Is underwater photography difficult? Actually, no—at least, not to any significant degree when compared with any other discipline of photography. Each single stage of creating an underwater photograph, if seen in isolation from the rest, is not so tricky. It is the sum of all its parts, as well as mastering the whole, which can appear confusing at times.
It used to be that when one talked about underwater photography, one primarily meant photographing sea animals in their natural surroundings; however, it can also be interesting to shoot underwater images in swimming pools. Firstly, a pool can be turned into an underwater photo studio. Secondly, there are pools that are unique in themselves. I present some examples in this article.
With its compact dimension (comparable to a backup dive torch), the MF-1 Mini Flash from Backscatter is mainly designed for macro enthusiasts who favor a narrow beam angle and the possibility to point light to areas or subjects bulky underwater strobes cannot reach.
After a long period of development, the new underwater strobe “Flash PRO” from manufacturer Retra is now in serial production and ready for pre-order.
For owners of Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras, Fantasea has designed a battery cradle that holds one additional Sony NP-FW50 battery (of the Sony Alpha and NEX series), doubling battery life, and thus avoiding the necessity of replacing camera batteries between dives.
It happens to us all—we drop stuff, or spill something. Underwater photographers, who often will find themselves transferring or editing images in moist environments or close to water, will be reassured that butterfingers need not have catastrophic consequences.
There are many factors to consider when planning your dive trip, including the marine life, travel logistics, seasonal weather, ocean conditions and distance between dive sites. This is a lot to think about, and likely the reason so many of us, especially photographers, forget to consider one of the ocean’s most important processes when planning a trip—the tides.
By adding divers to our underwater photos, we are able to bring about a sense of exploration, highlight a focal point and provide a sense of scale to the scene, especially in wide angle reef and shipwreck photography.
Taking pictures while freediving can be a real physical challenge, but in some cases, it may be the only option to get the subject in front of your lens.
Freediving in order to take underwater photographs is not the norm, but there are many freedivers who do just that—for example, the freediving icon Fred Buyle.
“What do you have to do?” It is the first question asked by most people when it comes to underwater modeling. As an underwater model, my answer is always the same: “I have to blend myself with the underwater environment to further enhance its beauty.”
Ask any photographer the one thing they would like to improve in their underwater images and most will likely say, “The lighting.” Lighting in photography is everything and shooting underwater often requires the photographer to read the ambient light and to create durable images on the fly.
