Great Pictures Made Easy

A Guide to Underwater Photography

Capture the Magic - What do you want to capture on your digital camera?
What attracts you to underwater photography? What scenes are so breathtaking that people say this is so unbelievable, I wish I had a camera to show this to my friends? You will encounter strange creatures, see incredible effects of light and colors, explore wrecks, corals and plants that appear as if they were from another planet, while you float effortlessly without gravity.

Photo by Bernd Rac, Scuba St Lucia

And after years of adventures with your SeaLife camera you will look at your albums, perhaps even at an impressive gallery of framed enlargements. And it may be only then that you discover the real treasure that you found with your camera: You have learned to use your eyes to see and experience the underwater world, one of the greatest miracles on earth. As the manufacturers of SeaLife, we believe that an easy to use underwater camera will help millions of divers and non-divers to experience and see a part of our world which is essential to our survival. And we hope that you will enrich and enlighten your life by capturing valuable impressions in the underwater world with your SeaLife Camera.

Photo taken with DC800 by Dylan Moore, Key Largo, FL

Lets dive into some very helpful information about underwater photography that will make your journey more enjoyable.

Photo taken with ReefMaster Mini by Karl Lauderback

Table of Contents I. II.

Know your camera settings Underwater basics a. Light and color underwater b. Effects of water refraction c. Backscatter or Marine Snow Two ways to bring colors back into your pictures a. Using the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash external flash accessory b. Using Sea Mode underwater color correction How to take underwater pictures without optional External Flash a. Set the cameras scene mode to SEA Mode [or Snorkel mode] b. Using the built-in flash c. Adjusting the White Balance setting How to take underwater pictures with the optional flash accessory a. Setting the cameras scene mode to Ext Flash b. Exposure Control: Adjusting the camera for darker or brighter pictures. c. Exposure control Adjusting the external flash brightness: d. Using a diffuser for better Close-up pictures e. Edge Lighting: f. Color and White Balance when using an external flash accessory Focusing tips for taking sharp pictures Basic tips on taking great pictures a. Control you buoyancy b. Crystal clear water c. Shoot up, not down d. Pictures of your buddy e. Framing for your subject f. Silhouettes against the bright water surface Underwater video Using SPY mode Take your photography to the next level

III.

IV.

V.

VI. VII.

VIII. IX. X.

I.

Know your basic camera settings

This guide will teach you the basics of underwater photography and how to take great underwater pictures with your SeaLife camera. Before you start, you should read the cameras instruction manual and become familiar with the basic camera settings and button controls. Your SeaLife camera includes a printed English instruction manual and a CD with the instructions translated in 6 languages English, Spanish, German, Italian, French and Dutch. You can also download instruction manuals for all SeaLife camera models from the SeaLife website. Click here for the instruction manual page SeaLife Underwater Cameras

II.

Underwater basics
There are a few important differences between underwater and land photography that you should know. a. Light and Color Water is about 1000 times denser than air. As you descend deeper into the water, the light conditions become darker. The water absorbs red, orange and yellow colors, which makes everything look blue.

The above pictures demonstrate the effect water has on light and color as depth increases. That is why many underwater pictures turn out blue. There are a couple of ways to restore lost colors, which is explained later in this guide.

Fun facts: Coral, sponges and most other underwater sea creatures are actually very colorful. Brilliant reds, vivid orange and bright yellows highlight the underwater world. These red, orange and yellow colors actually help to camouflage the sea creatures. Since red and yellow colors are absorbed by the water, the sea creatures appear colorless unless you bring a flashlight with you and uncover the hidden treasure of colors.

b. Effects of water refraction Water has a magnifying effect. Objects underwater appear 33% larger and closer than they actually are. It tricks you into underestimating your shooting distance. One important rule for achieving colorful and sharp underwater pictures is to keep your shooting distance within 6ft/2m.

This Angelfish appears 2ft/60cm away but is actually 3ft/1m.

This fish appears inside of 6ft/2m, but is actually 8ft/2.4m away.

Fun Facts: The SeaLife Wide Angle Lens accessory compensates the underwater magnifying effect. The wide lens allows you to get closer to the subject and still fit everything in the picture.

c. Backscatter / Marine snow No matter how clear it may look underwater, there is always plankton and tiny particles suspended in the water. You may not see the particles with your eyes but wait until the cameras flash lights them up. Those small white dots you see in underwater pictures are called backscatter or marine snow. Here are two pictures taken with the cameras flash ON and OFF. Notice how the flash picture produces backscatter?

Cameras built-in flash fires and illuminates particle.

