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The Ten Commandments of Underwater Photography Preparation
Stuart Seldon has been diving with a camera in-hand ever since he conned a bank into lending him money to buy a Nikonos III when he was still in high school. He currently shoots with a Nikon D500 in an Aquatica housing with Ikelite strobes.
He was recently named a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and has been published in several diving and travel magazines, newspapers and websites, commercial brochures and book covers. Stuart recently published his 11thReefs and Wrecks Calendar!
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
One of my favorite things to do (apart from diving of course!) is to talk to other divers about underwater photography. Many divers are interested in taking a camera underwater it seems. It’s the perfect way to share your underwater adventure with other divers landlocked friends. I can’t imagine not taking my camera diving!
It also seems like most underwater photographers want to upgrade to a more sophisticated system regardless of whether they’re using a GoPro, a “point-and-shoot” in a housing or a more sophisticated DSLR. I suppose this comes from the common belief that a better camera means better pictures! That’s a discussion for another day though…
Anyone who takes a sophisticated piece of gear underwater, runs the risk of it being damaged or even destroyed by the water, and this is especially true for digital cameras. Over the years, I’ve developed a bit of a system to minimize the risks, and I’d like to share them! I don’t guarantee that if you follow these things, you’ll never have a problem, but I know they’ll help!
The Ten Commandments
1. Thou shalt service thy o-rings first and quaffeth thy beer second!
Preparing a camera system is a very detailed operation and even the smallest error can spell catastrophe. Prep your system at the end of the day when you’re on vacation, before you indulge for the evening. Inspecting, cleaning and lubricating o-rings will pretty much guarantee a successful dive!
2. Thou shalt prepare thy system at a leisurely pace, in solitude, with a bright light, and wearing thy spectacles!
Rushing to get a system ready is at the heart of most failures. A pinched o-ring, or a loose sync’ chord can result in a really bad day. Take your time, and don’t get distracted. If you’re shooting with a dSLR and you aren’t yet sure which lens and port you want to use on your next dive, you can always leave that decision until it’s almost dive time, but check the ports over so they’re ready to go. I recommend wearing a good LED headlamp, especially if you’re working in a dark room someplace!
3. Thou shalt fire several test shots after thy system is assembled!
This seems like an obvious thing to do, but I got caught when I didn’t do this just last week! Test shots can prevent problems like faulty/broken strobe cords, dead batteries, lens caps left on and in my case, a hot-shoe connection that had moved a little preventing my strobes from firing. These are simple things to fix on land, but generally impossible to fix once you’re under water!
4. Thou shalt not open thy housing between thy dives, while thy hair drippeth!
This isn’t always possible since many of us want to change lenses between dives, but if you must, make sure you’re dry, and that everything around you is too. Even a single drop of salt water hitting a connection or control can be a problem. If you must open your housing, wrap a towel around your head, or at least wear a hat!
This also applies at the end of the day. Be certain that your housing is completely dry before you open it.
5. Thou shalt travel with a spare sync’ cord, because faulty sync’ cords are the root of all evil!
Seriously! Whether it’s an electronic cord or a fibre-optic one, they fail, they break, and most destinations won’t have any to be found anywhere! I’ve been hauling a spare one around for 8 years for my Ikelites, and I finally needed it last fall while diving in a remote part of northern British Columbia.
If I hadn’t had a spare, I’d have been shooting with one strobe all week! That’s not the end of the world, but it can be limiting. Having a spare cord is also a good way to diagnose a strobe issue. If you change the cord and the problem persists, you know it’s the strobe itself.
6. Thou shalt double-check that thy lens cap is removed!
No biggie on a point and shoot with a wet lens, but on a dSLR, you’re stuck for that dive. Firing those test shots I mentioned above, will catch this, but it doesn’t hurt to mention it again. I’m happy to say that I’ve never done it, but I’ve come close!
7. Thou shalt not back-roll, front-roll, stride-jump or belly-flop into the water with thy camera!
Have you ever seen the dome port explode off the front of a housing? I have, and I must say, there is no better way to flood a housing than to have 4” diameter opening in the front of it! When you’re on a new boat, show the crew how to handle your camera safely so that that they can pass it to you once you’re in the water, and equally importantly, how to stow it again once you’re up.
8. Thou shalt soaketh thy system in fresh water after every salty exposure and again after thou hath returned home.
Salt corrosion is insidious stuff and you really need to be diligent about getting it off of your gear! You won’t notice corrosion at the end of the day, or even the end of the week, but you sure will when you’re packing for your next trip! Sticky and even seized camera controls will definitely show up right before your next trip!
If you can’t soak your system each day, consider spraying your system with “Salt-Away” or even a dilute solution of white vinegar. Both with prevent salt from doing its thing until you can get your system into a tub!
9. Gingerly place thy system in a protective case on thy dive boat!
I purchased a Cinebag Square Grouper bag last year and it was a game changer. It prevents my dogs from stomping on my camera when I’m diving from my RHIB, but even more importantly, it protects my camera from bumps and scratches on a dive boat. Banging systems together in a communal rinse tank is a leading cause of scratched domes. I even used my Square Grouper as a rinse tank when I was in the outer cayes of Belize last week. No rinse tank or bathtub, so I filled the bag in the bottom of my shower and let my stuff soak there!
10. Hideth thy underwater receipts from thy significant other!
This won’t do a thing to protect your system, but it will do wonders for keeping you out of the doghouse! An underwater camera system can be a significant expenditure; so following these few simple rules will go a long way towards keeping your system safe for many years!
- The Ten Commandments of Underwater Photography Preparation – March 29, 2022
- The Shipwreck Photography Primer – March 1, 2022
3 comments
All good advice. Especially #10. 🙂
Yes… so easily overlooked, but serious repercussions. 😉
Thanks Terry. Never underestimate the influence of an irate partner on your photography budget!