Underwater Photography Tips: How to Make Colors Pop

1. Why White Balance Matters

Water strips out red and orange colors in the first few feet of water. In natural light, a camera’s automatic mode (even underwater modes) can produce very blue images with little color contrast. Manual color balance restores true colors without using artificial light (flash). So first, learn your camera’s manual color-balance (white-balance) process.

2. How to Color Balance Accurately

Redo the manual white-balance process every 15 to 20 feet of depth change using a dive slate or neutral-color background, like sand, a white fin or your buddy’s gray dive tank. Don’t white-balance on strong colors, and don’t worry about accurate focus. But make sure that the white-balance target is not in the shadows; use aperture priority to get the correct exposure.

3. Tips for Shooting with Natural Light

To make colors in your images really pop — like the pink in the photo above — stay shallow (above 50 feet) in good natural light, keep the sun at your back, and use a slightly downward camera angle. The water column strips out light and color between you and your subject, so for good colors and a sharp foreground, get close to your subject. Remember to switch your white balance back to auto when using the flash, otherwise your photo will look very red.

Paul Colley is an award-winning underwater photographer, compact-camera instructor and author of Winning Images with Any Underwater Camera. To view more of his work, visit mpcolley.com.

To find the latest in underwater compact cameras, visit SeaLife Underwater Cameras.

To view more underwater photography tips for your compact camera, visit our Guide to Underwater Photography.

Check out more underwater photography tips at Sport Diver online, including how to photograph the elusive anemonefish!