Pictures of SCUBA Diving
Every diver, once they begin to get comfortable, gets the urge to take pictures of SCUBA diving adventures. but then, when you start looking at all the possibilities you’re soon overwhelmed with all the options. Let’s take a look at some of those options.
Because of the popularity and low price of digital cameras these days I will restrict this article to digital. Underwater film photography is quite expensive and technically demanding.
A great entry level camera is the Olympus Stylus Tough 6020. It’s less than 200 bucks and is ready to go right out of the box. This camera is water proof up to sixteen feet so don’t take it on any deep dives. It has one gigabyte of storage but is easily upgraded to 16 gigs.
Another beginner option is a waterproof case for a camera you already have. there are even some bag cases available for most popular smart phones. these allow full use of the phone, and camera, while being completely waterproof. The best example of this I’ve seen is the DiCAPac Underwater Waterproof Case.
Since you lose colors from the light spectrum as you go deeper, I recommend amateur photographers stick to shallower water. Unless you have a very powerful flash, the brighter colors like the reds and yellows will not show up in your snapshots.
The Pentax Optio WG-1 is a top quality, easy to use waterproof camera. This camera has video capability, like lots of modern digital cameras. You definitely want to upgrade the memory for video. It has 14 mega pixels of resolution with a wide angle lens.
Using a wide angle lens underwater has the same effect as using a normal lens on dry land. because of this magnifying effect of the water you’ll need to get closer to your subject than you would on dry land. This actually helps, though. You’ll be pleased with the effect of having an interesting subject in the foreground of your photo but still having lots of interesting things going on in the background, such as sea life, coral, or maybe even a shipwreck.
I highly recommend that you get a little training in underwater photography. there are classes available at many dive shops and resorts. You can’t go wrong by just getting a good informative book on the subject.
One of the best is Digital Underwater Photography: Jill Heinerth’s Guide to Digital Underwater Photography. This book includes tips, techniques and very entertaining stories about the author’s adventures around the world. You can get it on Amazon.
At first, you’re going to want some pictures of you SCUBA diving. Everyone wants to have those photos to put on Facebook and share with friends and coworkers. That means your buddy will have to take the pictures.
I suggest that at first you try to get photos of your face with some feature, like coral or fish, in the frame. make sure to time your shot between breaths. The bubbles from your breathing detract from the photo. they can also obscure your face.
A lesser understood problem is that the brightness of the bubbles can have a big effect on the amount of light in the photo. That can screw with automatic exposure features and render your face too dark to see. A flash will light up the bubbles so much that it can wash out the entire photo.
Well, I hope I’ve given you enough information to get started. Have fun, be safe.
Related posts:
- Preserve Your Scuba Diving Memories With A Waterproof Video Camera
- A Brief Entry-Level Guide for Underwater Digital Cameras
- The Olympus 6020 – Performs Great In Extreme Conditions and Delivers Quality Pictures
- Olympus Stylus 1030 SW – Waterproof and Shockproof
- Kodak EasyShare Sport C123