Get close. Then get closer.

Water steals contrast and colour fast. Every centimetre of water between your lens and your subject is haze. The single biggest improvement to any underwater photo is simply closing the distance, shoot wide and move in.

Shoot upward.

Get low and angle your lens up toward the surface. Shooting up separates your subject from a clean, bright background and captures those golden sunbeams streaming through the water, the difference between a snapshot and a story.

Master your breath, not just your camera.

Calm makes good pictures. A relaxed diver moves slowly, doesn’t spook the animals, and holds a steady frame. Your buoyancy and your breathing are camera skills, work on them as much as your settings.

Let the animal come to you.

Chasing wildlife guarantees a photo of its tail. Be patient, be unthreatening, and let curiosity do the work, the best frames happen when an animal chooses to approach. It’s better for your photos and kinder to the subject.

Tell a story, not just an ID shot.

A centred portrait documents an animal; a sense of place makes people feel something. Use the kelp, the light, the diver, the scale around your subject. The photos that move people to protect the ocean are the ones that show how it feels to be there.