I love swimming and being near water in general. I grew up swimming in neighborhood pools as a young kid and then wake-boarding and tubing all summer long as a teen. I spent college summers jumping off of bridges and floating rivers. Most of my happiest times were spent in the water.
As I watch my own kids grow it seems fitting that they also seem to have an affinity for splashing around in the water. So it was only a matter of time that I merge my love for the water and my love of photography. And holy crap, its been awesome capturing all the summer water fun. I’m a little obsessed with underwater photography actually. Almost obsessed enough to splurge on this very expensive piece of photog gear…
But at $1800, I’d have to be a freaking mermaid to justify the price. There is also this option…
Which seems much more in line with how often I’d actually be using it.
I’m sad that I realized such a glorified ziplock actually existed, as I had already purchased this little Polaroid camera housing for a simple point-and-shoot Canon that I have.
It has worked really well though at keeping my camera dry but it is a little bulky and you can’t control the zoom and/or settings while under water with the camera in the case. I also bought a waterproof case for my Galaxy S5 for a trip to Costa Rica (OMG I have to tell you about my trip to Costa Rica!!) and found that it works just as well, if not better than my Canon Powershot in the Polaroid case. The only issue I have is that sometimes the water hits the screen of my phone and makes it do crazy things while I’m underwater trying to focus on something. This can be resolved to a large degree by adjusting the screen sensitivity settings on the phone. I bought it off of Groupon for like $20 or something and it has been great.
So I guess what I’m saying is, if you’d like to also try a little underwater photography fun, I’d start with your smartphone and get it a waterproof case and see how you like it. Honestly, like I said before, I am obsessed now and am ready to let my DSLR take the plunge (haha PUN), and will likely be ordering the bag-thing soon.
Another tip to underwater photography that I’ve found so far in my explorations is clear goggles are a must. If you can’t see the screen you’ll never get the camera pointed in the right direction while your sloshing around. Also, have someone sit on your shoulders so you don’t float to the top while your trying to shoot under there. Or weigh yourself down some other way that will not drown you. Shoot at a bright time of the day when the sun is high. This is exactly opposite of what I normally try to do but underwater much less light gets in and you need all the light you can get, particularly because a flash becomes worthless. Also, the clearer the water, the clearer your image will be. One last thing worth noting, you’re gonna need to edit afterward no matter how clear the water, and you will probably never be able to get the sharpness that you’d get not shooting through liquid.
Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be taking more underwater pics when I get my new case, but for now, check these out. They are far from the quality that my other photos are, but you can’t deny the beauty and whimsy and fun they capture. I’m glad to be getting another perspective of my kiddos underwater summer.
BTW, these pics were all taken with my Canon Powershot in the Polaroid waterproof case and then heavily edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.
