How to take photos with an underwater camera housing

Find out how to shoot in the water and keep your costly camera and lens safe with a simple, inexpensive underwater camera housing.

Water and cameras don’t usually mix. However, there are a wealth of options available to help you take pictures underwater without wrecking your camera.

At the top end, you can get hard cases that are built to fit your specific DSLR. These can cost upwards of a thousand pounds/dollars, so for most of us a more realistic choice is to use a soft case like the Aquapac (£80/$105) or Dicapac (£55/$60) options we tried here. These have a cylindrical space for your lens, fronted by a hard, clear plate.

Your DSLR sits in the bag, and you can press buttons and access controls through the soft material. It’s surprising how much you can do through the bag; you can twist the lens barrel, focus, review shots and more. While not exactly easy, controlling the camera is not as  tricky as you might expect.

These bags are pretty tough. In fact, Aquapac claims that a camera lost over the side of a boat at sea was found a week later, still in working order. But when it comes to your camera gear you don’t want to take any chances, so test it beforehand.

We took our underwater cases to the beach – a notoriously hazardous place for DSLRs and lenses! It’s not just the destructive effects of water from which they provide protection. There’s also all that dastardly sand that is forever trying to get into your lens and mess up the mechanisms.

With these bags you can get close to the action without worrying at all about your camera. There’s something thrilling about taking your DSLR into the water.

You can get shots from angles you might never have even attempted before, and if you drop the camera, the air in the bag will keep it afloat.

However, it can be a challenge to compose and focus while the waves are knocking you around, so here are a few pointers to get you started…

SEE MORE: 5 ways to shoot landscapes you never thought to try

How to use an underwater camera housing

01 Safety ashored
Before you submerge your expensive DSLR, it’s worth checking that the seams are water-tight and the locking mechanism is secure. An easy way to do this is to put some tissue inside the case, then lower it into the water. If the tissue stays dry, then you know your camera will too.

SEE MORE: 10 simple ways to maintain the health of your camera

02 Prepare your camera
Once your camera’s in the bag you don’t want to have to take it out until necessary, so make sure the battery is full, the memory card empty and the lens cap off. Use whatever exposure settings you’re comfortable with;  we used aperture-priority mode set to f/5.6 and ISO200.

SEE MORE: Landscape photography from idea to execution (free photography cheat sheet)

03 Bag a winner
Pick a case that fits your DSLR. The Aquapac case here is perfect for a smaller body like our Nikon D5200 with kit lens, while the Dicapac case shown in step 5 is slightly larger – ideal for a D800 and larger lens. Keep a bit of tissue in the bag too, as it’ll be a good indicator if any water somehow gets in.

SEE MORE: How to compose bold images – what (and what not) to include in the frame

04 Stay focused
One of the biggest challenges when shooting in the water is to get sharp shots. For this you need to be able to focus precisely. Set the AF to continuous so it engages constantly. It can be tricky to half-press to focus, so try setting back-button focusing on your camera.

SEE MORE: Master your camera’s autofocus (which AF points to use and when to sue them)

05 Line ’em up
It’s unlikely that the clear plate at the front will match  up with your lens, so you’ll need to hold it to prevent the case creeping into the corners of the frame. There’s also a danger of fogging due to moisture in the air in the bag cooling down. Add a sachet of silica gel to stop this.

SEE MORE: 5 ways to health-check your camera with confidence

06 Get wet!
Experiment with angles and take advantage of the fact you can go anywhere you like! You can go underwater if it’s clear enough, or shoot along the surface for a view of the waves. It’s worth trying a few shots in the shallow surf, as you might get interesting reflections on the sand.

Boost contrast and color

When you get your underwater pictures back to your computer you might find some of them look a little flat. This could be due to the front of the housing getting a little fogged up with moisture, or covered in drops of water.

You can often rescue a seemingly ruined shot by boosting contrast and setting the white and black points in your image properly. Use Camera Raw or Lightroom for this. You might find the images look a little soft too, in which case they’ll benefit from some heavier-than-usual sharpening.

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