Underwater Photography Techniques

Underwater Photography tips for Beginner and Advanced Photographers. Also visit our underwater video tips.

Includes Underwater Tips for the Sea and Sea DX-2G,Canon G10, G11 and G12, Canon S90, S95, S100,  Nikon d300, D7000, Nikon d90, Canon 7D, Olympus PEN, Sony NEX and all other Compacts / dSLRs.

Basic Underwater Photography Tips
These are the "traditional" underwater photography tips everyone should know.

1. Get close to your subject - preferably within 12 inches. Water reduces color, contrast, and sharpness.
2. Make sure your camera flash is turned on, preferable in "forced flash mode."
3. For best composition - get low, shoot at an upwards angle, don't center the subject, try to fill your frame with the subject. Don't shoot "down" at the subject.
4. Make sure the subject's eyes are in focus.
5. Get your diving skills down before you start using a camera underwater. Practice topside with your camera inside the housing. Try taking close-ups of flowers and household objects.
6. To minimize back scatter, buy an external strobe / flash and position it away from your underwater camera housing.
7. Set your camera to the highest resolution, and the lowest ISO to begin with.
8. Use auto white-balance when using a flash/strobe, and custom white balance or underwater mode when not using a flash.
9. Learn how to use manual mode or aperture priority mode if your camera offers it, so you control the balance between the natural light and the light from your flash.
10. If you are shooting with natural light, shoot in 20ft of water or less, with the sun behind you.
11. For quickest focus, use spot focus mode. Learn how to focus on an area without taking a photo (pressing the shutter button halfway) and recomposing.
12. If your underwater photos don't look sharp, check to see which shutter speed was used, it should needs to be 1/30th for still objects, 1/60th for slow moving objects, and 1/125th of faster for faster moving fish.
13. Most underwater photos can use an increase in contrast when post-processing your photos - but don't overdo it.