So with today’s news, I thought it even more important to take time to share tips and ideas to make sure you are confident with your camera once we come out of lockdown.
And well, I thought I’d just start with my favourite place in the water, the surface.
It took me a long while to get over my fear of being underwater and learning to dive and there’s so many subjects that you can capture at the surface – whale sharks, basking sharks, manatees, even overhanging trees in rivers.
And the beauty is that all you need is a waterproof camera. I shoot with the Olympus TG-4 which I love as you can add a wide-angle lens directly onto the camera itself without the need for a housing. A wide-angle lens allows you to get closer to your chosen scene (remember that the Number One Rule in underwater photography is to get close, reducing your water column, therefore increasing sharpness to your image).
As it also lets in more light, that means that you can keep to a low ISO to keep your subject in focus. Both these above images were taken using an ISO of 100.
My aperture was set to a middle one to help reduce the overall light to the above part of the scene, keeping the clouds and sky in detail.
And finally my shutter speed automatically set itself to 1/60th sec, the recommended shutter speed to keep your overall image sharp. You can use your Exposure Compensation on it’s minus setting to help darken the overall scene of it’s looking a little washed out or to grab reflections at the surface.
So there you go, some tips and ideas to help you get to understand your settings and become confident with your controls before your future adventures.
I hope they help and if you’ve got any questions, just let me know. I’d love to help.
Take care everyone and stay safe ….. Maria xx
Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users 