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Control your buoyancy and move calmly
It’s not easy to take great pictures when your buoyancy is not controlled. Learning how to adjust and
maintain proper buoyancy will greatly improve your picture results.
Look around for great picture opportunities. Position yourself at the best angle and neutralize your
buoyancy. Use the LCD monitor to perfectly frame your subject, check your shooting distance and
keep the camera steady.
Be calm and patient: Sometimes you have to wait a little bit so the fish that were frightened away,
come back. Don’t chase the fish, let the fish come to you. Always be in control of your buoyancy
before taking pictures and observe all safe
‑
diving rules.
Keep shooting
Shoot several pictures of the same subject and keep only the best shots. You don’t want to find out
later that the only picture you took of that elusive frogfish was out of focus or over-exposed. Also,
try shooting the same subject from different angles and distances to produce a well-composed
picture.
Don’t worry about taking bad pictures. One of the best ways to learn UW photography is from
making mistakes. When you take a bad picture, try to figure out what went wrong and avoid that in
the future. Just keep shooting and try different techniques - your UW photography skills will greatly
improve.
Shoot up, not down
Avoid shooting down, so the subject does not blend in with the background. Shooting from the
bottom-up with some water behind the subject results in much better contrast.
Expand your camera system with an external flash or photo-video lighting accessory
Water filters out light and red/yellow colors resulting in darker, blue images. The SeaLife DC2000
includes Dive and Snorkel modes that correct for lost colors, but color-correction is only effective
to about 60ft (18m) depending available sunlight and water visibility. At deeper depths, there is a
complete absence of red colors so color-correction modes (and filters) are not as effective.
The best way to compensate for lost colors is by using underwater lighting, like the Sea Dragon
Digital Flash or photo-video light. Lighting accessories easily mount to the bottom of the housing.
To learn more about UW Lighting, please visit your local authorized SeaLife dealer or
www.sealife-
cameras.com
.
Ask your local SeaLife dive dealer about underwater photography courses
Most SeaLife dive dealers offer underwater photography courses which includes hands-on training as
well as many helpful tips and techniques to underwater photography.
Visit the SeaLife website for updated tips an advice
Updates to this manual and additional tips and advice can be found on the SeaLife website at
www.
sealife-cameras.com
. Also, check out the “Great Pictures Made Easy” tutorial, which is available for
free download on the the SeaLife website.
