Taking Pictures Under The Water

Good pictures can be taken anywhere. From the comfort of your own home, backyard to some place exotic like the underwater world.

Taking pictures under the water is is not done by marine enthusiast only. There are also professional marine photographers, marine biologists and scientists who constantly taking pictures there. Capturing the marine life in pictures allow them to study the life and properties of various species withoug having to take each and every one of them to the lab.

Now let's talk about the camera itself. Not many cameras are waterproof and can be use under water. A popular one that does is the Olympus Stylus 770SWwhich is waterproof down to depths of 33 feet (10 m). You could even record underwater movies with sound with this camera

Most cameras used under water are actually ordinary digital cameras you can use on land but it is put inside a special underwater casing / enclosure to protect it from the water. An example of underwater camera housing is shown below :

Simply put you ordiaray digital camera into he housing and voila you just make yourself an udnerwater digital camera. The special housing can protect the camera all the way down to the depth of 130 feet. (40m) depending on the housing quality.

Before taking your first picture with you underwater camera you need to pay attention to several things to get the best picture possible.

When you go way down underwater the light gets scarcer and also diffused so any picture you take will seem darker than those images you took on land. The ligth diffusion cause the red spectrum of light getting darker. To mend this problem simply adjust the white balance until you're back with natural colors. Images taken under water will also come up larger than the images above land even when you're using the same zoom level.

Another problem when taking pictures under the water is the phenomenon known as marine snow phenomenon. This is when your images coming out blurry and with so many white particles floating around it. This phenomenon occur because the close proximity between the camera flash and lens which makes the point of intersection between light and lens happens very close to the front of the camera. Any particles in suspension are front-lit rather than rim-lit and the reflection creates the snowy like surroundings.

To avoid this phenomenon it is recommended to use external flash for your underwater digital camera. Another solution is to use underwater case with a flash diffusion plate to reduce the snow effect.

Before actually using the camera under the sea water first check that all the sealing are tight. Submerge the camera into the water for several seconds to see if there are leaks through the case. Make sure that no small objects such as grain of sand is stuck in between the seal to make sure that water will not permeate the case and thus wet your camera in the process. Sand is as dangerous as water to your camera. If you have some silica gel handy it's best to put one or two inside the cameras enclosure since it can prevent moisture building up in the enclosure.

Another thing to remember when using the camera in the sea is to always wash off salt after your done taking pictures. Otherwise it will build up over time and crystallize. The rought salt crystal act just like sand and can cause leak. Cleanse the case with running water to clean it completely.

To learn more about underwater photography checkout Stephen Frink's underwater photography tips & tricks