 When first learning to create wide-angle images, underwater photographers are often advised to shoot their pictures between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the sun is relatively high in the sky. The intent is to help make new shooters aware of the importance ambient light (aka sunlight and natural light) plays in exposing the water in the background of many wide-angle photographs.
During the “middle of the day” there is usually more sunlight to work with, making it easier to create a pleasing image in which both a strobe-lit foreground subject and the water in the background are properly exposed. Earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon, when the sun is lower in the sky, the color of any water in the background of a wide-angle shot taken at depth tends to fade from blue or green toward black. As a result, potentially wonderful foreground subjects get “sucked up by” or “lost in” the dark-water background, and any acquired images end up in the “delete me” file or the closest trash can. But in underwater photography there are few absolute rules. If you can find an interesting, relatively large subject such as a California sea lion in very shallow water and you can compose your shot so that you are shooting into, or toward, the sun (east in the morning and west in the afternoon), then you might discover some wonderful photographic opportunities that you won’t have when shooting during the middle of the day. In what is often called the “magic hour” — the time after sunrise and before sunset — shimmering light rays from the sun often create a cathedral-like lighting effect in the water that adds both a “wow factor” and a three-dimensional look to two-dimensional photographs. To capture this mood you will want to select a relatively fast shutter speed, 1/250th of a second or faster if possible, to freeze the individual dancing shafts of light; use a light meter to measure the intensity of the ambient light you have to work with at the moment it is illuminating the background of your shot; and use a strobe to illuminate the foreground subject when possible. Position yourself so that your subject is framed against the light rays in the background where you took the light meter reading. In this image of a California sea lion I focused the lens on the area to where I thought the animal would swim and waited for the right moment. When the sea lion flared its flippers to make a turn, I tripped the shutter and captured the scene. This was just one moment when I took advantage of the light that underwater photographers have to work with when shooting during the magic hour. Once you understand the basic techniques it is easy to capture your own magic moments in the shallows in the early morning and late afternoon.
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