Intova Shooting Tips – Part 1 – White Balance

Courtesy of Intova  www.intova.net

Underwater photography is much different than land photography. Light and color loss, water clarity, currents and housing condensation are all elements that affect underwater photography. The large Dive Certification organizations have complete classes dedicated to Digital Underwater photography. Digital cameras are complex and need to be understood and set properly to obtain best results.

WHITE BALANCE: The single most important feature to understand for great underwater photography is White Balance. Adjusting the white balance allows the camera to compensate for water and light conditions. For cameras with Manual White Balance, you should reset every 10 feet of depth. For cameras that do not allow manual white balance, setting White Balance to fluorescent may help. Fluorescent is blue light similar to underwater and the camera will adjust for this. Setting White Balance to low light can also improve results.

NEXT WEEK’S SHOOTING TIP: LIGHT LOSS