Underwater Photography

If you are someone that loves to capture the unusual, underwater photography could be a great exploration activity for you! Get to know the incredible underwater world of marine life, and experiment with your photography and swimming skills with this unique genre.

What is underwater photography?

The name itself refers to the art of capturing images underwater. It may sound easy to swim and float freely underwater just hitting the capture button whenever something cool swims by but, it includes a lot of elements that can easily become great obstacles such as stability, equipment waterproofing, subjects, clarity, and a lot more!

On the flip side of that, underwater photography is a pert of the adventure genre that has a wide scope of experimentation for photographers.

How start underwater photography

Underwater photography can be challenging for numerous reasons. If you are a newcomer giving underwater photography your first try, here’s a few great ideas to capture some great photographs.

Scuba is the key

Capturing amazing images, subjects and compositions is not just a simple task of picking up a waterproof camera, holding your breath, jump in and you’re done! There is a lot more to underwater photography if you want to get the best images.

When you are trying a new genre of photography which is as challenging as underwater photography, where you will require a good amount of clarity, focus and stability to get good photographs; all of this cannot be achieved in just one breath.

Instead, if you really want to spend time locating and composing the most unusual and beautiful images you should use scuba diving equipment. Suba diving offers a lot more time underwater where you get to plan and execute the photos as you wish.

If you don’t have any prior experience in scuba diving, you will need to take and pass a recognised course. Scuba is the key to achieving amazing photographs.

Snorkeling

That’s not to say that scuba diving is the only way to get great underwater photos. Snorkeling in the shallow waters of a lake, river or ocean is also a great way to capture good underwater photographs. It is just that scuba diving will afford you the opportunity to go deeper and to find those rare and unusual aquatic creatures.

Equipment

Before you photograph underwater, you need to ensure you have quality photography equipment. Not just waterproof cameras, but you will also need a quality flash. If you are planning on going into deep waters, the amount of light penetrating at these levels is quite low and will cause problems in your photographs, especially on overcast days.

There are a very limited range of specific underwater cameras and camera systems. The best tried and tested method to perform underwater photography is to purchase an underwater housing and specific underwater strobe or fixed lighting equipment.

Most of the popular DSLR cameras brands are supported by third-party underwater housings, and although relatively expensive they will elevate your photography to an incredibly unique genre of photography.

Settings

It is always better to sort out most of your settings before you dive into the waters. Underwater is a lot darker than on the surface, and the deeper you go the darker it gets. The underside of crevices, rocks, jetties amongst seaweed will always be even darker than the surrounding sea and seabed.

Try using base camera settings that have a wide-open aperture (f/2.0), increased ISO to 400, and shutter speed 1/100 and faster. Or simply set the camera on aperture priority a f2.0 to start. This will get you started, and you can always adjust as you go.

This will help save your time when underwater and allow you to get more shots. You can just lightly dip your waterproof housing, with camera and lenses ready, into the water before diving in and adjust your settings according to the test underwater environment.

Zoom in

If you look at photographs from many underwater photo shoots, they are almost always taken up close. This is due to several factors: To minimize the risk of water bubbles, refractions in light and other particles disturbing your camera vision, and the darkened environment that isn’t suited to photographing objects at a distance.

Responsible and safe underwater photography

Always be aware of the current weather forecast when performing underwater photography. When going underwater, you must understand that you are entering a different ecosystem where we are not naturally meant to be. While entering such spaces it is important to minimize our human footprints and leave the underwater environment just as we found it.

Some official weather and ocean swell forecast offices include:

• Australia: Bureau of Meteorology
• Canada: Environment Canada
• New Zealand: Met Service
• UK: Met Office
• USA: National Weather Service

In the case of underwater photography, the underwater ecosystem has certain elements which are not to be mingled with such as corals, poisonous plants and animals, and endangered undersea creatures. You, as a photographer should remember this and be mindful of the anything you touch or alter while underwater.

If you are in an environment where there are apex predators such as sharks, sea snakes, bluebottle and other dangerous jellyfish, alligators, and crocodiles you should highly reconsider whether the risk in this genre of photography.

Likewise, if you are not an experienced and excellent swimmer, you should not try underwater photography. You should also never go on an underwater adventure without an underwater companion for safety’s sake.

Places to try underwater photography

You can experiment with this type of photography in a raft of places.

Rivers and streams

Different water bodies will pose different types of challenges to you. For example, if you are planning to take photographs within a river or a stream, you need to beware of its flow and speed. Depending on the water environment, you may be restricted to one place due to heavy water flow.

In such conditions, it’s better to swim along the stream provided you have complete knowledge of the area. This can procure a better outcome for you rather than attempting to fight the flow of water.

Oceans and seas

If you are going to be diving or snorkeling in an ocean, sea or a large and deep body of water, it is imperative that you first check the clarity of the water and ensure there are no undertow currents or rips. In turbulent and constantly moving water there will likely be a lot of micro particles that will spoil otherwise good images.

Swimming pool

As weird as it sounds, swimming pools can be the best place for underwater fashion shoots. This is a place where you would have minimum distractions, will be in calm clear water, and there are easy ways to take quick shots before coming back up to the surface.

Ideas for underwater photography

There are many sub-genres to this type of photography including underwater fashion, underwater inanimate photography, underwater wildlife photography and more. The possibilities are almost endless! Let’s explore some ideas to create amazing underwater compositions.

Underwater fashion photography

Underwater fashion and underwater creative portrait photography can produce some of the ghostliest and the most surreal but beautiful portraits. Have you ever imagined underwater fashion photography?

This sub-genre will bring out your creativity where you start by imagining concepts, including human subjects in underwater scenes. Underwater fashion photography will also result in some extremely unique compositions and conceptual shoots if done properly.

Underwater wildlife photography

Photographing underwater marine life is a great way to expand your portfolio. Underwater marine life can include corals, fish, marine plants, and creatures. In this type of photography, as mentioned previously, you will need the assistance of scuba gear and flashes. As most of the rare and beautiful marine life images are likely to be sourced at the seabed or riverbed, you must have the right kind of equipment for a deeper level of density and darkness of the water.

Scenic underwater photography

Underwater scenic photography is where you explore the various aquascapes under the waves. The best aquascapes would be where there are natural underwater ridges, cliffs, rocks, and corals. Experiment with different types of water bodies to get an overview of each different aquatic scene.

Showcase your underwater photography on social media

Showcase your finest underwater work on your website and  social accounts such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Keep your socials updated with your best infrared work.

Get down

So, this is some of what you will need to know to get down and under in this genre of photography! Get ready to submerge in the cool waters and explore a world unknown to most of us!