When the cameras built-in flash is turned off, you dont see the particles.

Underwater flash photography results in the brightest, sharpest most colorful pictures, but that requires an external flash accessory, not the cameras built-in flash.

Use of the cameras internal flash should be restricted to close-up shooting distances (within 12/30cm) and crystal clear waters. If you do use the cameras internal flash for close-up pictures, we recommend using a camera diffuser.
DC800 shown with SL1817 Diffuser

Tips to avoid backscatter: Avoid using the cameras built-in flash. The built-in flash is very close to the camera lens and illuminates all the particles in front of the lens. Use the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash accessory to reduce backscatter. The SeaLife external flash reduces backscatter because the flash is located far away from the camera lens. More on that later. Keep your shooting distance to 10% of your visibility. If the visibility is 30ft/10m, limit your shooting distance to 3ft/1m. Dont stir up the sand and debris on the bottom. Control your buoyancy.

III.

Two ways to bring colors back into your pictures

Remember the part about how water absorbs light and color? Here are two ways to bring back the lost colors. a. Using the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash external flash accessory The SeaLife Digital Pro Flash (SL961) external flash accessory will restore lost colors and minimize backscatter. Just remember to keep your shooting distance to within 6ft/2m.

Note: It is not recommended to use the cameras built-in flash because it is not very powerful and causes backscatter. The external flash accessory will result in the best possible underwater pictures. b. Using Sea Mode underwater color correction

If you do not have an external flash accessory, use the cameras Sea Mode underwater colorcorrection program to restore lost colors. The Sea Mode works best in shallower waters where the light conditions are relatively bright. Images can be grainy and colorless in darker conditions or depths greater than 50 feet in clear water.

Normal underwater picture at 25ft.

With Sea mode color correction - restores lost colors.

IV.

How to take underwater pictures without the optional external flash accessory.
Now that you have learned how water affects underwater pictures and how to restore lost colors, lets learn how to take the best underwater pictures without the external flash accessory. If you are using the Digital Pro Flash accessory, skip to the next section. a. Set the cameras scene mode to SEA Mode [or Snorkel mode] When the camera is in Sea mode, the first thing you will notice is that the viewing image on the LCD display appears red in color. Thats the effect of the underwater color correction filter. Underwater, the viewing image will look natural. In Sea mode, the camera automatically turns the FLASH OFF to help avoid backscatter. The SEA mode is ideal for shallow diving at depths above 50 feet.

Picture taken at 25ft/8m without the Sea mode

Picture taken at 25ft/8m with Sea mode

Note: The SeaLife DC1000 underwater camera is the first camera to include a SNORKEL mode, which is intended for shallow depth b. Built-in Flash setting We recommend that you keep the cameras built-in flash to OFF [ ] when taking underwater pictures. If you set the flash to Auto [ ] or ON [ ], you will cause backscatter and cancel the Sea mode underwater color correction effect. c. Adjusting the White Balance Setting The White balance (WB) setting will compensate for undesirable color casts, so that white objects appear white in your picture. You can correct for the underwater blue effect by selecting the appropriate WB. The White Balance setting is located in the cameras MENU. The WB options vary from camera to camera, so it really helps to read your cameras instruction manual and become familiar with each setting. Here are some common ones you will find in your SeaLife camera: o Auto White Balance The camera will do its best to automatically detect what the correct WB balance should be, but this will not work underwater. Only use the Auto WB for land pictures or in very sunny, bright conditions within depths of 10 feet. o <25ft/8m Most effective for shallow water at depths less than 25 ft/8m. o >25ft/8m Most effective for deeper water at depths greater than 25 ft/8m. Note: In dark conditions or depths greater than 50ft/15m, the color correction will not be effective and may result in dark or grainy pictures you need an external flash accessory for deeper, darker light conditions.

o Green Water or Blue Water Ocean and fresh water will take on a greenish color if it contains a high concentration of algae. If the water contains little or no algae, it will take on a blue color tone. Just look at the water from the surface and you should be able to see if the color tone of the water is blue or green. o Manual white balance The color tone of water varies depending your depth or local diving conditions. You can achieve near perfect color correction by manually adjusting the cameras white balance. Remember that the color tone will change as you change depth. Your SeaLife camera should include a White Balance card with instructions on how to manually adjust the white balance. Your instruction manual will also provide detailed instructions. Its really not that difficult once you have done it a few times.

V.

