Our underwater cameras


An impressive nurse sharks in the warm waters of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Naturally, our first underwater photographs were taken with disposable cameras that can be found almost everywhere. It was rather difficult to properly frame the picture. It was more trial and error, and as they were not digital, it was impossible to have the results BEFORE we return home.

With the new digital age, the result is far better especially as technology continues to improve and the screens are becoming larger, which makes it much easier to take underwater photos (better framing).

I use Corel Paint Shop Pro for editing our underwater photos. The result is often stunning. The trick: a shallow water and calm seas! When there are no clouds and the sea is rough, the sun causes unwanted reflections and therefore, pictures cannot be corrected.

You have probably noticed that the pictures taken underwater are always in a blue-green tone. The short wavelengths, like red, struggle to enter the water. The deeper in the water, the redder is missing in the photos. Our eyes are able to compensate for the lack of red.

For this reason, we always adjust the photos to appear like what we saw underwater and not blue-green like the camera.

Here are the steps to follow ...

  1. Take photos in high resolution (> 2 MPixels), it will be easier to crop the subject while maintaining an acceptable size for printing on paper or screen.
  2. After cropping the subject, you proceed correcting the photo. Although if the correction does not yield to good results, you can try again, but with the image in the original format.
  3. « Fade Correction ». Try with the standard level (45) or lower if the correction is too strong. Sometimes (1) is enough.
  4. « Clarify » use the default level (2.0 or sometimes 1.0 is enough)
  5. « Color Balance » adjusted to warmer temperature, it gives a realistic look of the subject. This step can be skipped if the subject is already enough yellowish.
  6. Finally, if necessary, use the « Digital Camera Noise Removal » tool to soften the effect of some photos having too much pixelization.

Good luck!

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Cameras with housing

  Olympus C-5050Z

  Sanyo x-Acti C4

  Canon P. A610

Eureka! it is now possible to take great underwater pictures without cumbersome casing. Our first camera was the Pentax Option W60. It is important not to neglect the rules of operation of this type of camera. The maximum depth is currently limited to 10 meters.

Cameras without housing

Pentax
Option W60

Panasonic
DMC-TS2

Correction with PSP

 
 
 
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This is a personal site, the informations which is ensued there are simply from our experiences and appreciations as travelers and lovers of the underwater world. All our websites are non-officials and opened to general public. In spite of we did our best to share the most exact informations, we cannot be held responsible for changes, errors or omissions.