Underwater Photography - Part 2

Part 2

So it seems like I'm back for more of this "blogging" shenanigans...i dont mind it really.... I mean, some of these things took me ages to learn (and often i did it the hard way) and if i can save you (the reader) a few minutes of pain/frustration then I would have succeeded!

So without further stalling, let me continue with more tips for taking underwater photographs....

Previously i discussed the scenario if you entered the sea and the visibility was  bad....but WHAT IF the visibility was good!!?!??!?! Happy Days is what!!! :) Besides the most awesome fun you would have just swimming/snorkeling/driving about amongst the amazing marine life and sea-scape you "may" find some time to take a deeper plunge down and take a few snaps!! Of course this is subject to your penchant/desire to take a freedive down to a deeper depth.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely no pro at diving or freediving, the absolute max i can hold my breath for is probably 45 seconds and max depth i've gone on one breath probably 15m and thats REALLY PUSHING IT FOR ME! (i.e. struggling to resurface and feeling like i'm about to pass out!! yes, i realize this is not very smart but sometimes curiosity just gets the better of me when i see something facinating!).

There's no need to go deep though, in fact i found that i've been able to take some very nice sea-scape shots closer to the surface! Plus, the closer to the surface you are the more sunlight will hit your target and make it Shine for you ;)



Tip #3. Be the Rock...or in this case..."Be the Coral"

You can take some nice shots while floating on the water's surface but i find that if you try to get a little lower and shoot from at least 45 degrees downwards, your shots get much better. Try to avoid a direct 90 degrees shot downwards unless thats what you really want!! To the left is a shot that kinda shows an angled shot, showing shadows below corals and their relative sizes compared to each other.


















If you can manage it, try taking a sea-scape at level or just a little below the level your target, I find this really brings out the sunlight rays, gives "perspective" and generally looks better. The below photo is taken at an angle just above level with my target....

To give you an idea...the following three photos  are taken just about level with my target (which is in this case a nice clump of coral/rock that has caught my eye and caught the Amazing Rays of Sunlight). Each photo is taken from a different perspective BUT OF THE SAME CLUMP OF CORAL .....but each time I've moved back a little and swam around a little...


  

Photo #1. This photo is rather close, but it captures the colors and structure of the coral quite well

Photo #2. In this photo (of the same clump of coral), I have now moved a little further back to capture a more clusters of coral



























Photo #3. In this photo I wanted to show not just the color but the size of entire structure with a background for perspective.

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Waw...this post is getting rather long...perhaps i should bump the next tip into the next post.....