Underwater Photography
If you’re a keen scuba diver or underwater enthusiast and love taking stunning photographs of landscapes or animals, then underwater photography might be the perfect discipline for you.
What is Underwater Photography?
Underwater photography is, quite simply, the practice of taking photographs underwater. This can be done while you’re scuba diving, swimming, or snorkeling, or if you want to go even deeper underwater, from submersibles or remote underwater vehicles.
What Do I Need for Underwater Photography?
To get started with underwater photography, we recommend you put together a starter kit with an underwater point-and-shoot camera until you get used to the practice and know what equipment to prioritize. GoPro cameras are a great way to get started with underwater photography, but they offer very little functionality aside from capturing images.
Underwater photography professionals use standard DSLR or mirrorless cameras with underwater-grade housing, which has to be made specifically to fit your camera or lens to avoid damage. You’ll also only need a short lens with your camera as there won’t be enough light for a long lens to capture.
Underwater Photography and Lighting
One of the most important things to note with underwater photography is that lighting is notoriously difficult, particularly as you get deeper underwater. Water that’s only 10ft deep absorbs most of the red light wavelengths that you’d normally get from natural sunlight, which can make the shots you take seem faded unless you have additional light apparatus.
Underwater Photography Subjects
Common subjects used in underwater photography are “landscapes”, marine life, shipwrecks, cave systems, and other divers. You can also use your underwater photography skills to create stunning underwater fashion, beauty, or commercial shots. If you’re more scientifically-minded, then these skills are often in demand from underwater survey, construction, or environmental programs. Over/under images, where half of the shot is above water and the other half is below the surface, are also increasingly popular.
See the latest underwater Photography tips, tutorials and news in the articles below.
Sailboats, Ballerinas and Horses: The Underwater Photography of Kurt Arrigo
One look at Kurt Arrigo's photographs and one can quickly see that his passion is water. The backdrop of almost every one of his photos is water--whether underwater or above in a sailboat.
An Underwater Look at Senior Portraits | Interview With Cheryl Walsh of Alt-Senior
Looking for alternative ways to photograph seniors opened Cheryl Walsh up to the challenging world of underwater portrait photography. Cheryl ...
OUTEX: Affordable Underwater Camera Housing
Growing up in Southern California near the beach I always thought ocean and surf photography was cool, interesting, and something I wanted to try. I remember specifically looking into underwater housings a few times on the internet and immediately being discouraged with how expensive and unobtainable they were on my small budget. Beyond the surf photography I began to see really cool concepts shooting in or under water from Chase Jarvis’ “Blue” to the more recent Benjamin Von Wong’s Underwater Realm Projects like these spark my creativity and make me wonder about the possibilities of being able to take my camera where most don’t but again the underwater housings haven’t become much cheaper since I first looked into them starting well over $1000.
Von Wong’s 9 Tips for a Successful Underwater Shoot
Exotic, challenging, and exciting, underwater photography has grown tremendously in recent years as a genre. Are you interested in shooting creatively underwater, but don’t know the first thing about it? Benjamin Von Wong has put together a list of 9 tips to help you prepare for a successful underwater shoot. Check it out!
