Draft Underwater Photography Workflow.

This is my first attempt at developing a systematic decision-making approach to underwater photography. My intention is to clarify what I should be concentrating on at each point from the time I enter the water until after I take the final shot of a subject. I welcome your comments on this draft and will make the final version available to all.

1. Finding Subjects.

   1. Ideally understand the behavior of what you plan to shoot.

   2. Decide if the subject is suitable for my specific camera setup.

   3. Determine that the subject is accessible without inappropriate contact.

2. Shoot Video or Still?

3. Approach.

   1. Plan approach to avoid damage to subject and environment.

   2. Minimise silting on approach.

   3. Minimise animal disturbance.

4. Compose

   1. Determine creative objective (ID, capture behavior, etc.).

   2. Do I need to adjust camera settings and orientation?

   3. Consider background.

   4. Consider plane of focus.

5. Strobe/Light Position.

   1. Snoot/Backlight/Standard strobe/Ambient?

   2. One or two strobes?

   3. Strobe position.

   4. Initial strobe power.

6. Taking the Shot.

   1. Peak of action.

   2. Smooth release.

   3. Proper focus point.

   4. Concentrate on framing.

7. Checking the Shot.

   1. Histogram.

   2. Eye in focus?

   3. Strobe light balance.

   4. Backscatter?

   5. Distracting foreground or background?

   6. Did I achieve my creative objective?

8. Exiting the Shot.

   1. Communicate with waiting photographers or guide.

   2. Avoid silting.

   3. Avoid disturbing animal.

Nice idea!

Can I inject another idea which has worked well for me....

Look for interesting, neutral space possibly monochromatic background. Then sit and wait to see what comes on to it.

Great workflow. I take it you drew inspiration Martin Edge's Think and Consider system? (Ch 5 of The Underwater Photographer).

Great workflow. I take it you drew inspiration Martin Edge's Think and Consider system? (Ch 5 of The Underwater Photographer).

I will have to look that up. Mostly, I tried to think about what I should be doing at each step of the process. With so much going on underwater, it's easy to forget a few critical steps.