This is a very complete article by guest authors Efra and Annabel in which they offer you their experienced hand to immerse yourself in the fascinating world of underwater photography.
The fotosub is a photographic discipline is booming. You just have to look at the vast majority of manufacturers that are betting on water cameras. Olympus, Sony, Nikon, Canon ..., all these brands have amphibious waterproof cameras without the need for a housing.
And we don't just talk about the All Weather cameras (Amphibians) or the famous GoPro. Underwater carcass brands have also put an eye on Smartphone, with the possibility of incorporating specific lenses such as angular or macro. What madness, huh?
1. YOU HAVE TO BE COMFORTABLE IN THE WATER
First of all, the most important thing is to value your experience in an aquatic environment. If you are not comfortable in the water you will hardly take good photos. You have to know that there are 3 modalities to practice this photographic discipline. Do not believe that the photosub is only for divers with a bottle.UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY WITH SNORKELING
It is about swimming on the surface of the water with fins, mask and tube. Depending on the place or time of the year you practice it, you will also need a wetsuit. If you swim in areas where there may be boat traffic (nothing recommended) use a signaling buoy. If you are not a very good swimmer you can use a vest, but this is an indicator that you are still not comfortable in the water, keep practicing . This mode is the easiest for a beginner, you just need to know how to swim. The disadvantage is that when framing with the camera always from the surface, it limits you to compose an image or make different frames. But if you are not very aquatic and want to start, snorkeling is your best option.APNEA (PHOTOBUSTER)
The difference with snorkeling is that you lower a few meters to the lung and can access other shooting angles and marine subjects. If you choose to use a wetsuit that will make you float, you will need a lead belt to lower more easily. A signaling buoy will also be necessary if you practice in places where there may be boat traffic. This modality requires a previous training and good physical condition, either with a specific course or practicing on your own, always accompanied. Nor do you need to be a professional apneist and go down 15 or 20 meters, between 2 and 5 you can start practicing underwater photography. We love to photograph in apnea because of its lightness. Unlike autonomous diving, you don't have the limitation of the air you have in the bottle, nor do you have to carry it with all the equipment.UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY WITH AUTONOMOUS EQUIPMENT
Bottle diving allows you to easily access different depths, without having to emerge for the duration of the dive. You can try different frames or compositions. This allows you to recreate with other shooting angles and have more time to configure the camera. When lung photographs, the background times have to be much faster for these needs. It is our preferred modality, because you have a lot of time to measure the light and work with a subject without having to go up to breathe. To dive with autonomous equipment you will need to do a diving course and get some experience. It is not difficult, it is a relaxing sport that the vast majority can practice regardless of age.2. CHOOSE YOUR CAMERA AND HOUSING ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS
UNDERWATER HOUSING
Once you've become a real frog man, it's time to start flirting with the camera. A very important point when choosing your camera are underwater housings. Each camera has its specific housings and these will not be valid for different models of the same camera. Remember that there are no housings for all cameras, and these are made of polycarbonate or aluminum. The polycarbonate are cheaper, less ergonomic and some do not give you access to all buttons. They are also more prone to fogging and flooding. The aluminum ones are more expensive but they solve all the shortcomings of the former. Our advice is that if your budget is tight and the camera is very simple or waterproof, you will buy a polycarbonate. If you have left the paste in a good chamber, do the same with the housing.THE CAMERA
If you are already a photographer, then you will have your camera. Find out if there is a specific water protective housing for your model. Immersing an SLR camera can cost a lot of money. One option is to value the idea of starting first with an advanced compact. Although this is already a personal decision. If you do not have a camera, or photographic notions, it is best to start with a submersible compact . At the beginning, you can start with the automatic mode and focus on the composition and framing. When you master these techniques a bit, you will go to manual mode. Keep in mind that not all compact cameras have manual mode and, in the long run, if you want to keep evolving, you will need it. Remember it when purchasing your first camera.DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMPACT CAMERAS, WITHOUT A MIRROR, AMPHIBIOUS OR REFLEX CAMERAS.
