I’ve always loved water and splashing in the sea or a river or a swimming pool – and it’s still my happy place. There’s something about watching water run and the waves splash that is very, very good for my soul.
So naturally I’ve been itching to try my hand at underwater photography (or any type of “water” photography really – be it splashing in the waves or dancing in the rain) for quite some time now, but the cost of a proper underwater housing was something I couldn’t really justify, not to mention I’ve seen first hand how unwieldy it is (would you believe I’ve actually assisted on a swimming school underwater photoshoot once when I was just starting out?). I’ve ventured as far as using my “big girl” camera while standing waist-deep in the water and being really mindful of the waves, no protective equipment in sight (like in the photo below) but that’s really not a great plan for some more active photos, really!
Last year I got myself a little underwater compact which I tried out on our holiday in Menorca. It was really fun to use and if the light is right you could get something really special like these photos below, but as a professional photographer I really found it limiting and very much hit and miss. The battery life also wasn’t amazing and the photos only really looked great with black and white treatment, so while it’s fun to play with I just wasn’t satisfied!
So this week after a quite a bit of Googling and asking everyone I knew what they used for their underwater photographs I went ahead and purchased the Dicapac underwater camera bag and got to put it to the test on one of the last days of the British heatwave when I took a day off (oh the joys of being your own boss) and we headed over to East Wittering for an evening swim. Obviously I was really nervous about taking my expensive camera and lens in the water, even though I did test it at home beforehand, and checked all the seams and everything I was supposed to do! But the itch to take some special photographs was greater than the fear so into the water I went, and so glad I did!
The four photographs below were my favourites from this little experiment and I can’t wait to try using my new waterproof bag in a swimming pool (anyone? a family photoshoot splashing in the pool?), during a downpour (how fun would that be?) and also in the clearer waters of the Mediterranean with some lush directional light.
