14.09.10
Underwater Photography with Paul Duxfield
If you are planning your first foray into the world of underwater photography, proper planning and preparation area must. Your safety and that of your “buddy” must top your list of priorities. If you area novice with fewer than 50 dives it is a good idea to enlist the services of a dive buddywho is significantly more experienced than you, so you can practise your skills without stepping outside your comfort zone. Forthis reason it is usually best to use a digi-compact camera in a suitable underwater housing before venturing into the more task-intensive world of the housed DSLR.
Your choice of underwater camera is dictated by a number of important criteria, the most obvious being whether there is housing available for it. Vital questions I ask about any prospective new camera is can it do custom white balance and can I attach a wide-angle lens to the housing? Of lesser importance until you are comfortable photographing underwater are more high-end features such as RAW and full manual controls. Trying too much too soon can be dangerous. For those just starting outI would recommend the Canon Ixus rangeof compact cameras.
Custom White Balance
The deeper you go underwater the moreyou lose the colour red and photos will quickly take on a flat blue tone. This can be fixed using custom white balance. A lotof cameras have an underwater setting,which can be okay in shallow water, butis next to useless for scuba diving which happens at a variety of depths.
Wide Angle Lenses
Water is considerably denser than air,which means colour, clarity and contrast fall off very quickly the further you are fromthe subject, even in the clearest conditions. Attaching a wide-angle or even a fish-eye lens to the outside of your camera housing will allow you to get much closer to the subject, but at the same time keep all ofyour intended subject in full view. Reducing the water column like this has transformed what is possible withbasic point-and-shoot cameras underwater.
Pre-Dive Checks
Before any dive it is important to carry out practical checks of your photographic equipment. This is as important as carrying out all your dive equipment checks alongside your buddy. This means making sure you have enough space on your memory card, your battery is fully charged and that you have carried out any cleaning and lubrication of your housing’s rubber seals, known as O-Rings. This should all be done well in advance of your dive briefing. If you are using a dive guide, pay particular attention to features they mention that you think will offer good opportunitiesto take pictures, such as caves, swim-throughs or large coral formations.
There may well be marine life unique to that area that you will want to photograph. Jot these things down on to a dive slate if you have difficulty remembering things. It’s a big temptation to take every bit of underwater photography kit you own on your dive, which is why it is important to listen to your dive brief and take only the equipment you think is necessary. I always try to reduce my equipment choices. If anything it forces you to think more creatively. For most dives I carry only my camera and housing, and a wide-angle lens.
During the Dive
If you are a competent diver and your guide is happy for you and your buddy to hang back from the group, allow a few minutes to take stock of everything around you. Look at where the sun is in relationship to the reef and the overall topography of the area.
Unless I am deliberately shootinga silhouette, I prefer to keep the sun behind me. This is the best orientationif you want to shoot available lightand use custom white balance. I much prefer to shoot during the ‘golden hour’ just before and just after sunset and sunrise. I find the colours, shapes and shadows take on their most dramatic aspect. It is also the best time to observe many marine animals in action, as this time usually coincides with feeding habits. Most places with the best diving are also marine reserves with strict rules that do not allow divers to touch the reef. This means tripods are out of the question and so your dive skills are the key factor in getting you close to the action. First-class buoyancy control, the ability to keep level in the water, will ensure you are a stable platform from which to take pictures.
I normally set my camera in its spot-metering mode and use the half-pressure of the shutter release to lock the exposure. Then I reframe for my final composition. This can be done in a jiffy when practised well and gives you unprecedented control of what is essentially a point-and-shoot camera. Even challenging exposure situations inside caves and wrecks can be mastered using this technique.
Other Situations
So far we have covered what is possible using just in-camera controls and available light, and in fairly good conditions, but what if the prevailing conditions don’t allow us to shoot in this way? We can try to raise the ISO, but this compromises the picture quality and although compact cameras are getting better in this respect, I never go above 800 ISO when shooting. Therefore, once we have run out of available light we must think of alternative ways to light subjects underwater.
External flash is the most common way to do this. These are triggered usingfibre-optic cables and a slave system, actuated by the camera’s own internal flash. They give a slightly increased range, up to a metre or so, but the main reason to use them is to be able to move the flash away from the axis of the camera lens. This helps reduce a problem known as ‘backscatter’. I often use a high-powered video light to shoot both stills and video.
Be creative
It is important to know the technicalins and outs of your camera so that it becomes second nature to you, but it is also important to be creative. With the average dive lasting only an hour or even less, it is important to be as prepared as you can for what you might encounter. For example, you may be at a dive site that you are only going to get one crack at, so find out what time of day you will be diving there. Find out where the sun is coming from. Are you there fora particular creature or feature?
Most resort or live-aboard diving is carried out ‘multi-level’ which means you generally descend to about 30m and then work your way shallower over the course of the dive. As the light is much better above 15m I will head to the shallow water much sooner unless there is something noteworthy to shoot in the depths.
Get close to your subject. Go slow. New divers have a tendency to charge around. My advice is to take it easy, you will be more relaxed, which will make it easier to capture any skittish marine life you may encounter. It’s remarkable how close you can get to things if you take your time.
Shoot upwards towards the surface. This allows you to isolate the subject from the background and create eithera silhouette or alternatively the plain blue background of the sky. There are lotsof opportunities for abstract shots underwater, so take them. Keep it simple – in a graphical sense, less is more.
If you have a compliant subject, take lots of shots and angles, you probably won’t be there the following week and your memory cards are the least expensive part of the equation.
Paul's Starter kit for Beginners:
- Canon Ixus 130IS from £149 www.canon.co.uk
- Ultra-slim IXUS design
- 14.1mp
- 4.0x digital zoom with IS
- 5.0-20.mm focal length
- Smart Auto mode with Scene Detection Technology
- DIGIC 4
- ISO?80 through to 1600
- 2.5in PureColor LCD II
- Face Detection Technology
- Fine, normal JPEG
- HD Movies (1280x720 pixels, 30fps) and HDMI connection
- Canon WP-DC31 underwater housing from £220www.camerasunderwater.co.uk
- Depth rating: 60m
- M46 filter thread allows direct attachment of wide and macro lenses
- Dimensions: 152mm wide, 110mm high, 86mm deep (including port)
- Weight: 660g including a camera
- Internal flash can be used directly (with supplied diffuser)
- Comes with a wrist lanyard, flash diffuser, O-Ring grease
Paul's words of wisdom:
Have a dry run with everything, so you avoid leaving behind anything vital. Think about spare housing O-Rings and any other spare O-Rings you may need, spare batteries, plus a cleaning kit for your camera, housing and any extra lenses you may have. Rinse the (sealed) housing in fresh water daily, to prevent the build-up of salt. You can clean and lubricate the O-Ring once it has dried off. Always have your camera in its housing ready to shoot. Back up. Use fresh memory cards each day and put the originals away. Above all else you need to keep you and your buddy safe, and have fun. I find if I am enjoying the dive and the company it shows in my photos.
Biography:
Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield is one of the UK’s leading underwater photographers. He is an accomplished diver, having spent five years as a diving guide in the Red Sea. He now works for Cameras Underwater in London and has played a leading role in changing the way Britain’s divers take photographs.
www.camerasunderwater.co.uk
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