Underwater Tips & Tutorials

Tips and Tutorials for underwater camera gear
from the Bluewater Photo team

Wet vs Dry Macro Lenses

Wet vs Dry Macro Lenses

Sep 18

Macro photography, the documentation of little creatures via photographic medium, is one of the most popular realms of underwater photography. It tends to be a little more straight forward than wide angle photography, and yields more opportunity for creativity. As is the rule of thumb with photography – there is more than one way to achieve a macro photograph. Underwater, there are two...

Getting professional-quality video by using video lights with a GoPro

Getting professional-quality video by using video lights with a GoPro

Aug 12

It seems that everywhere you go diving these days, someone has a GoPro with them. And why not? They are very small, affordable, and easy to use. Because of this, there is a ton of underwater footage out there taken by GoPro. I am sure you have seen lots. Some of it is really nice, but along with that, there is also a lot of dull, blue, colorless, and frankly pretty boring stuff out there. While...

Dome Ports: Acrylic vs Glass

Dome Ports: Acrylic vs Glass

Jun 17

Dome Port Basics As anyone who has used a dome port is probably aware, they are notoriously prone to scratching. So why even use one in the first place, when a flat port is much easier to care for? Optics, optics, optics. Flat ports magnify images underwater by about 30%, due to light refraction. This is why things look larger underwater than they really are – because scuba masks are...

Why You Should Use a Fisheye Lens for Wide Angle

Why You Should Use a Fisheye Lens for Wide Angle

Jun 03

I shoot with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 in a Nauticam E-M1 Mark II housing, and whenever I am shooting wide angle I use the Olympus 8mm f/1.8 fisheye lens. I run into a lot of people who either don’t use a fisheye lens at all, or who think it is a specialty lens that you only use for big things like mantas, whale sharks or humpbacks. Yes, fisheye lenses are definitely the best for giant subjects...

Flash Triggers & Underwater Strobes

Flash Triggers & Underwater Strobes

May 25

A discussion on Flash Triggers, and the different ways to fire strobes Today I want to talk about flash triggers, TTL, and a little history of how photographers used to fire their strobes underwater. Back in the day, to fire strobes quickly you needed an electronic sync cord, which went from your camera hot shoe, through a hole in the housing called a “bulkhead”, to your strobe. Sync...

One of My Favorite Underwater Photography Accessories – the AO Cooler Bag

One of My Favorite Underwater Photography Accessories – the AO Cooler Bag

Jun 07

One thing that does not get talked about much, but is very important for an underwater photographer, is the bag or bags used to transport and keep your gear safe while traveling. Every experienced underwater photographer seems to have their favorite, but I want to convince you that you should think about the one that I use! I shoot an Olympus OM-D E-M1, with Nauticam housing, ultralight arms and...

Flexibility of the full-frame macro lens

Flexibility of the full-frame macro lens

Feb 28

This is the first in a series of blog posts comparing shooting with cropped-sensor versus full-frame sensors. I hope you enjoy! – Scott Gietler When I used to shoot with the Nikon D80, D300, and D7100, when I wanted to shoot macro I had to decide between using the 60mm macro lens and the Nikon 105mm macro lens. Now that I am using a full-frame camera, I no longer have to decide. When I use...