:: Tips for Digital Underwater Photography

Now that you have gotten your digital camera, it is time to learn some unofficial tips and tricks on protecting your digital investments and also learning how to take good photos.

This section has been extracted from Canon Japan on how to prepare your digital investment.

http://www.canon.com/copyright.html

:: The 20 Laws of Photography (Abstracted from Asian Divers)

Why go by trial and error? Learn shortcuts from the pros
By Judy Ann Newton-Harzer

The thing about a law or a rule is that, as soon as you set it in stone, someone sets out to disprove it. Your next batch of dive photos may not turn out well if you go strictly by the rules. Remember the old saying about always shooting with the sun to your back? How many striking shots have you seen with a brilliant sun flare highlighting the feathery coral whips? And what about the old standard that horizontal shots are more balanced than verticals? Many a festooned wreck would be missing masts if we followed that credo.

Underwater photography is like a war of wits where you are challenged by the forces of nature to capture the best elements in a single set of images. Just like any battle, there are rules, there are orders and then there is what works. When the rules of photography won’t fit or don’t apply, let your natural instincts take over. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.

1.Bracket, Bracket, Bracket

If you learn nothing else from this article, memorise this mantra. Whether you are a beginner or a professional with publishing credits longer than a telephone directory, this is the Golden Rule. If you consider how much money, time and effort you have expended to get to the dive site, the most prudent thing you can do is ensure you got the shot by bracketing your exposure setting one stop over and one stop under!

2. Get Close

Remember that water is roughly 800 times denser than air and the further you are from the subject, the more you lose in clarity, colour and texture. You are also opening up the shutter to suspended particulates that turn into nasty backscatter when illuminated. Keep in mind that an image is reflected light — the more distance that light has to travel to and from the shutter, the bigger the margin for imperfection.

3. Shoot Up

Shooting down on a subject is more difficult to compose and expose, unless you are shooting macro. Shooting up provides a more interactive profile of the subject, a more interesting background and a stronger focus on your subject.

4. Compose Your Shot

Get acquainted with the basic principles of photo composition and the Rule of Thirds. Understand the theories, practise them until they are second nature to you, but do not be ruled by them! Be bold and inventive with your shots, but perfect the fundamentals. Don’t be satisfied with one angle of approach to your chosen subject. Try “composition bracketing” — shooting from various angles to the left, the right, move in, move out. All of this will create a sense of natural depth. Don’t hold yourself back mentally or physically.

5.Use Faster Shutter Speeds

Faster shutter speeds will stop the action, adjust the background colour and increase the depth of field. Most creatures in the sea move faster than your camera’s ability to freeze the action. Setting your shutter at 1/125 will slow down a speeding surgeonfish, but 1/250 will stop him dead in his tracks and bring out the deep, dark-blue background to create a magnificent contrast.

6. Aim For The Eyes

You may get the entire whale shark focused but, unless the eye is crystal sharp in the final image, the shot is sadly out of focus. The eyes are the most captivating part of the fish. By getting the eyes “dead bang” on with perfect focus, clarity and exposure, you are creating a relationship between the subject and the camera lens. That interaction is the essential element between a good shot and a great shot.

7. When Shooting Fish, Keep The Sun At Your Back

Deepwater creatures are difficult to capture accurately because of the density of the water between you and the subject. By keeping the sun to your back, you are utilising any available natural sunlight to highlight and accentuate the fish’s form.

8. Aim Carefully

Legendary underwater photo-pro Jim Church taught me a vital phrase that I still chant on every dive: “Focus, Distance, Angle, Shoot.” This is the equation that most underwater photographers forget. Focus on your subject and then calculate the distance from the subject to the shutter plane — not the tip of the lens. Also, keep in mind that distances refract and subjects appear closer than they really are!

9. Focus on the Foreground

A vast panorama is nice, but it can be dull if there is nothing to draw the eye. Focus on something in the foreground that offers an optical teaser. A silhouette bursts to life when a splash of soft coral frames the foreground.

10. Watch the Background

Keeping your eye on the subject but don’t ignore the fore and background! Before you take that shot, check the foreground for odd debris, too much sand and things that might detract from the image. Also check the background for an errant diver splayed against the wall in a deformed manner or the anchor line of the boat sliding through your shot like a telephone line.

11. Use Dual Strobes

The benefits of shooting with dual strobes are obvious: Even lighting, eliminates shadows, reduces backscatter and highlights the subject. Make sure that your strobes are balanced so that one does not overpower the other and wash out one side of your shot. Understand the elements of flash photography, how to better capture natural light and apply fill flashing. Dual strobes double your options for creating mood and capturing the shot.

12. Go Wide

Using a wide-angle lens (between 12mm- 20mm) allows more versatility and permits you to get close without losing the subject. It also reduces the amount of water between you and the subject. While it is fairly unlikely you will ever get a great macro shot with a 13mm fish-eye lens, you can create some captivating close-up shots.

13. Watch For The Fine Details

Allow your subject some space in the shot. Crowding a fish to the wall or to the outside border of your frame suggests a lack of action or a dead fish. Cutting off heads and tails is equally disturbing! Hold the shutter release and watch for the fine details that can ruin a shot — such as a shiny fish! You know that light bounces off a silverfish more than it does a grouper, so keep that detail in mind when setting your camera.

14. Know Your Subject

Understanding how the fish lives, moves, eats, sleeps and evades can make the process of “stalking” so much easier. Listen to the dive briefings, observe your subject before you move in and be patient.

15. Dive At Varying Times

Limiting yourself to a regular dive schedule also limits you to what you can photograph and the effect light has on your efforts. Even varying the rota for getting off the dive boat can alter what subjects you can capture. For a real thrill, dive during “rush hour” – that magical time at sunrise and sunset when the night creatures and day creatures change shifts.

16. Have A Plan For The Model

If you are planning to include a model in your shot, know what you are going to do before you get the model wet! Take a reconnaissance dive to choose your location and even snap a few shots to show your model exactly how you want her to move into the scene. Getting it right on the dive deck will increase your chances of getting it right at depth.

17. Have A Plan And Stick To It

If you set up your camera for macro shots and then jump in looking for whale sharks, you have wasted your time and opportunity. Decide what you are going after (macro, wide angle, close-up) before you get in the water and stick to the plan.

18. When All Else Fails, Ignore The Plan

Okay, so you just read that you should always stick to the plan. Not easy if your strobes fail or the subjects are macro and you are shooting with a fish-eye lens. Always have a backup plan in mind for such instances. Do not dwell on the problems, dump Plan A and move on to Plan B. Think of this as another opportunity to learn a new skill or technique with the camera.

19. Test, Test, Test!

Practice your diving and camera skills. Test your camera in a bucket before you get into the water. Test batteries, test strobes, test, test, test... it’s too late when things don’t work at depth.

20. Have fun!