COMPACT CAMERAS
These are widespread in the photosub and are used by many users thanks to their versatility. The compact cameras have a great advantage, you can use different wet lenses without leaving the water. As a good photographer's Blog reader, you already know the importance of using specific objectives for your sessions. The wet lenses are coupled to underwater housings and there are different types. You can use macro, angular or endoscopic lenses during the same dive. In return, the sensors of the compact ones are smaller if we compare them with those of the reflex or mirrorless ones . But you have advanced compact like the Sony RX100 V with very good image quality and manual mode.AMPHIBIOUS CAMERAS (ALL WEATHER)
Unlike conventional compacts that need a housing, they are sealed and are water resistant to some depth. You can also incorporate a housing and subject them to greater pressure / depth. If you like pure minimalism and go with a little bulky team, these cameras are ideal. Because of its small size you have great ease to frame and access places like small cracks. This is a great advantage in macro photography , with just one hand you can frame and you can reach places that with a bulky team would be impossible. The disadvantage is its small sensor and most do not have manual mode. But the performance of some models such as the Olympus TG4 or TG5 with its powerful macro without the need for a lens, is to take it into account. In addition, this model allows you to change the aperture, ISO and do a manual white balance.3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NATURAL LIGHT WELL
If light is the most important thing in terrestrial photography, in the submarine it is much more. This is because you are in a denser environment than air. As you take more depth and distance, the colors are absorbed. First red, followed by orange, yellow and green, until everything is a monochrome blue. There are more underwater factors that influence your images. Refraction makes you see objects 33% larger and 25% closer. Also the reflection by which, according to the angle of incidence of the solar rays on the surface of the water, more or less light enters.4. USE RED CORRECTIVE FILTERS
There are a series of filters to use during the first meters and to recover warm colors. Although depending on the waters, these filters can be red, magenta or orange. The filters are usually wet and can be placed and removed from the housing without leaving the water. They are an alternative to artificial light. They tend to stop being effective after 12 meters or so, depending on the light conditions and the time of day.5. LEARN TO USE THE FLASH
BUILT-IN CAMERA FLASH
Our advice is to start with the camera's built-in flash. Remember that you are still assessing if you like this hobby and a specific waterproof flash is not exactly cheap. Under water there are many suspended particles. There are days that more and others that less, but to a greater or lesser extent they are always present. The problem is when there is a lot of distance between the lens and the subject. When this occurs, all particles in the path that the flash light travels are illuminated. This is why in macro photography, since there is such a short distance between the lens and the subject, it is easy for not so many particles to come out. If you shoot the built-in flash over long distances, you will have a photo full of particles. You might find prawns, crabs and some fish inside small cracks. Even if you practice at shallow depth with lots of light, if these little ones are in the shade where the sun's rays don't reach, you won't even be able to focus them. Trick: in these cases you have to have activated the focus light of your camera or use a small focus. Once focused, use the built-in flash. The flash light will bounce off the walls inside the crack and you will get a homogeneous light. If you want to make a backlight with a close and small subject, you can use it as a fill flash.EXTERNAL FLASH
If you are already clear that the photosub is hooking you, getting an external flash is a very good investment. Think that if you change your camera and case in the future, you can continue using it. There is a saying in the photosub: a simple camera with a flash is more effective than an advanced camera without a support light. There are good relatively inexpensive and light flashes like the Inon S2000 that give very good performance. If you acquire an external flash, a whole new range of possibilities opens up. With an external flash you have much more coverage and you can access the ambient photography, other larger bugs and practice in greater depth without the limitation of the integrated flash. External flashes are placed on an articulated arm of greater or lesser length. This way you can vary the incidence of the flash. To circumvent the particles, never aim directly at the subject with the flash. Do it indirectly, place it so that only residual light reaches it. Remember our advice, start with the integrated flash and when you have already taken all the game, you can get an external one.6. APPROACH ALL YOU CAN TO THE MOTIVE
In underwater photography you have to approach much more than in terrestrial. That is why angular, microangular, fisheye and macro lenses and lenses are widely used. Long telephoto lenses do not make much sense underwater. This is due to the peculiarities of the aquatic environment such as reflection, density, particles, color absorption ... Under water the range of the flashes is much smaller than on land. There are situations in which you will have to settle for a monochrome blue photo. For example, a sunken ship. However powerful your flash may be, you will not be able to illuminate the entire scene. In these cases, and with good visibility, you will have to expose with natural light. If there is not much depth, the filters and white balance will be very useful.YOUR BEST PROTAGONISTS
It also depends on the subject, there are those that are practically static like the opistobranchs that are very colorful small sea slugs, or the starfish. These animals are ideal to start practicing. Other subjects advisable to photograph easily are the blénidos. These are small benthic fish that do not usually swim long distances and always roam the rocks. They are curious, photogenic and if not scary they will pose for you.7. CHOOSE A GOOD PLACE TO PRACTICE
To take a good underwater photo home, you will have to find an attractive place. Normally underwater life proliferates near the coast, in rocky areas full of plants such as posidonia. Underwater all kinds of animals live together and many of them seek refuge so as not to be predated. Dive near the rocks and stay tuned. In a single stone you can find different animals and some may be hidden. Octopuses, crabs, nudibranchs, prawns or the offspring of all these. There are animals that can be seen more easily like many species of fish, but being fast require more practice to immortalize them. If you get into a sandy beach, near the shore of a beach full of bathers ... you will find little bug .8. ADAPT THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE TO THE UNDERWATER ENVIRONMENT
The technique you are going to use is basically the same as in terrestrial photography. Everything you've learned in the Photographer's Blog is going to help you. Obviously, you will have to adapt it to the underwater environment and you will have less light than on land. Forget about taking long exposure photos or using long telephoto lenses! If you have an automatic compact camera, you will have to use some automatisms in your favor such as semi-automatic ones. And if, for example, you need a fast speed, use the sports mode or children playing. To make macro, use the flower mode. Also the semi-automatic cloudy day mode, to recover warmth in your photos if your camera does not hit with the automatic WB. If your camera has manual mode, you will have more control over your photos. Use the flash and the aperture along with the distance to the subject, to control the correct exposure of the scene covered by the flash light. To correctly expose the background where the flash does not reach, you will do so with the shutter speed. The techniques that work on land also do it underwater . Photograph the animals at eye level, use the law of sight , look for vanishing points or apply the rule of thirds. Under water there are many textures. You can recreate with the roughness of some corals, the scales of a fish or the spikes of the hedgehogs. You can also make portraits, underwater landscapes or photo complaint if you find some garbage.9. PRACTICE
It is the best advice we can give you. Think that many divers learn underwater photography techniques. You already have that earned, now you lack some ease in an aquatic environment. It is often said that a diver is more likely to learn underwater photography for a photographer to learn diving. But with the appearance of so many action cameras, amphibious cameras or mobile cases, this is changing. Or when you go to the beach you don't see many people with GoPro or water cameras? And they are not divers. What sets you apart from them is that you are fond of photography and you already have a good base. At first it is normal that your photos do not go well at all, but everything will come if you are persistent and photographers are, and much. Remember that to practice photosub it is not necessary to do it with a bottle, but if you decide to do an autonomous diving course, you will surely not regret it. The diving courses are very fun and are designed for the whole family. It is a very quiet sport and brings you closer to nature as few other sports do.