Get close
Water blurs and turns everything blue. Get within about 3 feet of your subject, then closer. If it looks close enough, it isn’t.
Better underwater photos, quick settings
Starting settings for the cameras most new underwater photographers use, plus the three habits that matter more than any setting.
Auto or manual?
Manual gives you more control over everything. But Auto is a good place to start. We use it most of the time because on our dives we’re always on the move, and our focus is on our divers more than the footage. These three were shot on Auto.
If you’re starting out, use Auto or the camera’s Underwater mode, get close, keep the sun behind you and hold still. When you want more control, like in a dark spot or green water, that’s where manual comes in. The camera-by-camera settings below are the place to start.
Blue water, green water and pier shade, all from our dives.
Three habits that beat any setting
Shoot slightly up
Get low and aim a little upward, with blue water behind your subject instead of busy reef. Fish at their eye level, not from above.
Master your buoyancy
Hovering still is what gets sharp photos, and it keeps your fins off the reef and the sand out of the water. Peak Performance Buoyancy does more for your photos than any camera upgrade.
Starting settings by camera
What we shoot with: most of our own photos and video come from GoPros, Olympus TG cameras and Insta360 360 cameras. For the most part we leave them in Auto or the camera’s built-in Underwater mode. We only change settings for darker spots or to fix a specific problem.
Starting points, not rules. Check your camera’s manual for exact menu names, and always check its depth rating.
GoPro (HERO12 / HERO13)
- Depth
- 33 ft (10 m) on its own. Use the GoPro Protective Housing to dive to 196 ft (60 m).
- Video
- 4K at 30 fps, or 60 fps for moving subjects. Wide or Linear lens. HyperSmooth on.
- Protune
- ISO max 800–1600 to keep noise down. Sharpness low. Color Natural (Flat if you edit).
- Color
- Add a red filter in blue water from about 15 to 60 ft, a magenta filter in green water. Take it off when you’re shallow or using a light.
- Photos
- Grab stills from your 4K video, or use burst for moving fish.
OM System / Olympus Tough (TG-6, TG-7)
- Depth
- 50 ft (15 m) on its own. The PT-059 housing takes the TG-6 or TG-7 to 147 ft (45 m).
- Mode
- Turn the dial to the underwater modes: Underwater Wide for reef scenes, Underwater Macro or Microscope for small critters (as close as 1 cm).
- White balance
- Use the underwater white balance (shallow, mid or deep), or set a custom white balance on a white slate at your depth.
- Flash
- Only for close subjects, and with the diffuser on. Off for anything farther than about 2 feet.
- File
- Shoot RAW + JPEG if you ever plan to edit.
SeaLife Micro 3.0
- Depth
- 200 ft (60 m). It’s sealed, so there’s no housing or O-ring to flood.
- Mode
- Snorkel mode in shallow water, Dive mode deeper, Underwater Light mode when you use a video light.
- Color
- Pick the color correction for the water: shallow, deep or green. Use manual white balance for the truest color.
- Tip
- Its big buttons are easy with gloves. Add a SeaLife light for close-ups and night dives.
Insta360 X4 (360°)
- Depth
- 33 ft (10 m) on its own. With the Invisible Dive Case, 164 ft (50 m).
- Before you dive
- Turn on Dive Case Mode in the camera, or the stitch lines will show. Update the firmware.
- Settings
- Record at the highest resolution. Hold it out on the invisible selfie stick, a little away from you.
- Color
- Fix color after the dive with AquaVision in the Insta360 app.
DJI Osmo Action (4 / 5 Pro)
- Depth
- Action 4: 59 ft (18 m) on its own. Action 5 Pro: 66 ft (20 m) on its own, 196 ft (60 m) in the Waterproof Case. Use a case for scuba.
- Video
- 4K at 30 or 60 fps. RockSteady on.
- Starting point
- White balance manual around 5500K, ISO max 800. D-Log M only if you color-grade later.
