Why shoot underwater anyway?

You know when you get those nagging ideas in your head that just won’t leave you alone? Well underwater photography was mine. I kept going back to those beautiful serene images on Pinterest, the softness, the floating in space feeling that is hard to capture any other way.

I had been looking at the @aquatech_imagingsolutions housings for more than a year, working out how I could justify the cost. But in the end…as is often the case…the lure of a Sale got me! So I purchased the kit to suit my @canonaustralia 5D III dusted off the old wetsuit…it’s bloody freezing in Victorian waters, and found a good pair of fins.

Was is hard managing MY subject underwater?

OK… I won’t lie, I’m a pretty good swimmer, have spent every Summer in the surf, and many years doing laps of a pool. But this requires a whole new level of skill. Try holding your breath for long periods, look through a camera hidden in a large housing, operate the controls, and time the subject perfectly.

Needless to say, there were plenty of stuff ups, blurry images, no subject at all, mis-fires and expletives. The learning cure was a slow and steady one…but I was persistent. I had to beg my children to jump into cold rock pools, off piers on windy days, try to ignore the giant stingray hanging around, embrace the slimy seaweed and just do it one more time…please…and maybe just one more, this is the last…I promise!

What is the greatest challenge of underwater photography?

Right up there is finding willing subjects.

I even asked strangers at the Rockpool if they would dive under, over and over again…and surprisingly they were pretty willing and enthusiastic.

The other issue is getting the conditions right, that means light, tide, clarity of water…often effected by wind or large swell. I found working in protected areas like rock pools and under piers gave me the best results. Depending on the clarity of the water, you really had to stay pretty close to your subject, otherwise you are doing a lot of work in post to get a clear image.

Do I think I’ve mastered the art of underwater photography?

Absolutely not!! I have a very long way to go,and now that’s it’s Winter in Victoria I am just working on the images I have so far, and planning some shoots for later in the year, or perhaps a trip to the Northern beaches. Ther’re plenty to explore yet, and once I have a good idea I will need to work closely with my subject so we can both achieve the ideal poses within one breath!