Photos under agua

Frame by frame
By Suzette Cook-Mankins

Making digital photos under agua

COZUMEL, MEXICO - You’re going on a trip to a tropical paradise and want to show off your snorkeling adventure with amazing images of exotic underwater creatures. Up until now, you’ve had good luck with those point-and-shoot disposable film cameras that you can buy at any grocery or drug store. But the thought of having to carry two sets of camera gear: one for capturing those great sunsets and another for the subsurface scene is more bulk than you’re ready to bear considering you plan to be a beach bum on your vacation. With each technology boost that enters the digital photography industry, it seems our photo lives are made easier. The latest trend in digital camera underwater housing allows amateurs and photo aficionados to dive into underwater photography while still having the option to shoot on land. It’s the best of both worlds.

For this assignment I chose to purchase a Nikon Coolpix 4300 digital camera and Fantasea CP-4 underwater housing. Total cost: $199 for the camera, $149 for the housing. This 4.0 megapixel camera is not the latest Coolpix model but the underwater housing availability for the latest digital cameras is limited.

I also chose this model because it uses the same compact flash memory card system that I use in my professional gear. In the warm salt waters off Cozumel, Mexico I chose to submerge this camera snapped into an air and water tight case that still allowed me to press the control buttons needed to make great images. Here’s a fin by fin guide on what I discovered during my first under agua digital shoot.

Go sans camera first time out

The first time you make a snorkel adventure, don’t bring the camera. Your senses are overloaded with schools of fish and coral combinations and you can’t figure out what to take a photo of. The next thing you know, you’re thirty frames into the memory card and only a minute has gone by. It’s best to familiarize yourself with the local fish species by studying up on them before you get there or by purchasing an identifying chart at a dive shop. Once you have had a glimpse of the world you’re about to photograph, then go get your gear and start shooting.

The deeper, the bluer, the darker

Snorkeling is best for your first underwater photo adventure. The light beneath the surface of the ocean drops off quickly. Because the ocean absorbs magenta, your images become darker blue the farther you get from the sun and surface. You might think about trying the color balance adjustment on your digital. A White Balance mode can offset the blues your camera will pick up. Or, you can choose to shoot as is and desaturate the blues later on your computer. Live screenOne of the great advantages to underwater digital, is the ability to look at the live screen instead of trying to look through the view piece while your bouncing around in the motion of the ocean. Looking through that tiny rectangle is very difficult. Turn your live screen on right before you place the camera in the housing and take note of the battery life on your first snorkel. I found that after about 25 minutes, it wasn’t the battery life I had to worry about, it was fogging inside of the camera because the battery

temperature rises as you use the camera. Once you know the

battery and fog cycles of your gear, you can plan accordingly.

High angles

A high angle is a view from above. You’ll want to avoid always shooting down at your subject. Using your live screen view extend your arm out below and level your camera to be even with the subject. You can take a deep breath and get some depth if you see a great image thats well below you. Try snorkeling around the beach areas where the coral and reef areas are near the surface. This is where you get your great light and reachable subjects.

Digital delay

All digital cameras have a delay from the time you press the shutter release until the actual shutter releasing. Practice with your camera on the timing of the delay. Fish can be very unpredictable and you will suddenly find yourself in the middle of a silver school. Your reaction needs to be extra fast to make up for the delay. I found that for every 20 images one or two were right on and the rest were tails of fish that had passed by and the camera could respond fast enough. With digital you can shoot and shoot without the guilt or cost that film cameras bring.

Look for Moments and Contrast

A lot of underwater photography tends to look like product shots. Here’s a lobster, here’s a parrot fish, here’s a turtle. Try to capture a moment in your underwater photos. Two barracuda circling with a tail swinging around is compelling in content and composition. Try to control the contrast of your subjects and accentuate by photographing a light blue fish as is passes a dark mass of coral. Once you get used to the many underwater colors and textures, you can start to plan your photos as you watch certain fish and look for behavior patterns.Wait and watch for the right moment that captures the subject with a deliberate background.

Balancing act

With the constant motion in the ocean, you’ll need to figure out how to steady the camera during a photo while your body is being moved by the current. Shooting with an extended arm and using your fins and other arm against the current or motion helps. If you move the camera during the shutter release it will capture a blur.

Memory and removal

After your first time out, it’s best to download you work and analyze it asap so you can make room for improvement. Each time you remove the gear from the ocean there are specifics on how to clean it, and dry it. You’ll want to carefully follow the housing instructions. I rinsed the housing thoroughly and let dry completely before removing the camera from its sealed case. You can bring a laptop computer for file downloading or a more compact portable hard drive when traveling with a digital camera. I make sure to copy from the memory to the hard drive, then burn a cd back up, then delete from the memory card and start all over.

Finding the right set up

The internet or your local photo store are the best places to research your underwater digital photography options. A search for "underwater housing" through any search engine will yield many results. You should check first to see if there is an existing housing unit available for your current digital camera. If not, it may be time to trade up anyway and you’ll get a great second digital camera to add to the household. It’s a win win situtation. And although it went against every instinct to submerge a camera in salt water after a lifetime of protecting my gear, the underwater digital housing opened up a new world and subject for me.

Suzette Cook-Mankins is a 20 year veteran of photojournalism. Send comments, questions, requests to www.mizdigital.com