. This really doesn't take much time but then you'll get a much higher percentage of "keepers".

7. Pre Lock Focus (when useful) . Many subjects underwater are skittish by nature and most divers are pretty scary - except me but I've got a

really uber-cool mask w/ black silicone. So, it's useful to pre-focus your camera on something with a halfway depression of your shutter - like

that piece of coral over there. Now, keep holding the shutter halfway to keep the focus locked, and compose your intended shot with the fast mover(s)

with the bright colors, then depress the shutter to completion.

8. Macro is your friend! Macro photography underwater is very rewarding. You will be able to take a much higher percentage of very keepable

shots. It's also great when the water isn't so clear ... like when Hurricane Dean decides to swing by and really stir things up.

8a. All decent compact digicams have a single "enable macro mode" button. When you want to take a great close-up, hit this, then shoot away.

9. If possible, try to shoot horizontal or slightly upwards, not downward if you can reasonably help it - use that extra ambient light. Same applies for

shooting w/ the light coming from behind you, rather than your subject - though for silouettes this doesn't apply.

10. Review and Adjust Perhaps the best part of digital photography. When time permits, please try to offload your shots to a laptop etc and

review your shots regularly. This way, you can see what worked out really well, and where you need to make adjustments for next time. But, hey - it's a

vacation - so don't kill yourself just to review your pics mid-day. Enjoy your diving, take a nap, eat, dive, and review your pics after dinner w/ a beer in

hand.

11. Turn your camera off when you are not actively using it. This is to keep the case from fogging up in front of your lens. If you just leave

your camera on the whole time it WILL fog up - almost without a doubt. Just in case - I keep my auto-off timer on 2 min, and this seems to be a good

setting for me in case I get distracted and forget.

12. More on anti-fogging. Some people advocate keeping a silca gel packet inside the camera case while diving. Silica gel are those

strange little white packets that come with electronic stuff, shoes, purses, etc. Essentially they are a type of clear clay that absorbs moisture, and the

wrapper is usually tyvek.

Silica gel has only so much capacity (20-40% of its weight), and eventually can't absorb any more. Please note - if these are left out in a hot moist

tropical climate they will reach capacity VERY rapidly and will be useless. I keep quite a few with me - all of them inside a plastic zip-lock, inside a

second zip lock.

Anyway, use of these inside the camera case while diving can be good. However, you need to be VERY careful! If the slightest bit of the wrapper

gets caught against your o-ring, it will wick water right in (and goodbye camera). So, if you are going to use these inside your camera case then make

darn sure that it is tucked away deep down away from your o-ring.

Even if you do use silica gel - this is not an excuse to keep your camera on the whole time

Technically, you can "recharge" silica packets - heat them in an oven to over 220F, for about 45-60 min. Be careful as the tyvek wrapper will be

damaged at 250 F and above.

13. Spare Battery. Get one off eBay, etc. Enough said

14. Spare Memory Card. Get one off eBay, etc. I recommend at least 1 GB. 2 GB is even better. The last thing that you need while on a

dive is to waste time making room for more shots.

15. Optional Gear. Inon AD mount and Inon UWL-105AD Wide Conversion Lens. WOW - man I LOVE mine. Best $300 add-on and super

compact. I don't have any of this stuff yet but was exposed to it on my last trip (Roatan - Aug 2007), and will absolutely add some next year. <a

href="http://inonamerica.com"> Inon </a> makes a wonderful variety of add-on gear that can be used with many compact cameras. In particular, their

standard wide-angle lenses are AWESOME. Depending on your camera and uw case you will either be able to screw them directly onto the outside of

your uw case (the Olympus cases are usually good for these). Or for most other cameras, you can get an AD mounting bracket and use their other

lenses.

Regards,

Jeff
jkling@nac.net

 

[diverrex]

It's been said many times before but I don't think it can emphasized enough - get close, then closer and be level or below the subject. Very few fish pictures look good when shot above the fish.

 

[diver 85]

So, with that said, here are "the basics of underwater photography". Please note that this framework of observations is designed for those with a

decent compact camera and manufacturer's (inexpensive) housing. Also, shots will be taken for the most part between 10'- 65', and under relatively

calm open water conditions. In other words ... if you are diving on Punta Sur in Cozumel at 110' and flying along in a 2-4 knot current this page isn't for

you

1. Use a LOW ISO. Regardless of how nice your camera works on land, the rules are different underwater. Use ISO 100. I only use 200 now if my

shutter won't get fast enough to avoid blur. If I can't use 200 or better then I just skip the shot. If you use a higher ISO your shots will truly be full of

nasty artifacts and grain - I promise.

