Frequently the difference between a great photo and a so-so photo is the background. A great background can really make the photo stand out. The subject and background should work together with the other elements in the photo to really grab your attention or draw you into the work. A lot of professional photographers spend [...]

Manual focus, auto-focus and focus-lock are the basic choices facing the photographer underwater. Each has its uses. Each has some disadvantages. Manual focus comes in two basic forms, SLR manual focus and range finder focusing. Both types rely on the photographer to set the focus properly. Most people are familiar with the SLR camera’s manual [...]

Lets Do This Dive Together, For a Change! Now that you’ve taken up the idea of doing underwater photography, it’s time to think about buddy team dynamics for a minute. Up until now you and your buddy probably had similar interests, such as: “lets swim around the reef and see what’s there.” The nature of [...]

Our Basic Shooting Techniques section helps to bring together facts from all the other sections to improve your underwater photo shooting knowledge. This section also touches on subjects that impact your ability to have an opportunity to shoot, as well as shooting technique itself.

What was that piece that just fell off the strobe? A diffuser is an accessory piece of equipment for the strobe. It is a piece of plastic that usually snaps on or locks into place over the strobe face. See figures 1 and 2. It is designed to widen the coverage of the light as [...]