How to take underwater photos with a mobile phone?

In addition to taking pictures when traveling, we sometimes take pictures in underwater environment. The following small series will tell you some tips for taking pictures and teach you to take pictures underwater.

Selection of equipment

Shooting equipment can be roughly divided into these categories according to the size of CMOS.

Quan Huafu SLR/micro-single: such as Canon 5D series and Sony A7 series.

High-quality card machine: such as Sony RX 100 series.

Underwater cameras: such as Olympus TG series.

Sports cameras: such as GoPro.

Mobile phone: For example, the one in your hand.

It can be seen from the truth of' bottom killing' that from (1) to (5), the picture quality is declining step by step. The following are introduced one by one:

Quan Huafu SLR, micro-single

Let's start with the conclusion: If you are not a great diver or photographer, this option can be ignored. You may wonder, since SLR/micro-single shot works best, why should we ignore it? Because of the waterproof shell. A waterproof case of SLR and micro-single is tens of thousands of dollars (buy a waterproof case and don't send a camera! ), for example, when we were in Palau, the 5D3 waterproof shell given to him by the local accompanying photographer was as high as 50,000 RMB. You can figure out how many cameras you can buy just by this shell. In addition, it is bulky and complicated to operate.

There are also some relatively cheap waterproof covers, but is it really safe to put your tens of thousands of cameras and lenses in a waterproof cover of several hundred yuan?

Note: SLR and micro-single camera mentioned here refer to full-frame cameras. It's not that I look down on an incomplete camera, but do you have the money to buy a waterproof case without changing the camera? So I skipped APS-C and M43.

These two pictures were taken by our underwater photographer with 5D3.

Card camera

There are two mainstream choices here: Sony's RX 100 and Panasonic's LX 100. I only used Sony's RX 100m3 (that is, black card) to shoot, and I personally feel good.

Advantages: Except for the SLR, this is probably the best picture quality in the rest. Waterproof shell, which can be rented and affordable; In addition, there are cheap soft waterproof bags, and the effect and experience are acceptable.

Disadvantages: Because you have to wear condoms. No, no, no, you need to be very familiar with the operation of the camera, otherwise you can't even take a picture. What's the effect? (This shortcoming also applies to)

This photo was taken by our photographer with Sony RX 100m2 waterproof shell, and the depth is about 15m.

I took this with Sony RX 100m3 waterproof jacket. I took it casually, and the depth is estimated to be six or seven meters.

underwater camera

What I know is the TG series of Olympus. If I rent it, most of it is this. Now the latest model should be TG5. When we were in Palau, our companions rented TG3 and TG4.

Advantages: easy to use, you can take it directly into the water. The operating experience is better than a camera with a shell.

Disadvantages: the picture quality is slightly worse (compared with the black card)

GoPro

Mainly represented by GoPro. After all, it is waterproof and the perimeter is intact.

Advantages: portable, easy to use and powerful accessories.

Disadvantages: wide angle, small sensor size, suitable for video shooting.

These two videos are taken from GoPro.

mobile phone

Are you kidding? It has no other advantages except manual operation. It has many shortcomings and is not recommended.

Summary:

Snorkeling: If you have GoPro, bring it; If you have a black card, buy a waterproof case or rent a waterproof case; If you don't have the first two, I suggest you rent a waterproof camera directly. The newer the model, the better. By the way, if you choose to rent a black card, try to rent the latest model, because I have compared the video quality of the second generation and the third generation, and there are obvious differences. )

Take scuba diving as an example: ignore GoPro.

Why do I recommend GoPro snorkeling?

Mainly because GoPro can use the selfie stick as an extension arm, and the extra 1m can make the picture cleaner. Of course, if you are good at swimming, please ignore GoPro.

Supplement: At present, Sony's RX0 looks good. It retains the functions of the black card V (continuous shooting, shutter and 4K video have all shrunk), and it seems that it can't beat GoPro. But please note that its accessories are more expensive! For example, the waterproof shell is more expensive than its machine. This thing should be a good choice after improving the accessories.

How to shoot

There are too many equipment problems in front of us, but in fact, the' how to shoot' part is the key. No matter how good the equipment is, it's useless to shoot it.

There are two aspects here, skilled camera operation and good diving skills.

First, you must choose a camera that you are familiar with, or a camera that you are not familiar with. You must practice using it on shore before launching. Otherwise you won't be as free underwater as you are on land. If you are anxious to adjust the camera, you may miss the beautiful scenery.

Secondly, it is a very important diving skill. Because there are often plankton and sediment in seawater, the visibility is not good. If you want to get a clear picture, you usually need to be close to the subject. You need to rely on your own diving skills to get close to taking pictures without hurting yourself.

