Photography Tip—How to Capture Beautiful Underwater Images at Night

The versatility of digital photography makes it possible to shoot excellent pictures in many environments, including underwater. Whether you’re on vacation snorkeling in a few feet of water near the shore or a seasoned scuba diver exploring offshore reefs or sunken vessels, underwater photography can add immeasurable pleasure to your adventure and add rare photos to your portfolio. Shooting underwater at night will make your pictures even rarer. The photography portion of such an exploration is relatively easy, once you read this and other PhotographyTalk.com articles. The more daring portion is diving at night when you can’t see what creatures are swimming near you.

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Nikon D500 | Nikon D3300 | Canon EOS Rebel T5 | Sony A7RII | Canon 7D Mark II

Shooting underwater at night should never be a casual, snap decision. That’s why the first tip is to find a dive charter at your destination that has experience with being underwater at night. Its people know the local conditions and the sea life that is apt to be in the water, some of which are dangerous. Good planning and the right professionals will ensure you’re protected as much as possible from underwater encounters. If you’ve done your homework and are prepared, then you’ll take some amazing digital photos.

Camera Equipment

You only have two choices of camera types to use underwater, day or night: an inexpensive, disposable, waterproof camera or a waterproof housing for a standard compact or DSLR camera. The second option will obviously cost more than the first; however, any disposable camera has very limited optics and controls, which, in turn, limits the quality of photos you can take. For more information about these camera options, please read these PhotographyTalk.com articles:

Lighting Gear

A more critical equipment choice is lighting. To capture amazingly sharp color photos underwater at night you need a two-unit system. The first unit is the built-in flash on your camera. If it doesn’t have one, then you need an independent unit to connect to your camera. The second unit is a modeling light. For best results, you want a small modeling light model that attaches to the primary flash unit. Modeling lights direct a beam of light instead of flooding an area with light. Fish and other creatures are less likely to be startled when a modeling light is triggered. Of course, you need lighting units that are built for underwater use or are protected by waterproof housing.

Safety First

As mentioned above, underwater photography at night is not without some danger, which is why it is so important that an experienced professional guide you and teach you what you need to know, so your adventure is as safe as possible. Being on oxygen, underwater, in a totally dark environment can certainly be un-nerving if you’re a first-timer; it’s un-nerving even for the professionals. Look for a dive charter that recommends a first, nighttime dive in a cage, or at least until you feel more comfortable. It should go without saying that you never dive at night alone.

Special Techniques

Your digital photos of the underwater world at night will achieve their maximum WOW! effect and image quality when you follow a few basic techniques.

Give your photos a background: Your first thought might be how spectacular a photo of a colorful fish you can take if you shoot it against the total blackness of the water. That would be an incorrect thought because your camera will mistakenly adjust itself and create an overexposed image. It’s better to position yourself opposite a reef or some other nearby background, so you can photograph fish swimming between you and the background. Your camera needs a background for its auto exposure and auto-focus functions to work properly.

Pre-set Your Camera: Check that your camera is correctly set prior to photographing any object or scene in darkness.

Know the Fish: Part of your planning for a nighttime underwater photography trip could include a bit of learning about the species of fish and other sea creatures where you are diving. Some of them are more active at night than during the day, which means they should be prime targets for your photography.

Underwater photography at night would certainly be a high point of your digital photography experiences. It’s not likely you’ll have the opportunity more than once or twice, which is why it’s important to plan your quest carefully. Only then will you bring home the big catch!

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