Jessie Cripps 6 Tips to Take Your UnderWater Photography To The Next Level

I am doing a few co-labs with some like minded spearo's out there and have the opportunity to share some great and informative content. Here is a great article by Jessie Cripps on underwater photography and spearfishing with a GoPro. .... Enjoy

Whether you are filming a video for your friends and family or taking pictures for a magazine story, these photography tips from Jessie Cripps at Underwater Ally Productions could take your photography to the next level.

1. Always have your back to the sun unless you are going for a silhouette photo or something similar. You will be rewarded with more vibrant colours.
2. Get closer – Why? Because you will lose quality if you take your shot farther afield and try to crop later. Getting closer to your subject will also capture the highest possible image resolution. This is also doubly true underwater as water will reduce the sharpness of your subject particularly in poor vis.
3. Buy a wide angle lens. This will give you a greater field of vision. To learn more about using a wide angle lens check out this article by Scott Geitler 
   #however using a wide angle Gopro lens, some spearo's advise that this makes targeted fish appear smaller and more difficult to see in footage.
4. Spend the time to get your shot in focus. You can't fix poorly focused images on the computer. Using your camera in manual and learning the focus settings on your camera will consistently improve your photos. Beware of losing the point of this cliche "practice makes perfect" - every photography blog, book or article will all stress the need for practice. Take note of the variables, learn to break down the elements of a good underwater photo and hone your skills and knowledge.
5. Slow and steady. Settle, get the shot. Count it loud in our head a you take the shot.
6. Get to know your camera, practice and play around with it.

Takka's and Jessie's GoPro Tips

1. Before you turn the camera off on the way up from a dive, give a thumbs up if the footage is good, thumbs down if it's poor or a shaky palm if there is potentially something useful on there. This saves miles of time in the editing stage.
2. Don't buy second hand GoPros. In our interview with Jessie & Takka several (funny) stories justify this advice - Noob Spearo Interview
3. Use the 1 button mode. This makes for ease of use for spearfishing.
1. Pinch the head. 
2. Listen for the beep. 
3. On the way up just hold the button until it turns off.
4. Get the head mounted camera level by asking a mate if it's level. Alternatively, Use your palm on the mask to make sure the lens is aligned or use fingers underneath the camera to measure where it needs to be oriented (practice).

Couple of other points; F-Stop - The lower the number the faster the lens, Very short shutter speeds can be used to freeze fast-moving subjects such as action shots spearfishing however light becomes a complication.
Learning the lighting, composition, camera settings and subject selection for spearfishing will take time. The good news is that our spearfishing photography world needs more photo-graphical impresarios and you could join the company of some of our sports best.

Follow Jessie Cripps Here https://www.instagram.com/jessie_cripps/
or Michael Takach Here https://www.instagram.com/michaeltakach/