You have probably seen hundreds of photos of seas and oceans. The sun looks particularly amazing in shots showing it rising or setting in a far-off horizon across a vast expanse of water. These shots show only the surface of the ocean. However, what lies beneath the surface can provide your camera with equally interesting subjects.
In the past, taking pictures underwater was left to the professional photographer because costs were very prohibitive. The availability of digital cameras made photography more accessible and technological advances have allowed pictures to be taken underwater using these digicams. Today, you can see many people engage in their hobby of digital underwater photography.
There are two types of digital cameras you can use for taking pictures underwater. The more common ones are point-and-shoot cameras which are popular with those who want to take good enough pictures without spending too much. There are single lens reflex or SLR cameras, which are pricier but can provide images with very high resolution. They also have detachable and interchangeable lenses that allow the camera to shoot distant objects or very close ones. Both of these types are put into special casings when taken underwater, to protect them from getting wet. Some camera models are amphibious; meaning, they do not need an underwater protective casing, and they can be used in a depth of five to ten meters.
The types of lenses used with a camera for digital underwater photography are: normal, wide-angle and macro. An essential companion to your camera is the strobe or flash unit. Since less light is available below the water surface, a strobe can aid in overall exposure. Strobes can be attached to the camera or can be external.
After you have taken your shots, you can save your images in three different formats: JPEG, TIFF and RAW. Among the three, JPEG requires the smallest storage space so your memory card can store more images. Its main disadvantage is that it loses quality when re-saved and when a higher compression is used.
TIFF stands for tagged image file format. Images that are stored in this format retain all information on the image, including the metadata. Because of this, images have a larger file size compared to JPEG. Accordingly, saving a single file takes longer as well.
The last type of format is RAW. This format is available only in the more expensive cameras. RAW images are stored without processing and are comparable to a negative in film cameras; thus, the image file will contain all information captured by the sensor. This RAW state allows you to do the processing yourself in your computer when you edit the image, allowing you full control over white balance, contrast, sharpness, saturation and other features. The dRAWback of this format is that the file sizes can be quite large. Moreover, they need prior conversion before they can be uploaded to the photo editing software.
Being familiar with equipment requirements is a good way to get you started on digital underwater photography. Although you might end up spending more on it relative to land-based photography, you can be rewarded by the fact that the subjects you find underwater are nowhere to be found on land.