- Color
- Same filter rules as GoPro: red in blue water, magenta in green, off with lights or in the shallows.
iPhone in a housing
- Housing
- Never dive a bare phone. Water resistance isn’t made for diving and doesn’t last. Use a dive housing rated for your depth, such as the SeaLife SportDiver (100–130 ft depending on model).
- Settings
- Flash off. Night mode off. Video 4K at 30 or 60 fps.
- Focus
- Press and hold on your subject to lock focus and exposure (AE/AF Lock), then slide to adjust brightness.
- Close-ups
- Use the 0.5× lens for big subjects up close. Avoid digital zoom: move closer instead.
Android in a housing
- Housing
- Same rule: a dive-rated housing, never a bare phone. Many housings use their own app over Bluetooth for control.
- Settings
- Flash off. HDR and night modes off. Video 4K at 30 or 60 fps.
- Pro mode
- If your phone has Pro mode, lock white balance manually and keep ISO as low as the light allows.
- Focus
- Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure before the fish moves.
Anything more serious?
Mirrorless or DSLR in a housing, strobes, wet lenses: that’s its own world. Come talk to us about what you shoot and what you want to get.
Why everything turns blue
Water swallows color as you go down. Red is gone first, within the first 15 feet or so, then orange and yellow. That’s why a red fish looks brown at 40 feet.
- 0–15 ft: natural light is enough. No filter.
- 15–60 ft in blue water: a red filter brings back warm colors on action cameras.
- Around San Juan and Vega Alta: colors start turning blue-green after about 15 feet. In the first 15 feet there’s usually plenty of light.
- Green water: use a magenta filter instead.
- Deeper, or up close: a light brings back real color. Filters can’t add light that isn’t there.
Shoot with the sun behind you on shallow dives, and fix what’s left after the dive with a one-tap color correction in your editing app.
Lights
- Video light: a steady light for video and photos. The easiest place to start.
- Strobe: a flash made for underwater. Brighter and freezes motion, for photos only.
- Angle them out: point lights slightly outward, not straight at the subject. Straight-on light lights up every particle in the water as white dots (“backscatter”).
- Built-in flash: usually does more harm than good past 2 feet. Turn it off.
We carry dive lights at the shop, and we can help you choose one for photos or video.
Camera mistakes we see all the time
- Opening the housing on the beach or the boat. Swapping SD cards and batteries out there exposes the electronics to salt water and salt air, and that damage builds up over time. Do it in your hotel room or at home instead.
- Not clipping the camera to your gear. When you least expect it, it’s gone: dropped a while back, or let go and floated away. A float on the camera doesn’t make it safe. Tether it to your dive gear.
- Filming wide from far away. On the replay, on a phone, tablet or TV, what looked really cool is a little speck on the screen. Get close.
- Forgetting the SD card, the batteries or the housing. The three things people leave behind most, because they didn’t pack with a checklist.
We’ve had customers lose cameras on our dives. Sometimes we get lucky and find it on a later dive in the same area. Other times it’s just gone.
Before, during and after the dive
Before: set it up where it’s dry
Your camera should be ready to go by the time you get to the beach or the boat. Charge it, put the memory card in, and check and lube the housing seal in your hotel room or at home, not in the salt air.
Flying with it
If you’re an underwater photographer coming to Puerto Rico, bring everything you need. That goes for any dive trip. Protect your camera gear like your regulator: carry it on if you can. Spare lithium batteries have to go in your carry-on anyway (FAA’s lithium battery rules).
On dive day
- A microfiber towel, to clean the lens or the outside of the housing or dome.
- Silicone lubricant for the housing seal, in case you have to open it.
Then all you have to do is dive and film.
After
Give it a good freshwater rinse as soon as you’re back, and a full cleaning once you can take it apart somewhere dry. Packing the rest? Use our dive trip packing checklist.
Reef rules for photographers
- Never touch, kneel or rest your camera on coral. Hover.
- Don’t chase, corner or move animals for a better shot.
- Go easy with strobes and lights on sensitive animals like seahorses, and never use them to herd anything.
- Know your air and depth. No photo is worth a missed safety stop.
Good photos start with good diving. Start with buoyancy.
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