How to take underwater pictures with the optional flash accessory

Now that you have learned how water affects underwater pictures and how to restore lost colors, lets learn how to take some great pictures. This section covers how to take the best pictures with the external flash (optional accessory). If you are not using the optional External Flash accessory, go back to section IV (previous section)

a. Setting the cameras scene mode to Ext Flash

The Ext Flash mode is a SeaLife exclusive exposure program that takes properly exposed pictures when using one or two external strobes.

b. Exposure Control: Adjusting the camera for darker or brighter pictures.

In Ext Flash mode, push the flash button to select between Far Flash ( ), Macro Flash ( ) and Normal Flash (no icon). This will adjust the cameras exposure program and produce darker or brighter pictures.

Far Flash - Sets the camera exposure to take brighter pictures. This is ideal for longer shooting distances beyond 6ft / 2m. Macro Flash - Sets the camera exposure to take darker pictures and prevents over-flashing close-up subjects. This is ideal for close-up shooting distance within 3ft / 1m shooting distance. Normal Flash [No icon] Sets the camera exposure for normal brightness. This is ideal for shooting distances from 2ft / 60cm to 6ft / 2m.

Macro Flash

Normal Flash

Far Flash

c. Exposure control Adjusting the external flash brightness: You can make more fine-tune adjustments to the picture brightness (or darkness) adjusting the Digital Pro Flash accessory. Adjust the brightness control on the back of the strobe head. Turning the brightness control dial clockwise will reduce the flash brightness and result in a darker picture. This is very useful to prevent over-flashing the picture. Turning the brightness control dial counterclockwise will increase the flash brightness and result in a brighter picture.

100% power

75% flash power

50% flash power

d. Using a diffuser for better Close-up pictures

The SeaLife Digital Pro Flash Diffuser (optional accessory - item # SL9618) snaps onto the flash head to help soften the light and prevent over-exposure of close-up subjects. Results in richer color balance of pictures. Attaches to all SeaLife External Flashes. Works with SeaLife flash models SL960 or SL960D.

e. Edge Lighting: Direct Flash head slightly away from the subject Aim the flash head away from the center of the target so just the outer edge of the flash reaches the subject. You can also point the flash at a nearby object and bounce the light towards the subject.

f. Color and White Balance when using an external flash accessory There is no need to make
any color corrections when the camera is set to Ext Flash mode. The external flash accessory produces white light which produces colors that match sunlight. Just remember to limit your shooting distance to 6ft / 2m, within the reach of the flash.

VI.

Focusing tips for taking sharp pictures

The camera will automatically focus from 2/5cm to infinity, provided that the correct focus setting is selected and that there is enough light for the camera to see the subject. There are three focus settings:

o Normal focus:

Camera will automatically focus from 1ft / 30cm to infinity. When using the zoom the 1.5ft / 45cm to infinity. Camera will automatically focus from 2in / 5cm to 2ft / 60cm. When using the zoom the 1ft / 30cm to 2ft / 60cm. Camera will lock the focus at infinity, so anything beyond 2ft / 60cm is sharp. The shutter response (lag) time is the fastest when set to Infinity focus.

o Macro focus:

o Infinity focus:

Push the focus button to set desired focus

The LCD display shows the focus icon and focus area

Some helpful tips about focus:

The focus will automatically set to Normal Focus when first powering on the camera. Push the focus button and select the desired focus setting depending on your shooting distance. The camera will keep the setting until you change it, so make sure you know what focus setting is selected before taking the picture. The focus area box on the LCD display will turn green [or blue] when the focus is correct. If the box turns red [or yellow], the camera may not be able to determine the correct focus, because it is too dark, the subject may not have enough contrast, or the wrong focus button is selected. If the camera has a difficult time focusing on the subject because the light conditions or contrast is too low, set the camera to infinity focus and keep your shooting distance at 2ft/ 60cm or beyond. When shooting close-up pictures using the macro focus, the depth field is very narrow. For example, when the camera focuses on a subject 5 / 10cm, other objects positioned behind or in front of the subject will be out of focus. You can use the optional wide angle lens accessory to increase your depth of field at close-up shooting distance. Always take several pictures of subjects, particularly when shooting close-up, to make sure you get a sharp picture. For more details, refer to the instruction manual.

VII.

Basic tips on taking great pictures Now that you know the major effects of water on shooting underwater pictures and how to adjust the camera controls, lets learn some basic tips on taking great pictures. a. Control you buoyancy Be very calm and patient, and let that curious fish get closer and closer. Get up-current from a good spot and just drift motionless along with your camera in ready position. To stay in a camera-ready waiting position, approach your subject facing the current.

