Photography tips

Hey there,

I would love to try my hand at UW photography but I am realizing that my basic photography knowledge and skills might not be enough to dive into UW photography.

Does anyone have practical example for me to start with?

Thank you so much.

PS: I own a sony RX 100 mark II and I guess that the "RTFM" rule applies too!

Hi Chloe

Hard to know where to start answering your question!

If you want to combine learning more about photography with UW photography, it may well be worth getting a copy of Martin Edge's book, "The Underwater Photographer" (ISBN978-0-240-52164-0). At a modest 516 pages it takes you right through composition, camera settings, lighting - and the variations that UW needs. Even though it is, clearly, aimed at UW photographers, it does offer a very good guide to the basics of photography. I don't know if it's available in French but that might not matter to you.

I'd suggest the basics are understanding the effects and meaning of apertures, shutter speeds and ISO; then composition and how one impacts on the other; then lighting. There may be courses on offer in your community that could help you with these basic, but key, concepts.

But, as I say, if you can take a look at Martin Edge's book, I think that'd give you a great start.

YouTube can be a great resource for learning but honestly the best thing to do is get hands on time with your camera and learn by doing. The biggest thing to study & mess around with is the balance of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture…plus focusing and depth of field but you get the idea. Once you've got that down you'll be fine for shooting underwater.

Thank you so much, I'll have a look to the book you're mentioning!

Hi Chloe

 

Hard to know where to start answering your question!

 

If you want to combine learning more about photography with UW photography, it may well be worth getting a copy of Martin Edge's book, "The Underwater Photographer" (ISBN978-0-240-52164-0). At a modest 516 pages it takes you right through composition, camera settings, lighting - and the variations that UW needs. Even though it is, clearly, aimed at UW photographers, it does offer a very good guide to the basics of photography. I don't know if it's available in French but that might not matter to you.

 

I'd suggest the basics are understanding the effects and meaning of apertures, shutter speeds and ISO; then composition and how one impacts on the other; then lighting. There may be courses on offer in your community that could help you with these basic, but key, concepts.

 

But, as I say, if you can take a look at Martin Edge's book, I think that'd give you a great start.

The first thing to master in U/W photography is your diving skills, particularly neutral buoyancy control.

You must be completely at ease under water to be able to concentrate on your photographic tasks!

To get off to a good start, I would recommend a weeks U/W photographic course such as the Jim Church program on the Aggressor fleet.

I am the beginner, too. I wonder how could you adjust the foucsing distance when the camera is the housing?

I am the beginner, too. I wonder how could you adjust the foucsing distance when the camera is the housing?

Hi!

The usual is to set the camera to Autofocus and use the camera's own internal system to achieve focus. If the camera or lens can't Autofocus, then you can sometimes fit a ring (known as a "focus ring") around the lens which has small cogs on it which engages with a control on the housing which will allow you to adjust focus manually by turning a dial on the outside of the housing.

If you mean though how do you control a zoom (rather than focus), then housing systems usually allow for a ring (a "zoom ring") which, again, fits around the lens and then engages with a control on the housing allowing you adjust zoom during the dive.

If you have at look at zoom ring options on the the website on one of the major housing manufacturers (eg, Nauticam, Subal, Aquatica) you'll get a better idea of what I'm trying to describe.

Yes I agree master diving skills and buoyancy first then you can relax and think about your photography skills 👌🏻

Hey Hi Everyone,

My name Dam Ponting and recently I have joined this forum. What about you guys?

Thanks in Advance!!

Just get in and try it... work on what works and don't repeat what doesn't. I prefer all manual functions to get better exposer but that take time and patience...

First, you need to be comfortable in the water - so make sure you understand buoyancy and how to be patient in the water, safety must and always should be your first priority. No point getting the best image you ever took only to run out of air while doing it.

Second, start with a YouTube and a few books: the most commonly used is Martin Edge's 'The Underwater Photographer'. If you are new to photography on land, then you would need to spend time understanding how the camera works here first. Spend time understanding aperture, ISO, shutter speed. And then apply this to the knowledge of lighting. By spending time on land taking photo's you will start to understand what type of photography you like: landscape, macro, night etc..

This will now allow you to start to think of getting your underwater rig: this is very expensive so you want to make sure you know what style you are after first. Then it's all about 'just giving it a go'. practice makes perfect.

And finally: never get disillusioned... sometimes it takes 500 pictures before you get "that perfect one"

all the best

My two cents worth. I ended up shooting in modes I did not expect when I was shooting point-n-shoots underwater. (Before getting a DSLR underwater). The reason is that there are so many variables to control that you normally can't let the camera choose for you.

Setting some program mode will probably have you end up with a shutter speed that is too slow. I find I need to get to 1/160th to avoid motion blur, either from the subject or the camera moving. Thus I've shot in Shutter Priority mode or Manual.

I want to set the aperture I need, not one that the camera picks to allow more light in. For instance, I may need F8 on wide angle or F16-32 on macro shots for adequate depth of field or for better corners.

I want to set the ISO to the lowest value to maximize dynamic range.

Setting shutter, aperture and ISO manually means that I have to vary the lighting to get proper exposure. I used to shoot in TTL, but I've found that tends to overexpose delicate details. And since I can't now shoot in TTL anyway with my D850, I'm setting the strobes to manual mode and adjusting power manually. Not as hard as it sounds as I normally dial in for macro at a certain lens-subject distance and vary from there.

If I shoot wide angle, things are different since I usually have to allow at least some ambient lighting. ISO's tend to be up in the 400-800 region, and white balance is more an issue than with macro.

For sure shoot in RAW mode.

To the OP. Being an underwater photographer means being a diver and being a photographer. To get up to speed on the photography side, go to your local community college or trade school and take a class in photography. Even if you think of yourself as competent you will be amazed at how the idea of making prints to show in class every week will stimulate you (or scare you to death). To further get up to speed photographically setup a scene on your kitchen table and use your camera/housing/lighting to shoot the scene. Do it so that you don't have to think about what to do to change the f-stop/shutter speed/iso etc. Get Martin Edge's book and read it.

To be a diver, you have to go diving. I would conservatively say that you should not take a camera diving until 25-30 dives and you feel comfortable with your buoyancy and diving skills.

Then take your camera, have fun and show us some pictures. It is a long and tough journey but worth every second.

Bill