Underwater photography - mom and dad style

Under water photography and video for parent photographers

OK, I’ll admit, I think this is a type of photography that is really fun and interesting and I love some of the photos I’ve gotten during summer afternoons at the lake/beach/pool. I wanted to write this down because I think 99% of parents only ever take images from dry land and it really doesn’t have to be that way. So this is a rundown of the choices in gear you would need to make images like these happen and some top tips I have after a lot of experimentation.

Obviously, most of us run into situations where we’re with the family at the pool/lake/river and we’d love to keep taking photos but we don’t really want to risk bricking a phone or camera. With that said, I’d like to share some solutions with something here for every budget and level of expertise. Last, I’d like to give you five tips on shooting that you might consider once you’ve gotten a waterproofing solution for your next pool/lake/ocean adventure.

Taken with an Olympus EM5 MKII in an underwater housing unit with the 12mm f2 lens. Absolute overkill for a day in the pool with grandparents but dang if it doesn’t do a great job. I got my underwater housing for around $100 so I thought why not?

Gear - Bring on the waterproofing

Cell phone

Yes, my iPhone has some water resistance and might even survive a dunk in the pool but I’m unwilling to risk ‘bricking’ it for a pic of kids jumping in the water. If you do want to use your phone in or near water I think you have two options-

1. You can buy a waterproof case that you use full time - LifeProof makes one, for example, that goes for about $89. The upside with a full time phone case is that you’re never without it, but the downside is that damage to the case or losing the plugs that cover the ports would negate the waterproofing.

2. You could buy a dedicated waterproof case for $10 that’s like a souped- up ziplock bag. Obviously, a zip lock style bag is a bit clunky as an everyday use thing but for these under/in water occasions, it’s actually a solution I can live with. Yes, it’s a bit of work, but if you can live with just tap controls on the screen you’re in business for not much of an investment. Keep it with the swim gear and you’ll most likely always have it on hand.

COMPACT Waterproof Camera

OK here’s my argument for buying a dedicated waterproof camera like the Olympus TG-6:

1. It’s super rugged to the point you really don’t have to worry about it surviving virtually any trip. Olympus actually rates it for being drop resistant, waterproof, freeze proof, etc. The point is that you don’t have to baby this camera.

2. It has a zoom that’s a bit more useful than your phone. The zoom on something like the Olympus TG-6 is optical which means no quality loss when you use the zoom. This can be a very good thing if you need to use the wide or telephoto end of the lens.

3. If you take hundreds of photos, you can choose to transfer just the winners to your phone wirelessly to save space on your device.

4. You don’t run down your phone’s battery while you’re away from power on the boat. (skiing, river rafting, etc.)

5. If you lose this camera it would suck but not nearly as much as your thousand dollar phone.

Bonus: Cameras like these can double as video making devices like a GoPro. A TG-6 doesn’t have as many ways to attach it to your body but if you’re a more casual GoPro user this might be even better for you.

Reasons to not buy a waterproof camera:

1. You have to keep it charged or it’s useless, and it’s another gadget to keep track of all the time.

2. The image quality is only on par with your phone. The image quality from a TG-6 is pretty close to an iPhone in terms of sharpness, etc.

Personally, I’m in the camp of buying and using this type of camera. I’ve owned an Olympus TG-5 for a number of years. I don’t mind charging it via USB, either in the car or at home, before a day out at the beach and I love not worrying about my phone as much when the conditions aren’t as safe (water/sand/bottom of the lake). I also love that I can take 100s of images and video and it’s not all stored on my phone. There are so many “almost” when attempting these types of photos, and I’m very happy to only transfer the 8-10 that I love. Last, the Olympus TG-6 can double as an action cam in that it takes great video too, as long as you’re not trying to attach it to yourself or your kids like a GoPro.

Action Cam (Go pro/DJI oSmo/Insta 360)

Well, the first thing I have to say about every action camera I’ve tried is that they’re universally terrible at shooting stills easily, BUT I have had some success pulling stills from video.

The big upside to using an action cam and shooting video to pull out a still is that you’re going to have every fraction of a second to choose from. The downside is that video is normally taken in a way that intentionally adds a bit of blur to create smooth motion. In bright light you’ll probably be fine, but one way to help is to put the camera into slow motion. Slow motion capture increases the sharpness of each frame and gives you a better chance of getting a winner. Second, you’ll want to put the camera into it’s highest quality, usually 4K, which will give you an 8 megapixel still image.. pretty good even for medium sized prints.

Now a couple of downsides: First, if you’re not comfortable editing video and/or you hate navigating the app that came with your action cam this process is going to suck. Second, I’ve had very little success with getting anything sharp under the water, jumping/diving/splashing. It works OK but you won’t get much by rolling underwater.

My verdict on action cameras…. great for video…. but I will avoid using for stills unless it’s my only option. Of course, if your main goal is great video, these are amazing, but I’d rather use it along side a stills camera rather than in place of it.. even if you just shoot stills with your phone.

Waterproof housing for your dedicated “Pro” camera

What can I say here… It’s hands down the higher quality experience, the pictures look better, they’re easier to get, and you have access to all the features of your camera even underwater. The downsides… first, cost which will be in the $100s if not $1000s and they’re bulky and conspicuous.

The best reason to use one of these is that you really care about getting great, very high quality, underwater images and video and you’ll do whatever it takes to get them.

The best reason not to go this route, you look like you lifted it from a scuba diver and you have to invest a good chunk of change to get into a system.

I’d go this route, if you’re going on a vacation where you’re going to spend a lot of time under water or if you love to scuba, but not if you’re just going to spend time at the pool. That being said, there are a wealth of choices, everything from camera model specific rigs dedicated to just one make and model of camera to bag style choices which universally fit similar sized cameras and lenses.

Olympus TG-5 underwater camera. You can see the glow-y effect of having a water drop on the lens.. but I kinda like it

OK enough about gear here are my tips for parents shooting around water -

1. For a jump sequence of the kids from the boat/dock/deck (dedicated camera):

   1. Put the camera into fast sequential shooting mode, usually denoted by an "H” with some small overlapping boxes. This will allow the camera to shoot a burst of images if you hold down the shutter button.

   2. Pre-focus on where they’re likely to land and start your sequence above the water, then follow them below. To pre-focus, hold down the shutter button on a dedicated camera half way down and then, when the moment happens, fully depress. Don’t lift your finger off the trigger.

2. If you’re using your phone -

   1. On an iPhone all you have to do is pull the on-screen trigger to the left and you’ll see the camera start shooting and counting the number of frames you’ve taken. Note, that once a large sequence is taken, iOS will put them all into a stack where you can choose later which frames to keep.

   2. To pre-focus on your phone, press and hold on the screen where the action is about to happen and you’ll see AE/AF lock come up on screen at the top along with a box where you have pressed. Now the focus is locked until after you take an image or sequence of images.

3. I love trying those half-above half-below the water images. To do that you have to get the camera into just the right place and really take a lot of photos. Calmer water helps. If you nail one, it looks like something from National Geographic.

4. Watch your backgrounds. As you’re thinking about where you’re positioned in the water try to do either one or both of these things: 1. Add context to the background to help tell the story. The back of the boat, the deck with grandma in the background, etc. will add a lot to the story 2. Isolate your subjects as they jump by giving them a clean background like the sky.

5. Really consider where the sun is at - if you’re shooting toward the sun you’re going to get a lot silhouettes and if the sun is at your back you’ll get nicely bright colorful images. Both can be great, but seeing and reviewing exposures in the pool isn’t so easy… so pay attention.