13/08/2023
I’ve loved speaking to so many freedivers lately for the Underwater Photography Exposed Podcast! 🎧
All this talk about freediving got me thinking about things I wish I knew earlier when learning to take photos while holding my breath.
Here are a few tips from me:
👌 Learn to freedive properly. Yes sure, you can wing it. But trust me - it’s a whole lot safer and easier when you learn great techniques. You need to feel comfortable and in control when in the water before you can capture great shots.
👌 Position your camera close and streamlined with your body, it’s much easier to swim with.
👌 Before descending, straighten your arm to hold your camera towards the bottom below you. Then when you duck dive to leave the surface, dive over the camera (similar to if it were a line you were going down). This helps keep the camera close and you in an efficient position for descending. If you haven’t done any line diving to depth, do that to practice without a camera first.
👌 I prefer to make my way to the bottom in the best diving position possible (head down, chin tucked and going straight down) then I position myself to shoot. Going down in a weird angle, trying to chase a subject at the same time just wears you out!
👌 If you need lights, try one video light mounted to the top of your camera first, it’s a lot easier to swim with than dual strobe lights.
👌 Change your settings on the surface, plan your shot, and then breathe up before descending.
❌ Never freedive alone. Ever.
❌ Never chase the shot or push your depth and breath-hold limits.
❌ Don’t rush your recovery between dives. Lugging a camera around can make each dive more taxing - take your time to recover and go for quality over quantity dives.
❌ Do not let the camera distract you from equalising or other essential safety aspects.
Have you got anything else to add?
Happy shooting!
📸🧜♀️
Em
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