Underwater Photos and Underwater Portrait Question

iKokomo · Jun 24, 2013

I had a couple of questions! I got a new underwater camera not too long ago and took it to the Bahamas on a neat trip and we did some snorkeling. Now all of the pictures/videos has a hazy greenish tint to it. When I looked underwater the water did not seem that hazy to me. I had my camera (Nikon W100) set on underwater mode. So is there a filter I need to get to help remove the haze? It was a bright sunny day (most of the day)!

2. Is it possible to use this camera to do underwater portraits? I know it is not an SLR, but it is all I can afford at the moment and I was wondering if it is possible to do this! Thanks a lot!

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

Haze - In most water, there can be nearly invisible particulate matter suspended in the water column. This can cause general haziness, and backscatter when flash is used underwater. Naturally this can affect visibility also... as can a number of things. Certain types of spawning, algae blooms, and even large amounts of small marine animals (krill / plankton, etc) can cause this, not to mention rookie divers / snorkelers / waves kicking the bottom up. If you were to post some examples, I might be able to determine what was going on.

Color - For ambient light shooting underwater: usually in green water, a pink filter can be used... and in blue water, a red filter is often used... but I am not sure that there are any external filters available for that particular camera. The built-in underwater mode is supposed to automatically correct for the color losses in the shallow depth this camera is limited to (33'). There have been complaints that the camera under saturates photos underwater... but that is easily solved by taking it out of Auto / Program... and changing the settings to what YOU want, instead of letting the camera decide.

Portraits? It will take images underwater... if you shoot a portrait underwater, it will take it. I am not sure why you would want to do this.. but have fun with it. Lighting might be an issue....

I suspect if you practice with the camera, read the manual, do some internet searches for reviews, and other users comments... you will find that the camera will do a decent job. If this was the first time you had really used it, there is a learning curve to every camera underwater.. it is nothing like shooting on land.

Derrel · Jun 25, 2013

Underwater portraiture is a hot, new thing these days, thanks mostly to the proliferation of affordable,plentiful underwater capable cameras, flashes, and other equipment.

underwater portraits - Google Search

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

Derrel said:
Underwater portraiture is a hot, new thing these days, thanks mostly to the proliferation of affordable,plentiful underwater capable cameras, flashes, and other equipment.

underwater portraits - Google Search

There is some lovely underwater work out there... Zena Holloway is one of my favorite artists. What I consider to be underwater portraiture / art is probably more in this style... it might be difficult to do some of this work with the AW100, but fun to try... none the less!

ShooterJ · Jun 25, 2013

cgipson1 said:
Derrel said:

Underwater portraiture is a hot, new thing these days, thanks mostly to the proliferation of affordable,plentiful underwater capable cameras, flashes, and other equipment.

underwater portraits - Google Search

Click to expand...

There is some lovely underwater work out there... Zena Holloway is one of my favorite artists. What I consider to be underwater portraiture / art is probably more in this style... it might be difficult to do some of this work with the AW100, but fun to try... none the less!

I can see why.. that's some amazing work.

hirejn · Jun 25, 2013

Actually this is because the deeper you go the more sunlight is filtered out. The solution is to use flash to bring "daylight" back to the scene and pop the colors.

kathyt · Jun 25, 2013

I am really into underwater photography right now. I am getting ready to do a shoot with a model. Should be interesting. It is a lot harder then I thought it would be.

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

hirejn said:
Actually this is because the deeper you go the more sunlight is filtered out. The solution is to use flash to bring "daylight" back to the scene and pop the colors.

True this! There are flashes the OP could get that would work, but they all cost more than his camera. The Epoque ES 150 was the cheapest I was aware of, and at $250 just for the flash (still need a tray and an arm) it may not be worth it. Since his body is limited to 33' max depth, Ambient would work fine in clear water. The AW100 has built-in color correction (probably more for blue water than green) and I suspect he just needs to learn the camera better.

I actually shot quite a few of ambient light shots underwater on my last trip.... and you can easily get decent shots down to 33' if the sun is bright.

Underwater color absorption chart (past the depth listed, that color is absorbed... unless replaced by a filter or built-in color correction)

Red - 15ft
orange - 25ft
Yellow - 35-45ft
Green - 70-75ft

Some useful links:

Underwater Photography Guide

Underwater Strobe Guide|Underwater Photography Guide

Optical Ocean Sales, Seattle's Underwater Camera and Photography Store

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

kathythorson said:
I am really into underwater photography right now. I am getting ready to do a shoot with a model. Should be interesting. It is a lot harder then I thought it would be.

Seriously? lol! Post' em! I would love to find a local model that wanted to shoot at the pool, or a local lake. Just for fun...

hopdaddy · Jun 25, 2013

Just a small input..."Snorkeling" with a camera is a deferent animal all together ,than "Scuba" and camera . also you start to loose some reds in as shallow as 3ft..
P.S. Anything that is done on land ,is and Has been done at depth.......Models are not new to underwater photography, However, if you can find one that can dive without having to use a BC ,It makes for a better photo.

ChaseH · Jun 25, 2013

Lighting from strobes is the most important tool for capturing images underwater. As mentioned earlier, there's a lot of particulate in the water. Having an external strobe, which is extended away from the camera body, helps eliminate the scatter and brings out the actual colors. For best results, shots are often taken with a 2nd slave for opposing angle. Best "true" colors are often captured while diving at night, as the distortioni of color caused by the natural light filtering though the water is absent.

iKokomo · Jun 25, 2013

Here are some examples of the pictures from my camera.

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

Definitely no color correction here. Read your manual is all I can suggest. I haven't used that camera... so can't tell you what setting to use. but it is supposed to have built in color correction... just need to figure out how to turn it on. I will do a little research and see what I find...

Link to manual https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17492/~/reference-manual---coolpix-aw100

Some images from this camera on Flickr...
Flickr Search: nikon aw100

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

I see on the "Contents" page of the manual.. there is a filter adapter that is supposed to be included with the camera... do you have that? It will let you attach an external filter 40.5mm dia

cgipson1 · Jun 25, 2013

Looks like all the underwater mode does is set the focus point to the center of the display... page 46 ion the manual

C
Underwater
Use this mode for
underwater shooting.
•
The camera focuses on the subject at the center area of the
frame.
•
The digital zoom is not available.
•
See “<Important> Shockproo
f, waterproof, dustproof,
condensation, GPS/digital compass” (
A
xi) for more
information on shooting underwater