Underwater Photography Tips: Mastering Light
Mastering Light
Natural-light background, low-power flash-lit foreground at 20-foot depth and 1.5 feet from the foreground subject.
Paul Colley
To create a spectacular underwater photo, you must first understand the direction, intensity and quality of light.
WHY IT MATTERS
Light dominates photography. It controls the shapes, colors and contrast that define pictures, and will sometimes be the dominant feature of an image. You need to understand the direction, intensity and quality of light to make a great image. So always be aware of sun position and your flash’s power settings.
NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
Natural light paints shapes and color into the whole image. If you want sun-bursts, stay shallow — 15 feet or less — and use a high shutter speed (1/500 sec). Don’t shoot straight into the sun; hide the sun ball off the frame edge or behind something. Due to the water column, a flash lights only foregrounds, typically 3 to 6 feet from the camera. So get close to your main subject to make colors and contrast pop.
COMBINING BOTH
Set and leave a small aperture (f/8 in clear water and bright sun). Use manual-exposure mode and adjust shutter speed to get a pleasing background water color. Be prepared to set speeds as low as 1/30 sec, and don’t worry — the flash will freeze foreground movement. Then simply use through-the-lens metering or adjust flash power manually until the foreground is well lit, but not so harshly that it looks unnatural.
For more from Paul Colley, 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.
Read more underwater photography tips and tricks:
Water Planet: The Art of Underwater Photography
Digital Photography Tips: How to Shoot Abstract Underwater Photography