May2016
Smile
75
D O N ’ T
D I V E
T O O
D E E P
Muchofwhatdivers learn inabasicopen-
waterscubaclassdealswithhow tosafely
make thedescent to40m (over120ft)
andbackwithoutgetting “bent”.But is it
reallynecessary topush these limits to
getagreatphoto?Oneof the fundamental
rulesofgreatphotography is to follow
the light,which in thecaseofunderwater
photographymeansstaying in theshallows
— thatmeans10mor less.
Water isveryeffectiveatabsorbing
colors from the light spectrum— that’s
whyall youseewhenyougobelow10m
isshadesofblue. It’shard tobelieve that
Between
worlds
Adramatic
contrastmakes
for agreat shot
mostof thecoralsandfishdown thereare
brilliantlycoloredshadesof red, yellow,
purpleandgreen.There’snoneed toweigh
this tutorialdownwithadiscussionabout
thephysicsof lightwaves, but justkeep
inmind thatonceyouventurebelow10m,
you’regoing tobeshootingmonochrome
unlessyoubringanartificial light source
(suchasastrobe)along.
Thismeans thatyoudon’tevenhave to
beascubadiver to takegreatunderwater
photos; youcanbesnorkelingandstay
within theoptimaldepth forusingcolorful,
natural light.
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