Taking photographs that convey the excitement or mood the photographer feels at that point in time is difficult. You have to worry about framing the subject, watch for exposure, focus and time the shot just right. Now throw into the mix the fact that you are on life support equipment (see SCUBA) with hundreds of potential subjects while fighting current, keeping an eye on your depth and remaining air, all while watching out for your buddy. Sheish!

I have put together my ten tips for underwater photographers from the lessons I have learned.

1. Let Your Buddy Know What You Are Doing

This seems like a no-brainer but let your dive buddy know you plan on taking it slow on the dive. If you find a cleaning station exploding with color and your partner had moved on to follow that big Black Grouper you could be separated. Not only is this embarrassing, but could be a safety hazard as well. A well laid out plan that both you and your buddy agree on will help make the dive go a little smoother. Agree with your buddy that you will check each other’s location a little more frequently. If you do get separated, remember your training. Search for your buddy for one minute then begin your ascent. Remember to do your safety stop and don’t panic.

Also, work out hand signals for your buddy if you plan to use him or her as a model. Signals like ‘Stop’, or ‘Slow kick that direction’, or even ‘Look at the coral, not me’ are nice signals to know if you feel the need to photograph your buddy.

2. Check Your Equipment Regularly

Just like your regulator or tank you need to check your photo equipment regularly. Be sure to set aside time BEFORE you get on the dive boat to lube your o-ring and check for cracks in the housing. Ever try to clean hair and dirt off of your o-ring while heading to a dive site? Not only do you have to contend with the salt spray over the gunwale, but the constant vibration and movement of the boat could scratch your lens.

Also make sure your batteries are fresh. I like to change my batteries every two dives even if they aren’t completely drained. Better safe than sorry!

3. Let The Boat Captain and Crew Know How To Handle Your Camera

Let the captain and crew know you are taking pictures. Letting the captain know is important because he knows the best spots for beginners, advanced divers and photographers. A little extra tip for the captain and crew might also get you that photo-op you were looking to capture on your trip!

Letting the crew know what you plan to do is important because usually they are the fine folks who will take your equipment from you. Make sure you pull the mate aside and ask that he or she take the camera from you after your dive a certain way. Instruct them to pick the camera up by the strobe arm and not the strobe itself. I have see new crew members drop housing on their dome ports smashing them to bits while holding on to strobes.

4. Get Off the Coral and Get Into The Sand

You heard this in your open water training: DON’T TOUCH THE CORAL! While at times it is inevitable, try not to touch living or dead coral on the ocean bottom. Not only will you potentially harm the creature, but you may also sting yourself (see Fire Coral), or get a stern talking to from the dive-master. If you need to lay on the sand to shoot a coral head feel free. Just keep in mind you shouldn’t kick too much when you ascend as you could silt up the shot for the next diver.

Also, look where you place your hand when stabilizing yourself. You never know what you might find!

5. Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot

Digital cameras have the opportunity for you to install large amounts of memory. With that you get more shots while underwater. Try to shot your entire memory card full on a dive. If you don’t like the shot you can simply delete the picture from your card.

6. Get a Good Strobe System

A good strobe system is helpful when using a wide angle lens. Not only does it illuminate your subject, but it will also decrease backscatter. Backscatter is when light reflects off of tiny particles underwater back into your lens. This gives your photos a dirty look and can be generally unpleasant. With proper strobe positioning you can decrease or eliminate underwater backscatter netting better underwater photographs. Generally speaking you want your strobe to be placed above and away from your camera pointing down to your focal point at an angle.

7. Get Closer

Can’t afford a strobe? Then get closer to your subject. Getting close allows you to eliminate the water between you and your subject. Eliminating water eliminates backscatter. I would also suggest you turn your internal strobe off for the first shot of that Rock Beauty you’ve just spotted so you don’t scare it off. Usually when you are less than three perceived feet away from your subject you can get away with not strobe so long as the sun cooperates.

8. Control Your Breathing and Get Heavy

Controlling your breathing is a big deal while diving. Not only does it help you ascend and descend while neutrally buoyant, but it also keeps you from getting an embolism while surfacing. Breathing while shooting photographs underwater causes two problems for you. First, bubbles may interfere with your shot if the camera is close to your regulator. And more importantly skittish fish are afraid of your bubbles. Not only are they loud but they are unfamiliar to them. So when you get really close to that Yellowhead Jawfish, breath a little slower. Inhale deeply and exhale very slowly. I would caution you to not hold your breath while shooting, but I am a repeat offender.

So what happens when you breath deeply while diving? You start to ascend. To counter this add a few pounds of weight to your BC. This will help you stay on the sand a little easier to get that shot. The trade off for being heavier is that you will have to inflate your BC more to counter the weight, potentially giving you less bottom time.

9. Shoot Up and Not at the Tail End

Try to never shoot down on a subject. Most fish need to blend with their environment to survive and the best way for them to do that is to look like a rock or a piece of coral from above. Underwater photography is more subtractive than additive. You need to get only the subject you are trying to shoot in the frame and get rid if everything else.

Keep in mind too that when you photograph diver, schools of fish or large pelagic animals to avoid shooting them from behind. This make the viewer feel left out and take away from the overall feel of the photograph.

10. Learn Photoshop Elements

If you shoot digital underwater pick up a book on Photoshop Elements. What you will learn about this application will help you when editing your digital photos and give them a more professional look. Learn how to blur, crop, clone image parts, de-speckle, work with curves (for underexposure) and save output for the web. This knowledge will help get your photos looking gorgeous and may also teach you a thing or two about proper framing and exposure.