Originally published in "The" Dive Shop Nov/Dec 1993 Newsletter, © John Wall & "The" Dive Shop, all rights reserved

   For years, one major camera manufacturer dominated the advertising pages of underwater magazine. Their message was that their camera was the only way to take underwater images. Their product is an excellent camera, in fact an engineering marvel, but please don’t buy into the message that their product is only one way to make underwater images. If you do that, you may fall into the same trap that I did many years ago….

   In the early 1970’s, the people at my local dive store did not know that much about underwater photography. So, they sent me to a camera store. Boy, were they slick at the camera store! The sales guy picked up a copy of Skin Diver Magazine and showed me the front cover. He asked, “Do you want to take pictures like this?”

   Enthusiastically, I said, “Yes!”

  “Here’s what you need…” he said, as he began stacking a camera, lens, light meter, strobe and tray on the counter. He assured me, “This is what the guys at Skin Diver use.”

  I was delighted. I was going to be an underwater photographer!

  On my next dive, I shot a roll of film. It looked as if I had been standing out in a snowstorm. I went back to the photo guy. He remembered me. He called out, “Hey, it’s Jacques Cousteau.”  I asked him to examine the results of my first dive with the camera. He told me that they were terrible. (They were.) I asked what I could do to improve them. He said, “Beats me.”

  I protested that, just a week before, he’d been an authority on what I needed to take pictures just like the guys at Skin Diver. His next statement gave me my first real lesson in underwater photography: “Look, Mac, I just sell the stuff. I don’t know how to use it.”

  “The” Dive Shop has full time underwater photo and video counselors. And, yes, we do know how to record images underwater. We offer regularly scheduled photo and video seminars. We display our work on a regular basis. If you like what you see, ask us how we did it. We’ll tell you.

  The real secrets of underwater photography (and, now that I’m telling them, they are no longer secrets) are:

·        Have equipment that will produce the results that you seek. If you want images of divers in their environment, you need a wide angle lens for the best result. No technique will make up for lack of equipment.

·        Recording images underwater is a major challenge. Photographically speaking, water has two functions.

o     First, it eats light. For every foot that your subject is away from the camera, light intensity decreased by half. Your eye won’t notice; it is infinitely more sensitive than your camera. So-called underwater films won’t compensate for this light reduction, either. The only way to do so it to get close and stage close.

o     The second function of water is to get inside your camera system and destroy it. If you are not mentally or financially prepared to face a camera flooding, purchase your underwater photos from someone who is (or has). Be familiar with your equipment. If you can’t assemble it correctly, how can you expect to be able to use it? This, coupled with regularly scheduled maintenance, are the best way to ward off camera flooding.

·        Maintain a photo log book. Many photographers fail to record their results and end up learning the same lessons over and over again. A photo log book refreshes your memory, reminding you of what you already know. It gives you  a new starting place for your next underwater photo experience.

·        Stick to the basics. These appear in countless photo books, videotapes, and magazine articles. You can learn them is underwater photo and video courses taught everywhere (even here). Water is a strict taskmaster, allowing little variation in what it enables light to do. Most successful underwater photographers hear the same question time after time. It is usually a variation on, “yes, but what do you really do?”. What we “do” is stick to the basics> So should you.

   Our underwater image-taking counselors have over 40 years experience in underwater photography and video. Why not take advantage of this experience before you invest in a camera or video system? We’ll be happy to inform you of a number of alternatives for recording underwater images.

   We will most likely recommend an above water still or video camera with an underwater housing. We also have a variety of amphibious point and shoot cameras if you are a little more casual about underwater imaging. Call or stop by. We’d love to help you pick up the system of your choice.