Underwater Photography: Basic Considerations
Text and images copyright Stewart L. Sy, all rights reserved

The underwater world: schools of colorful tropical fish, the snapping jaws of a great white shark, weird and wonderfully spotted snail-like nudibranchs. Startling images such as these first captured my attention many years ago when I saw them televised on "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” How could I have realized that, much later, I would be exploring the oceans myself and taking my own underwater images?

Here are a few things to consider before getting into underwater photography. This is not intended to be a “how to” guide; please consider it more as a primer on what’s involved and what’s available to novice and advanced underwater shooters alike.

Although it sounds basic, you need to be a good diver before you can even think of carrying a camera underwater. Even though scuba diving is no longer considered such a "dangerous" sport, there are still some risks. You must be comfortable with your buoyancy, air consumption and general skill level. A camera is an added distraction that a novice diver can ill afford.

Underwater photography is NOT cheap! Add the words "underwater" to any piece of photo equipment and the price automatically doubles! Why? Not only is there more hardware required to adequately seal the internal workings, but it’s a low volume market. An inexpensive film-based point-and-shoot camera in the $150 range with the same level of mechanicals and electronics in an underwater case will easily put the camera up to around $400. Now, take the same ratio and apply it to buying a housing for the Canon 10D or Nikon D100, or how about the Canon 1Ds? It almost makes the Canon EF500mm F4.0 L IS lens seem affordable!

You can’t change lenses, film or digital media underwater. This is an often-overlooked fact. You’re stuck with what you started your dive with, and it’s up to you to make the best of it, although the arrival of the digital point-and-shoot cameras with built-in macro and zoom capability has alleviated some of these concerns. For SLR or DSLR shooters, lens choices are fairly straight-forward from ultra-wide fisheye lenses to maybe the 100mm (or 105mm) macros. The Nikkor 70-180 is a popular underwater critter lens. The crop factor of more popular DSLRs makes a 28-105 range zoom very versatile. Big glass doesn’t work too well underwater.

Purchasing doesn’t stop with a camera. In an environment where the warmer colors start fading past depths of 30 feet, underwater photographers need to supply their own light source. On-camera flashes are woefully underpowered for most underwater use and their close proximity to the axis of the lens creates what’s called "backscatter." Backscatter is a condition where suspended particles in the water are lit by the flash, or strobes, as we prefer to call them, and these particles reflect the light back to the camera. This creates a snowstorm effect in the image. Needless to say, the strobes will cost about the same as the camera; then there’s the addition of strobe arms, clamps, and other accessories.

Water is 800 times denser than air. Not only will your movements be slower but light doesn’t carry as far. Not even the most powerful underwater strobes will effectively illuminate much farther than about six feet. Subjects beyond that radius simply start turning blue - literally. The flip side is that the photographer is working in the world’s largest softbox! Water helps to diffuse light, ambient and strobe, thus decreasing the likelihood of harsh shadows in the image.

Somehow, everything I just mentioned seems to put underwater photography in a negative light, but the reality is far from it. Imagine being suspended in an environment where your range of movement is now in three dimensions, where the only sounds you hear are the exhaust bubbles coming from your regulator and the clicking, popping sounds of the reef’s creatures. Although far from being silent, the underwater world is very relaxing and peaceful, with the water enveloping you in a comforting (albeit, sometimes cold) blanket.

Moving underwater might best be described as a slow, purposeful flight. Weight becomes a non-issue; that 20-pound camera rig on the surface becomes almost weightless when submerged. If you see a subject floating 30 feet above you, instead of having to settle for a low awkward angle, you can simply float up next to it to capture the photo. If you find a composition that works well upside down, instead of simply flipping the camera, you can flip your entire body!

The ability to carry your own light source lets a diver virtually set up a studio setting underwater. I dive with dual strobes that I can position using articulated strobe arms for optimal lighting.

What’s available on the market for the underwater photographer? From the fairly inexpensive to stratospheric, here are some of the approximate camera prices available today. Strobes and other accessories are an additional expense.

Least Costly ($200-600)
Film setups from Sea & Sea (MX-5, MX-10), Bonica (Snapper), Ikelite (Aquashot)

Mid-Range ($500 to $1200)
Film cameras like the Sea & Sea Motormarine III, Nikonos V (now discontinued but still popular)
Point-and-shoot digital cameras with manufacturer’s housings, such as the Canon S50, Olympus 5050
Film SLRs in the Ikelite plastic housings

High-End ($1000 to $4000)
High-end digital point-and-shoot cameras (Canon G5, Nikon 5400) in third party housings such as Aquatica, Ikelite and Subal
Film SLRs in aluminum housings by Aquatica, Nexus, Sea & Sea, Seacam, Subal
DSLRs in any underwater housing

In Orbit (You don’t know even want know!)
Canon EOS 1Ds in either the Seacam, Sea & Sea or Subal housings

Strobes
In North America, there are basically three major sources for dedicated underwater strobes: Ikelite, Sea & Sea and, a newcomer, Inon.

I’m off to go diving!

Stewart Sy has been diving for over ten years and has been deeply involved in underwater photography for the past six years. For more images (underwater and others), please visit his website at www.final-frame.com.

Feel free to send your comments on this article to the editors at NatureScapes.Net.

All content on this site is copyrighted material as indicated. Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.