Taking pictures of the things you observe underwater is a rewarding experience. It allows you to enjoy the dive you made again when you are at home, to share your experiences with other divers and to show non-divers the fascinating underwater world. It is no wonder that more than one in three divers bring a digital underwater camera with them when they go on vacation. The behavior of light underwater makes photography more challenging than taking pictures on land. Without a proper introduction, you risk that your pictures lack color and that you find white spots all over your picture. Also a correct exposure of a picture can proof difficult. To overcome these problems we offer digital underwater photography courses.
There a three levels of training. The intent is not to do one course after the other – the different levels indicate different end-points of your training. If you want to do level 3 photography, there is no need to first do level 1 and 2.
Level 1 photography is a course for people who want to use a digital underwater camera without an external light source. The course introduces you to the camera settings needed to take pictures in shallow water with a digital camera only. You learn how to set the camera to capture the natural colors of the underwater world, but due to the lack of an external light source, this level of photography will only work in limited depth. The course takes one day and is split between theory and practical application.
is for those who want to equip their camera with a torch or a strobe. For this set-up there is no depth limit up to which good pictures can be taken. In level 2 we make use of mixed light – part light of the sun and part light from the external light source. What you need to learn is how to set the camera for the right mix between the two sources of light. You have to learn how to use one source to manipulate the color of the water in the background, while the other light source is used for a correct exposure of the subject in your picture. We will teach you how to do that. At this level you still take benefit of some of the automatic functions of the camera. This make photography easier, but it also brings some limitations that can not be overcome without manually setting the camera. You should be able to fulfill the performance requirements for level 2 in two days, but if you want some additional time to improve your skills, we are happy to provide that guidance.
is intended to prepare you for complete manual settings of both the camera and the strobe. For this course you need a camera that allows manual settings (you can use your own, or rent a camera from the College). The information contained in level 2 will also be part of this course, but you have to learn rather a bit more to be ready for level 3 photography. The results you are going to achieve make it worth the effort – level 3 photography provides you with the technical skills needed to match the picture quality you find as an average in diving magazines. If you continue from level 2, you need at least two days to complete the program. If you did not yet do a photography course, you should plan four days for your training. Photography is open ended though – even if you already fulfilled to performance requirements for the course, you might want to add some additional time to improve your photography skills.
For the level one photo course you need the PADI DUP manual. For level 2 you need the book “Your First Underwater Pictures” and for level three you need the book “Digital & Traditional Underwater Photography” as well as the other two books.
The College can offer complete flexibility for the scheduling of your course. You can opt for half or full days, do several days of training without taking a break or take your course one day at a time. Learning is a personal experience and you should opt for a schedule that fits your needs. The current prices for our courses and services are found in the latest version of our brochure.
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