The Arts of Scuba Diving - Photography and More

Scuba diving is often seen as an activity rather than a sport. By its nature it is uncompetitive and therefore there is no winning or loosing, right or wrong, simply fun and good times!

Many people see diving as an art and use it as a medium for expressing their creative ability. The likes include photography, film, dance, and lots more. Some people spend their life scuba diving and end up feeling more like fish than humans. When scuba diving you spend a lot of time observing the underwater wildlife and beautiful coral reefs. There are colours to see that you cannot imagine to see out of the water, the light reflects of the scales of many fish and produce an array of beautiful mixed colours. It is difficult not to get memorised and enjoy the stunning scenery around you.

Photography is the most common art form for scuba divers. You can aim to capture the menacing sharks of South Africa or concentrate on small macro fish that are smaller than a thumbnail. Cameras range from simple 50 pound cameras to 6000 pound cameras. You can use the same array of equipment under the water as you can above the water. About the only thing you cannot use is a tripod!

Underwater photography is very difficult to master and often skilled photographers take a time to adapt to the under water way of doing things. For starters the colours change every 5 metres so you need to use red filters to keep the red colour in your photographs. The light is constantly changing and reflecting off stirred up bottom silt sand and the surface of the water. Capturing wildlife is notoriously difficult and this is amplified underwater as the marinelife do not like you getting to close. They can quickly move behind a rock or adapt their colours as camouflage to the surrounding corals.

The first thing to master with any scuba diving art is buoyancy. Fish naturally remain bouyant as they have a buoyancy bladder that can keep them steady at the same depth underwater if they so wish. However, as a diver even breathing affects your buoyancy. Breath in and the air expands your lungs and you can move shallower, breath out and you sink. Controlling your breathing is key to good underwater photography.

Ironically many divers hold on to corals or rocks to steady themselves for the perfect photo. This is ironic as by holding on to the corals you can actually kill them, since they are trying to capture the beauty of the natural surroundings, killing the corals in the process is exactly ethical. If you are about to get into using art to express the wonders of the underwater world, please keep this in mind so the vibrant reefs stay fresh for many years to come.

Underwater filmography is very similar to underwater photography, except that you capture some amazing movement with film. You can move as if you are a fish and can relay an amazing perspective of marinelife, like how they breed, hunt, interact and behave.

Above all we hope you can share the underwater wonders with the world whilst keeping what you see intact. Enjoy the magical world and enjoy your art.

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