Adjusting the camera settings is the most important technique that one should learn in underwater photography. This is because the camera settings will determine the destiny of your shot. By knowing the settings, you can shoot as per your own creativity and priority settings. Consider the following tips for camera settings when pursuing underwater photography-
- Shoot the photos in RAW mode. This is because RAW file stores much more information like the shadows, highlights area and it allows the custom white balance. Moreover it has 12-14 bits of color as compared to 8 bits in JPEG.
- For getting sharp underwater photos, one must learn to adjust the shutter speed accordingly. For still objects the shutter speed should be 1/20th, for fast moving objects it should be 1/125th and for slow moving objects it should be 1/60th.
- There are many complaints that majority of the underwater photos are not properly lit up. Hence to let in the natural light of the background one must use a slow shutter speed like 1/20th – 1/60th and a larger aperture like F7- F13.
- Follow the Sunny-16 rule. This refers to shooting in a bright, cloudless day usually between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Under such conditions the camera should be set at F16. The shutter speed giving the correct exposure is the reciprocal of the camera’s ISO.
- There is a rule of thumb which states that you may not get a sharp photo if the camera is lit by ambient light and if the shutter speed is slow. Hence for a camera which has a crop factor of 1.5, 1/45th shutter speed will be required to avoid the blur caused by camera shake.
- One should try and use low ISO settings. This is because higher ISO settings results in more noise. High ISO reduces dynamic range and also reduces color sensitivity.
- When you require larger depth of field use smaller apertures like F22. If you close the aperture by one stop, for e.g. if you change the aperture from F11 to F16 will give around 40% more depth of field.
- If you have a camera with full manual mode then you should use F8 with 1/1000th shutter speed. Using a fast shutter speed will block the ambient light.
- You should always use manual mode with base ISO like 100 or 200 with F8 aperture and shutter speed of 1/100th and matrix metering. If you are close enough to the subject then shooting at F11 will help.
If the background light is constantly changing then you should shoot at aperture priority mode with F7 and exposure compensation should be at 1 or -1 ½.