Zoom blurring underwater

Alex Mustard · Issue 1, Aug 2001 · pp. 20–21

Products mentioned: Nikon F100, 17-35mm Nikkor, 50CC Red filter, Kodak Elitechrome Extra Colour 100, Nikonos V, 15mm UW-Nikkor, Sea and Sea YS120 flash gun, Adobe Photoshop

Underwater photographers are often accused of being too conservative in their picture taking. But we do have some good excuses: first we are already adventurers in an alien environment, where recording clear, sharp and well exposed images is fraught with technical difficulties. In addition, many of our subjects are unfamiliar to our audience, so it makes sense to capture this other world as clearly as possible. Consequently, underwater photographers tend to stick to tried and tested techniques and as a result many underwater photographs look rather alike, with differences in subject matter but not in photographic interpretation. But as more and more photographs are taken underwater, photographers are increasingly looking for a fresh take on familiar subjects. Land photographers have been doing this for years, and underwater we can take a shortcut to original and effective images by borro…