Underwater photography has fascinated divers since long and offers endless opportunities to the aficionados. Divers have the choice of shooting shipwrecks
, fishes, reefs and portholes.
Since shipwrecks are the remains of damaged ships, divers face the challenge of highlighting the ship out of the wreck. Shooting wrecks can be much more rewarding when compared to shooting undersea life or creatures.
The greatest challenge that the underwater photographers face is the lack of visibility. Since they have to swim through the scarcely lit corridors of the ships with very little light penetrating through the holes, it becomes very challenging for the photographers to capture wrecks effectively. To overcome this problem, the photographers select a significant section of the ship and try to capture it from a larger perspective. Apart from the challenge of visibility, divers also need to operate their camera along with operating the diving equipment without raising any sediment.
Shipwreck photography is a form of creative photography which can be quite challenging. This requires the diver to have good buoyancy skills, knowledge about air, depth and anchor location and the right equipment. For deep wreck shooting, the photographers need to equip themselves with proper air supply and twin tank regulator and pony. The underwater photography equipment should include wide angle lenses (15-20mm) so that a large area of the wreckage is captured while being close to it. Having a powerful strobe and a light mounted on it can be rewarding.
For better results with shipwreck photography, divers take a series of shoots without changing camera or strobe settings. Strobe positioning can be used to lessen back scatter and unwelcome illumination of water particles. Recording light readings and setting the aperture accordingly can yield better results. Wreck photography gains importance when canons, funnels, propellers, deck guns or wheels are included in the picture, which can tell something about the ship. Shipwrecks are intriguing and offer enormous opportunities to the photographers to explore the undersea beauty and capture it in the lens of their camera.