How-To: Underwater Photography

Tip 1: Choose the right underwater housing

When purchasing the camera, also take the underwater housing into account. The choice of video cameras is extensive, but the selection of underwater housings for video cameras is limited. An underwater housing costs about as much as the camera itself. You can film with your iPhone or with an action cam . Another practical and inexpensive solution is a waterproof camera.

Are you buying a still camera or a video camera? The larger the camera and the housing, the easier it becomes to make a smooth movement in still water. Zooming in and out and the autofocus also work better with a video camera than with a still camera.

A camera body often does not align well with ergonomics for handheld filming, but it does have other advantages. Besides being able to take photos, a camera is often lighter, making it easier to move above water. Additionally, you can better film small bottom-dwelling animals at eye level. Cameras with interchangeable lenses are considerably cheaper than video cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Tip 2: Maintain and check your equipment as thoroughly and as often as possible

Be thorough with the check before every dive and the maintenance after every dive. That seems like unnecessary advice, but you wouldn't believe how many people forget this and ruin their own equipment as a result.

If your housing is not properly sealed, leakage will occur. This applies to action cam housings as well! This is something that is often taken a little too lightly. It is essential to handle your equipment with care, otherwise it becomes an expensive hobby.

If saltwater gets into your camera, you can throw it away. It's a waste and unnecessary.

A housing equipped with a vacuum system and a leakage alarm has already saved us from worse.

Rinse your equipment thoroughly with fresh water after every dive. Check the seals for sand and hair and treat the O-rings with silicone grease.

Have your case checked regularly by a specialist or look online (on forums, for example) for (more) tips and tricks about maintenance.

Tip 3: Make sure you have yourself and your camera under control

Make sure you are in control of yourself and the camera underwater. To film and photograph well underwater, you need to be able to trim properly, in other words: float in the water. So learn to dive properly first! You can take good diving courses all over the Netherlands.

Make sure you can not only swim forward, but also hover, swim backward, and make a good turn. Bring just enough trim lead.

Because you can get closer to the animals underwater, you can also disturb and unintentionally destroy a lot. Always remember that you are a 'guest' in the territory of wild, but also vulnerable animals (such as corals). Sometimes this means you have to forgo a shot. Only dive at places that are safe and for which you are certified. But even then, it is important to be properly trimmed! This way you won't damage anything and you will stir up as little sediment as possible.

Tip 4: Know what light does underwater

In shallow water there is often too much light, and in deep water too little. Working with light underwater is a discipline in itself and much more difficult than above the water. Bring good video lights for deeper dives. These provide diffuse scattered light instead of a spotlight. Deeper than approximately six meters, you can no longer see or capture red without lights. At deeper depths, other colors also fade away, until only blue or green remains, as you can read on Duikeninformatie.

Lights are indispensable, although they lose their effectiveness with subjects further than five meters. Two lights work better than one because you then do not need to illuminate the dust particles underwater from the front. Also, make sure you are proficient with (manually) setting the white balance on the camera. Auto white balance often results in a color gradient between shots during a dive. If the deviation is too large, it is difficult to correct it in post-processing.

Tip 5: Choose a camera with good autofocus

Underwater, you usually film handheld. This often leaves you short of a hand for manual focus when filming dynamically (while swimming). Most video cameras perform well with autofocus, even in somewhat low light conditions. Make sure that the focus is in the center of the image. The autofocus on DSLRs and older mirrorless cameras does not always work well when it is darker.

You can then focus manually, which does limit you in terms of dynamics and ease of use. Especially if you haven't been filming for very long. So be sure to ask the supplier or customer service which camera performs well in autofocus!

Tip 6: Make sure you can clearly see what you are filming

In the past, monitors did not exist. Underwater filming was done using a viewer. The most beautiful shots were captured this way. We believe that a good monitor provides you with a great deal of enjoyment and convenience. Especially when filming with manual focus. 'What you see is what you get' certainly applies underwater as well. The better the footage is technically accurate (lighting, color, sharpness), the more pleasant the editing process becomes.

Tip 7: Try an exciting shot

Most underwater footage we see consists of shaky tracking shots of a fish swimming behind it. Try to make your shots more exciting by, for example, having a fish swim into the frame instead of following it, or by filming fish behind the reeds (not in front of them). You can also experiment with an animal's point of view. Finish your shots well. Sometimes let animals swim or walk out of your frame and leave the camera running for a moment. A cloud of dust, for example, sometimes works wonders.

Tip 8: Think in stories

Don't go for the same ultimate shot a hundred times, but vary the shots as much as possible.

When you are at the editing table, you benefit more from variety. You can then create a beautiful sequence in which wide shots, medium shots, and close-ups are alternated.

If you want to captivate the viewer, you will have to tell a story. That often starts with the variation in images of a particular subject.

Do you have multiple lenses? Then make three shorter dives and switch lenses in between. A good example of this is our short film 'Birth of a shorthorn sculpin' , winner of the North Sea Film Festival 2012.

Tip 9: Be critical of yourself and ask for feedback!

To be able to tell stories, you need a lot of patience. We still have days when nothing works. Sometimes it is due to the circumstances, and sometimes to ourselves. It helps if you set out with a clear goal in mind.

It is important to look very critically at your footage after every diving day. It helps if you also ask others for feedback.

Optionally, create short stories to practice sequencing. The Open Dutch Championship Underwater Photography and Videography serves as an incentive to keep yourself developing . Examples of award-winning films include 'Ik duik niet meer' and 'Broederliefde' . We have been judges for many years and enjoy judging the videos.

Who are Peter van Rodijnen and Klaudie Bartelink of Dutch Maritime Productions?

We are underwater filmmakers and we create stories about the underwater world. For many, it is a mysterious world, but for us, it is a world we know inside and out. We have been diving for years and still have an inexhaustible dose of passion for it. With great care and attention for people and nature. Nowhere can you get as close to wild animals as underwater. That makes filming underwater fascinating!

Quality and expertise are our top priorities. We continuously invest in the necessary knowledge, certifications, and the right equipment. To go the extra mile for the desired result: a story that has impact! We want to make a valuable contribution to our blue planet. Our motto is 'You can't discover the sea by staring at the water'. We demonstrated this in the cinema film 'Holland, natuur in de delta'.

Underwater filming is a challenging job. With every dive, you have to carefully consider the right equipment and the camera settings you need. You also have to take into account the color and clarity of the water, the depth, the current, and the sunlight. When you dive deep, you get depth turbidity, and your brain doesn't always cooperate. All these factors make our work interesting. Our work is specialized. There is no formal training for it. We have become wise through experience. You can find more information (and footage) at Dutch Maritime Productions and Onderwaterbeelden .