Aspiring underwater photographers are often frustrated at their initial results, which are generally in a word – terrible. All those shots of beautiful corals, fish and other reef critters you wanted to share with friends turned out blue, dull and boring.

So what’s the deal? You got a spiffy new waterproof camera that takes great photos on land but when using the same camera underwater the results aren’t even close. The reason is the water which being considerably denser than air, sucks up light, color, and contrast.

The first thing you noticed was all the underwater shots looked blue. That’s because blue is one of the last colors to be absorbed by the water whereas the reds and yellows disappear really fast, like in a few feet. To get color back you need to add light back by using a flash or strobe.

The next problem to overcome is that light won’t travel very far through water and if you’re more than a few feet from the subject, the light from that flash just won’t reach. What you need to concentrate on is getting to within 2 or 3 feet of what you’re shooting.

You also want to get down low and try to aim upwards a bit to improve contrast. Just like you would if photographing a friend on land, aim for the eyes to get focused.

Getting close to the subject will keep you from trying to shoot through too much water which acts like a filter and tends to make your pictures lack sharpness and contrast as things sort of blur together.

While a flash is required for getting the color back it can also cause its own problems like something known as backscatter. That’s those opaque circles that may be ruining your pictures. They happen when the flash reflects off the minute particles suspended in the water directly back into the camera lens, usually from using the internal flash.

You can sometimes get away with an internal flash when shooting super macro because even a flash set next to the lens will be at enough of an angle so as not to reflect directly back, but otherwise you’ll need an external flash you can mount off to one side. When setting up the strobe, be sure to disable the internal flash or just tape over it.

Also take the time to become a proficient diver, and get especially good at maintaining neutral buoyancy. You don’t want to be trying to master a new waterproof camera without having mastered diving first. Having lousy buoyancy skills not only makes you a detriment to the reef, but could also get you into a dangerous DCS situation.

So the quick hits to getting better pictures underwater are getting close, getting low, aiming up, and using an external strobe. Plus remember to avoid letting your head get so into the camera that you forget where you are.

Author Bio: Find more photo tips, or look for suitable strobes, lenses, or a waterproof camera here, or check out the reviews and more articles on our website at http://www.underwatercamerasplus.com

Category: Recreation
Keywords: waterproof camera,underwater cameras