Underwater Digital Photography Techniques & Tips

While a good photographer can take pictures anywhere, anytime, underwater digital photography does require you to learn some new techniques. Shooting digital photos underwater requires special equipment, but it also requires you to learn how to shoot pictures while dealing with the elements of water, nature, lighting and the lack of lighting.

Shallow Photo Shoots

Water absorbs light, which can cause a lighting challenge when you are shooting underwater digital photography. You can increase the amount of available light and capture richer colors by remaining in shallow waters while you’re shooting. As you work your way into deeper waters, you lose more of light, which in turn creates more of a loss in color as well.

Get a Close Up

The distance between you and the object you are shooting can also cause a loss in color in what you’re shooting. Similar to looking in a rearview or side mirror of a vehicle, objects in water look closer and bigger underwater than they actually are. You can overcome these challenges and increase your chances of photographing the image as it truly is by getting as close to what you are shooting as possible. You can also get a close-up view without physically shortening the distance between you and the subject by using a wide-angle lens.

From the Bottom

Another underwater digital photography technique is to shoot pictures from the bottom, up. First, when you aim the camera up toward the surface of the water, you have the light from the sun or surface to help ensure your pictures turn out. Second, the sand at the bottom of bodies of water can distort the white color balance settings of your digital camera, which creates objects and images in the photo where there are not objects and images. Finally, shooting from this angle creates less distraction from the object you are trying to capture.

Diving or snorkeling underwater presents its own set of challenges to you as the diver or snorkeler. If you add underwater digital photography to the mix, then you have an entirely new set of challenges to overcome. When you learn some of the techniques and use some of the tips for shooting pictures underwater, you’ll find that your pictures turn out better and that you capture the image you want to take.