2. Use manual white balance (also known as custom white balance). This will help your shots come out with nice colors, even at depth, without a strobe

or light or flash. Otherwise, your pics will be tinted green, blue or green/blue. Ok - sure - you could do post-processing on all of them afterward but

that's a fair bit of work since "one size" doesn't fit all.

Hopefully your camera supports manual WB. Even if it does, it may not be possible to set inside a housing - some Sony's are like this (big lcd but

must use stylus to access various features).

2a. Ok, Jeff - so now that I'm sold ... HOW do I use custom white balance?

Get yourself a nice underwater photo slate, and keep it clipped to your BC, preferably with some kind of extender so that you have easy access and

can't lose it. Technically, you could use any bright clean white plastic slate and get good results though. But if you do - do NOT write on the side that

you use it for wb. I happen to use the PADI photo slate - it fits in my bc pocket and has a clip on it for my extenders.

Note: the PADI slate is white on one side and grey on the back. You CAN use the grey side or the white side. Though I usually use the white.

Tell your camera to "set manual white balance". Consult your manual for how to do this. On the Fuji it takes a few button pushes. Now, the camera will

want you to depress the shutter to set it. Per the following illustration, hold your camera roughly horizontal and position the slate so that it just barely fills

your lcd (your lcd should look all white, with no fingers poking into the "shot").

Ok - now hit your shutter button. If you have a decent exposure, you should get a message from your camera like "white balance set", or "ok" etc. This

means that you are set for manual wb for the approximate depth that you are currently at.

So - let's talk about that now a bit. Generally, it will be to your advantage to keep diving around a certain depth (+/- say 5 feet), so that your white

balance setting is pretty close for shot after shot. If you are constantly varying your depth, then either you'll need to keep resetting your wb - or your

shots will vary in their quality of color. If I'm going to err in one direction though - I'd rather have a wb that was taken a bit deeper than where I am now

than the reverse. The result will be a photo that is somewhat too vivid. To me, this is better than having muted colors and trying to add them back in (if

at all). Picasa is really good at fixing this if you need (and it's free).

So, if I'm planing on following the reef along and staying between 40-50', then I'll probably set my wb around 45-47'. This wb is also appropriate if I'm

at say 35-40 but shooting into deeper water. If I'll be diving between 35-45 then I'll do my wb around 40-45.

Sometimes, your camera (just like mine) won't accept the wb when you try to set it. This happens to me more often in dimmer afternoon light and at

greater depth. You can just try it again once or twice. If that still doesn't work, then try changing your exposure to +2 and try it. Or - you can up your

ISO to say 400 or 800 and then try it. The latter usually works for me. Just remember to set your ISO back to 100 afterwards or your shots

will be grainy and have lots of artifacts. At relatively shallow depths, say down to 35', custom wb should take easily.

2c. Again - custom WB is so very important for getting accurate colors underwater - especially if you wish to avoid any post processing work. The only

post processing that I am interested in doing is really generic - reduce size, rotate and crop. This is pretty easy, and can be done with bulk operations

instead of one at a time. Multiple Image Resizer is very useful for this and is free. Picasa is also free and well worth looking at.

3. Avoid using flash - suppress that flash! If you have a good WB then the shots will have LOTS of really nice color in them. This will also

prevent the backscatter effect of particles in the water. Note: if you have manual wb set and use flash also then the shots will be WAY too vivid.

Always set your WB to auto when using flash (and set back to custom afterwards).

4. Use Full manual mode This really is pretty simple - the camera does all the heavy lifting. Now some folks like using <a

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture_priority"> Aperture Priority (AP) </a> , and some folks like using <a

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_priority"> Shutter Priority (SP) </a>.

Ok ... so what do I recommend? What should YOU do? Well ... it depends.
4a. If the conditions are nice and calm and the light is good, then my preference is to use AP, set my F-Stop to f5 or f5.6 and let the camera choose

my shutter speed. But ...
4b. If there's a little bit of surge or current, then SP can be the way to go - set to 1/125 and your shots will usually be in focus. This can also be good if

you're trying to freeze action with fast moving fish - you may need to go faster - 1/250 or perhaps even quicker.
4c. But ... what do I really do? I like to take a shot of macro shots and like to vary my F-stop, play around a lot with depth of field and composition. So,

even when the conditions aren't the best I usually use just AP.