Control your buoyancy and move calmly (Photo by Bernd Rac, Scuba St Lucia)

b. Crystal clear water No matter what equipment you use, good underwater pictures require crystal clear water. Keep your shooting distance to 1/10 of the visibility. For example, if the visibility is 40ft / 12m, keep your shooting distance inside of 4ft / 1.2m.

Crystal Clear water is essential for great pictures (Photo by Jim Watt)

c. Avoid backscatter - Dont stir up the sand and debris on the bottom. Avoid using the cameras built-in flash. The built-in flash is very close to the camera lens and illuminates all the particles in front of the lens. If using the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash accessory, aim the flash towards the outer edge of the picture from, not towards the center of the image.

Dont stir up the sand (Photo by Bjorn Harms)

d. Shoot up, not down. Get some of the blue water in the picture. An interesting little red fish and yellow coral in the foreground will stand out against a mystic blue background. These color contrasts will add depth to your pictures.

Shooting up makes the colorful coral foreground stand out from the blue background (Photo by Kurt Amsler)

Shooting down normally results in poor contrast between the subject and background. (Photo by Liz Logan)

Tip: Try and capture rising air bubbles to indicate motion.

e. When taking pictures of your buddy, he or she should be no more than 6ft / 2m away for a good picture. Use the wide-angle lens accessory for group shots, so you can get everyone in the picture and still keep your shooting distance within 6ft / 2m.

Kids diving, Treasure Cay, Bahamas (Photo by Brent White)

f. Use the walls of a canyon as a frame for your subject, look for contrasting colors, bizarre shapes, towering kelp forests, subtle shades of water colors, sand and rock, wild structures, or dark shades of a wreck penetrated by spears of sun rays.

The entrance door to a wreck is the perfect frame (Photo by Bill Harrigan)

g. Even shots without any color, just a black silhouette against the bright water surface can make dramatic shots.

Whale Shark and dive, Galapagos (Photo by Ralph Stogsdall)

VIII.

Underwater video
Taking video with your SeaLife digital camera adds the element of motion and action to your underwater adventure. Here are some tips to shooting great video.

a. Underwater color correction is the same as taking still pictures without an external flash. Use the White balance menu to select the appropriate setting or manually adjust the white balance. Please refer to the Taking Pictures without External Flash b. Hold the camera steady. Hold the video camera steady on a particular scene. Move the camera very slowly when panning up, down, left or right. Moving the camera too fast can make you feel sea sick when viewing the video on your computer or TV. c. Take short video clips. 10 to 15 seconds per video clip is plenty. Its better to film a series of shorter video clips than one long one. You can splice the video clips together on your computer. d. There is a lot of video editing software available in the market. Before you go out and buy anything, check your computer for video editing software that you may already own. The Microsoft Windows XP operating system includes Windows Movie Maker software for free. Movie Maker is very easy to use editing software that allows you to splice video clips together, add titles and music. e. As you gain experience, you might put a presentation together on your computer. Combine music and video and present it to dive clubs, schools and friends.

IX.

Using Spy Mode

Spy mode is a very unique shooting mode developed by SeaLife. The camera will automatically take continuous pictures at a preset time interval until the memory is full or you push the shutter button. You can now take close-up pictures of subjects that scare easily, like garden eels and Octopus. Heres an example:

Here is a small series of pictures taken in Spy mode. The Octopus was hiding in the sand and would disappear every time the diver got close. The camera actually took over 50 pictures of this scene before the Octopus popped his head out.

Here is the best picture from the series of Spy mode pictures. (Photos by Bernd Rac, Scuba St Lucia)

Here are a series of Spy mode pictures which captured a rare red fox in the beach dunes of Brigantine, NJ.

There are many other creative ways to use the Spy mode. Take amazing time lapse images of sunsets. Set-up the camera on a tripod and include yourself and others in the picture. But, please make sure others are aware and approve of you taking spy pictures of them.

X.

Take your photography to the next level

Every time you take underwater pictures, you learn and improve from the experience. Take advantage of some of the other great resources available that can add a new dimension to underwater photography. U/W photo course can be very enjoyable - Check with your local dive shop about underwater photography course they offer. The major certification agencies, like PADI, NAUI and SSI offer underwater photography courses and teaching materials through your local dive shop.

Inspiring Books - Every dive dealer with an underwater camera department will have some worthwhile books on underwater photography. An illustrated reference book should be your constant companion as well as this manual. The best book, however, is the one you yourself compose.

Photo trips - Ask your dive instructor about special photo trips and guided tours. With Underwater Photo Safaris to the worlds most beautiful reefs in good company and with a knowledgeable guide.

We hope this information has been helpful. Please feel free to contact us at info@sealife-cameras.com, if you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can improve this guide.