Shooting Tips

Here are a number of example camera settings and shooting tips that may help you get the shot you want. When going for the more advanced pictures, the digital world is not that different from the conventional: each kind of photo requires a different approach!

Basic rules

Follow these basic rules for underwater photography, whether shooting digital or conventional:

• Concentration is key. Control your breathing and buoyancy.
• Compose the photo you want to take in your mind and find the right spot and angle that will give the best results.
• Approach the subject with care, sudden movements will scare the animals away.
• Patience will make even the more shy animals become supermodels.
• Shoot and shoot and shoot... Take multiple photos of the same subject, if possible with various settings. Don't come home to find out the single shot of the whale shark is blurry.
• Prepare yourself and the camera before the dive. Also discuss your photo targets with your buddy, so he/she know what to expect of you.

Close-ups

Close-ups (30-60cm) are easy to make with digital cameras: the internal flash is usually sufficient to light the subject thus bringing out all colors. With all the automatic features, it really is a point-and-click exercise.

One of the most important rules in close-ups: make it an actual close-up! You can be easily tempted use the cameras zoom to get "closer" to the subject, but this will not get the results you want. Actually reducing the distance, and thus the amount of water between you and the subject will greatly improve the colors and detail!

For advanced close-ups, take a very short shutter time to make the subject stand out against a dark or even black background. Isolate the subject "in the blue" for best results.

Macro

macros come naturally for the digital cameras, most of them can shoot within a range of 10 to 30cm. But this is where a major drawback of the internal flash appears: it's static mount prevents light from being directed to the subject and may in fact completely miss it.

To successfully shoot macros (with or without an additional macro lens), it's again important to set the camera's aperture it's highest value for a maximum in contrast. Because you get real close (few Cm's) to the subject, decrease the shutter-speed to prevent overexposure. When using a external strobe, make sure the strength is also decreased and/or diffused to prevent too harsh lighting.

The camera may have serious problems of focusing on the subject, so switch the camera to manual focus and set it to the smallest available focal distance. Do not trust the LCD too much regarding sharpness of the photo, so take a few more to be sure.

Wide Angle

Wide angle shots give a good impression of the reef and surroundings. Shooting towards the surface greatly improves these photos. Try to combine close subjects like some coral with fish or divers in the distance: it will give great results.

As wide angle shots will generally include moving fish, a smaller shutter speed is required. Setting it around 1/125 or less is usually enough to freeze the action of most fish. Increase the opening of the aperture to allow the background color to come through.
Related information

• Underwater color correction
• Tips for using a slave strobe
• Image processing for digital underwater photos
• Using RAW instead of JPG

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