In the final analysis, beginners need to practice and shoot more when they want to come up with a film underwater. Practice diving skills. If you shoot too much, you press the shutter too much. Even! You can make videos at any time! Then extract key frames from the video when you come back. Of course, if you shoot a video, you must shoot the highest resolution and bring enough memory cards.

Focus: Autofocus is generally used, and everything is subject to the first shot.

ISO, shutter, aperture: if you have no experience, they are all automatic. One is easy to be photographed.

White balance: The underwater color temperature is not the standard color temperature, and it is easy to reach 20,000 at once. Underwater has a very important influence: the color is changing every meter; When you meet different ocean currents, the color will also change. If you can shoot RAW format, don't hesitate to shoot RAW format directly, so you don't have to worry about white balance.

later stage

Because it is difficult to control the light in water, and because of the obstruction of impurities in water, the film will appear gray and the contrast is not strong, so the original film will look slightly inferior. At this time, it is necessary to save the film later.

I adjusted it in Photoshop, of course, LR can also adjust some of it. The general process is lens correction, white balance, sharpness, saturation, local color and so on. The specific steps have to be adjusted according to different photos.

I put a few original films and later pictures (all taken by three generations of black cards) for your reference.

other

A major factor affecting the underwater shooting effect is sunshine, so you must not be stingy with the shutter when it is sunny.

If you are snorkeling and want to take beautiful photos underwater, please try to take off your mask.

After returning to the hotel, remove the waterproof shell, soak it in fresh water and dry it. Otherwise, seawater is easy to corrode, and the solidified salt on it can easily lead to lax sealing.

Don't touch any marine life and coral when taking pictures. First, some are poisonous to avoid harm; Second, don't destroy the marine environment and ecology.

: Important matters

1. Neutral buoyancy: Without good neutral buoyancy, talking about underwater photography is hooliganism ~ Without neutral buoyancy, you can't control your position well, you can't get close to the subject, and even raise sand. These will affect the quality of photos. When you finally find a lovely sea rabbit the size of a fingernail, you find that you can't go near it with the tide, or simply take it away. Don't ask me how bad it is! I will never tell you that I still can't afford a water camera.

2. Know your own equipment: Whether it's Gopro, Olympus TG4 or Canon 5D2, you can take excellent photos, provided you know how to take them. Below I will show some photos taken by different equipment.

3. The emphasis is on the composition of light: these three elements are equally important on land or underwater, especially underwater. Focusing is particularly difficult because of the special balance between light and white. And often many people forget the great influence of composition on photos.

What are the necessary equipment for water photography? How to choose aquatic photographic equipment? (gopro water is good, SLR water is good, or is it better to bring your own waterproof micro-sheet? )

: water camera

1. mobile phone: basic snorkeling use (I will never tell you that I have never lost focus when snorkeling with my mobile phone (_))

2.Gopro and other sports cameras: mainly shooting videos, simple and convenient. Please install a red filter to ensure the color is restored. If you can afford it, you can install a bracket and two fill lights for Gopro, and the video effect will shock you (I'm going to transform my Gopro. )

3. Card machine: The first one is Olympus TG4 or new TG5, with good macro and video effects; In addition, Canon card machine series, you can rent a treasure to experience first, really don't have to rush to buy;

4. SLR: Many models of micro-singles and SLR have special diving shells. I have used Sony a6000, Nikon d7000 and Canon 5d2, but this kind of water camera equipment must be equipped with bracket, fill light and corresponding lens. Expensive;

Matching device:

Parentheses are important. The bigger the bracket, the more stable it is.

Lighting is very important, and lighting determines everything;

The diving shell is very important. There are famous brands such as seasea, ikelite and Nuticam. Of course, after you buy it, there may be no next generation. Generally, the more expensive the camera diving shell is, the more expensive it is, which is basically around1-50,000; There are also some relatively cheap domestic brands;

Generally speaking, I recommend renting a card machine or using Gopro red filter for travel photos; If you want to be professional, you can start with the card machine. Don't spend money on your own equipment You can try more first. After all, the cost is too high to be replaced frequently ~

How to maintain

Maintenance is very important because salty seawater is very corrosive. Before each dive, put the diving shell into fresh water and check whether there are bubbles leaking. If there is a bubble, there is a problem. This step must not be omitted (I have witnessed many cameras being scrapped at the first time). Now we usually go into the water for the first time without a camera, and directly take the diving shell into the water to check whether there is any water leakage.

After each dive, soak the camera in fresh water. It should not be exposed to the sun after soaking, but should be dried in a dry and cool place. When the camera is not in use, the O-ring of the camera shell should be specially inspected and protected, cleaned with clean water, oiled and replaced regularly.