5. Keep your lens zoomed-out all the way Don't zoom in unless you can't get closer to your subject.

5a. If possible, disable digital zoom entirely . If you can't disable it then simply do not use it. Digital zoom quality is terrible. Ok ... on that

zoom rule - sometimes it's not a bad thing to zoom in just a little bit but initially I'd recommend the following instead:

6. Get closer to your subject! You are probably not as close as you think you are!

7. Take LOTS of shots of anything that you want to get. Many times a shot will look great on your camera's lcd and then later look pretty bad on

the laptop. So long as my subject is willing I try to take at LEAST 5 shots of anything that looks interesting. Change up your angles and compositions.

Many times I'll take 7-10 shots to get one that I really like. This really doesn't take much time but then you'll get a much higher percentage of "keepers".

7. Pre Lock Focus (when useful) . Many subjects underwater are skittish by nature and most divers are pretty scary - except me but I've got a

really uber-cool mask w/ black silicone. So, it's useful to pre-focus your camera on something with a halfway depression of your shutter - like

that piece of coral over there. Now, keep holding the shutter halfway to keep the focus locked, and compose your intended shot with the fast mover(s)

with the bright colors, then depress the shutter to completion.

8. Macro is your friend! Macro photography underwater is very rewarding. You will be able to take a much higher percentage of very keepable

shots. It's also great when the water isn't so clear ... like when Hurricane Dean decides to swing by and really stir things up.

8a. All decent compact digicams have a single "enable macro mode" button. When you want to take a great close-up, hit this, then shoot away.

9. If possible, try to shoot horizontal or slightly upwards, not downward if you can reasonably help it - use that extra ambient light. Same applies for

shooting w/ the light coming from behind you, rather than your subject - though for silouettes this doesn't apply.

10. Review and Adjust Perhaps the best part of digital photography. When time permits, please try to offload your shots to a laptop etc and

review your shots regularly. This way, you can see what worked out really well, and where you need to make adjustments for next time. But, hey - it's a

vacation - so don't kill yourself just to review your pics mid-day. Enjoy your diving, take a nap, eat, dive, and review your pics after dinner w/ a beer in

hand.

11. Turn your camera off when you are not actively using it. This is to keep the case from fogging up in front of your lens. If you just leave

your camera on the whole time it WILL fog up - almost without a doubt. Just in case - I keep my auto-off timer on 2 min, and this seems to be a good

setting for me in case I get distracted and forget.

12. More on anti-fogging. Some people advocate keeping a silca gel packet inside the camera case while diving. Silica gel are those

strange little white packets that come with electronic stuff, shoes, purses, etc. Essentially they are a type of clear clay that absorbs moisture, and the

wrapper is usually tyvek.

Silica gel has only so much capacity (20-40% of its weight), and eventually can't absorb any more. Please note - if these are left out in a hot moist

tropical climate they will reach capacity VERY rapidly and will be useless. I keep quite a few with me - all of them inside a plastic zip-lock, inside a

second zip lock.

Anyway, use of these inside the camera case while diving can be good. However, you need to be VERY careful! If the slightest bit of the wrapper

gets caught against your o-ring, it will wick water right in (and goodbye camera). So, if you are going to use these inside your camera case then make

darn sure that it is tucked away deep down away from your o-ring.

Even if you do use silica gel - this is not an excuse to keep your camera on the whole time

Technically, you can "recharge" silica packets - heat them in an oven to over 220F, for about 45-60 min. Be careful as the tyvek wrapper will be

damaged at 250 F and above.

13. Spare Battery. Get one off eBay, etc. Enough said

14. Spare Memory Card. Get one off eBay, etc. I recommend at least 1 GB. 2 GB is even better. The last thing that you need while on a

dive is to waste time making room for more shots.

15. Optional Gear. Inon AD mount and Inon UWL-105AD Wide Conversion Lens. WOW - man I LOVE mine. Best $300 add-on and super

compact. I don't have any of this stuff yet but was exposed to it on my last trip (Roatan - Aug 2007), and will absolutely add some next year. <a

href="http://inonamerica.com"> Inon </a> makes a wonderful variety of add-on gear that can be used with many compact cameras. In particular, their

standard wide-angle lenses are AWESOME. Depending on your camera and uw case you will either be able to screw them directly onto the outside of

your uw case (the Olympus cases are usually good for these). Or for most other cameras, you can get an AD mounting bracket and use their other

lenses.

Regards,

Jeff
jkling@nac.net

Just a guess here but thinking the OP doesn't get all 15 steps down......talk about overload........To the OP, your best bet is to shoot-shoot-& shoot some more........Best teacher?,...mistakes----learn from them, btw one of the very best reasons for shooting digital ie you can learn on the go (previewing them now vs. 1 to 2 weeks later).......after 13 years of shooting UW, I'm still learning from mine(mistakes)---every time I push the button........good luck & let us see some of your final results.....