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TIPS For SCUBA Diving and Photographing Fish

Underwater Photography Tips

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Mike Spelman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been diving for years both recreationally and as part of his assigned duties with the Commission. He also volunteers to help with search and recovery dives. One of his passions is photographing freshwater fish underwater.

The following notes are tips that he has learned over the years to make diving safer and to improve underwater photography results.

Safety

Anytime a photo of a cave diver is used, I feel compelled to point out the obvious--the diver is in a dangerous environment. More cave diving takes place in Florida than anywhere on earth! With seasonal gin-clear water that maintains a year-round temperature, caves attract numerous divers and underwater photographers. Though I was already certified as an underwater instructor, I knew further training was needed before I could safely pursue taking a camera "back there." Only after completing a special cave diving course, did I fully understand that open water and cave diving are two very different realms.

Proper training is available if you desire to dive caves. I cannot stress emphatically enough that you should take such a course and preferably use an experienced guide before attempting any cave diving. Perhaps warning signs at the entrance to some of the more popular sites convey this best by stating, "There is nothing in there worth your life".

Good luck with your shots and remember, stay under the bubbles.

There are many ways to improve the quality of your underwater photos. The following suggestions should help you get started. First examine the two most important items that will be involved in taking the photos. The diver and the equipment.

The Diver

After certification, divers need to stay wet! Reading all of the articles on diving you can set your eyes on is a great way to increase your knowledge, but the only way to improve your individual skills is to put the fins on and get "kickin.’" A diver with buoyancy problems or lack of familiarity with the basic scuba equipment will be a totally frustrated photographer. Go to dive sites that you are comfortable with and simply put in some "bottom time." Work on skills like hovering. Pretend to photograph a posing creature while paying attention to your positioning. Evaluate yourself, did you sink like a rock when you stopped to shoot? Kick up the bottom? Unnecessary delays due to gear dangling or dragging? The bottom line . . . the more dives you log, the more you’re going to enjoy this next important piece of equipment.

The Camera

With every ka-lick of the shutter, I’m still learning about underwater photography. But I do have a collection of do’s and don’ts that may save you some time on the "trial and error" trail. First off, I’m shooting a Nikonos V with a SB102 strobe and usually a 28mm lens. Whatever your choice of camera, the do’s and don’ts are the same.

DO's

(Do) Use the slowest ASA film the situation will allow. The slower the film, the better for color saturation.
(Do) Bracket! For close, full frame fish shots, sometimes (most times) I’m uncertain how reflective the subject is or how much light it will absorb, so I will take one shot at 100 iso. Then "bracket" a half stop over and under the setting. Of the three shots, one should be what I am looking for.
(Do) Make sure fish eyes are in focus. Since my goals are portrait shots of individual freshwater fish species, I try to fill the frame with the fish, as well as some habitat. The fish must be large enough to clearly identify with a crisp, clear eye. You’ll never see a tail-only-swim-away-from-you shot on the cover of a magazine.

DON'Ts

(Don’t) Conserve film. If you bracket (#2 do) you are going to use film! Considering the time to get to the dive site, cost of scuba gear, camera, etc., film is cheap! Load rolls of 36 exposure, this will keep you from having to leave the water to change rolls as often.
(Don’t) Leave the strobe/flash attached to the camera. By hand holding the strobe you can dramatically vary the lighting effects. This is especially useful when some particulate (suspended particles) are present in the water. A strobe mounted directly over the camera will reflect off the particles and produce a "scatter" or spots on the photo. Holding the strobe to one side bounces the light off the subject (illuminating it), but the angle does not light up the sediments directly in front of the lens.
(Don’t) Photograph only during the day. I’m convinced that night diving was started by a photographer. We were taught in your basic open water course that the colors fade, starting at the red end of the spectrum, once we descend under the water. To what degree depends on depth. While photographing during the day, the strobe will replace some of the lost color. But at night the strobe will reveal vibrant natural colors making your bluegills bluer and redears redder!

Take Me Fishing.org is a great general information site for recreational anglers and boaters.

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