How to improve Underwater GoPro pictures
Taking underwater pictures can be a bit tricky, sometimes it doesn’t get you great results for a variety of reasons. There are many ways to improve pictures taken underwater by using different settings configuration or learning the tips and tricks.
All of its accessories also make it stand out and get unique pictures that you should use to your advantage and improve your results in both photography and video.
Chances are if you’re looking for GoPro picture tips and blogs like this, you already have a GoPro, but if you’re looking to buy a GoPro you can check out our review on the Hero 9 (Click Here).
In this blog post, your gonna find out everything you need to know about improving your underwater pictures and standing out from everyone else using action cameras such as GoPro.
Choosing the Best Settings
Most action cameras including GoPro allow you to mess with the settings, in this blog we are going to go with GoPro’s settings but since most action cameras are very similar you will probably have these settings as well.
To access GoPro’s settings you need to enable Protune. Protune is an advanced configuration that allows the camera to save much more information, thanks to Protune we have more advanced tools and can obtain better results of color, sharpness, exposure, or ISO. If you’re more familiar with photography the Protune on GoPro cameras would be the equivalent of RAW mode on SLR cameras.
An advantage that GoPro has over most other cameras is that it’s very easy to carry anywhere and use in situations where you cant use another camera. There are many accessories you could use for underwater photography we recommend checking out this 50 in 1 accessory-kit by clicking here.
- FOV depends on what you’re going for, we recommend using Wide for good resolution and image quality, but you can also shoot linear for more typical camera looks.
- SuperPhoto analyzes the scene to be photographed and intelligently chooses the most suitable enhancement process. We recommend turning it off since it will slow down taking pictures and will look great without it and much better if you choose to edit pictures in post.
- Raw On
- Shutter on Auto
- EV Comp 0.5
- White Balance Auto
- ISO Min 100
- ISO Max 400
- Sharpness Low
- Color Flat
Using the RAW format basically reduces all kinds of post-production carried out inside the camera to have the purest possible video and getting the best quality. With the camera not producing any auto postproduction the color profile will be less vibrant and less sharp, this is great for people wanting to edit pictures in postproduction or using presets (Check out great presets below).
The Shutter and White Balance are best left in Auto since the camera does a good job of getting the best settings. EV Comp is the exposure or brightness of the photo, with GoPro you can adjust up to from -2.0 to +2.0, I find that 0 to -0.5 give the best results.
The ISO setting sets the GoPro sensor sensitivity to light. On the GoPro, the ISO ranges from 100 to 6400, the higher the ISO setting the more grain/noise it will produce in the image so it should only be used for low-light such as night setting even though I still don’t recommend going at the max. At day it’s best to leave it 100 to 400 max.
The Sharpness consists of increasing the apparent sharpness of the image, using software or the firmware of the camera itself, the details will appear more clear, GoPro comes with 3 settings: Low, Medium, and High, I suggest not using High since it will look too sharp and not too good, the best settings are Medium for those who don’t want to do any post-production and Low if you want to sharpen the image later with Lightroom or Photoshop.
GoPro comes with 2 Color configurations, Flat and GoPro color, GoPro color gives great results for those who don’t want to do any post-production and the Flat profile is great to work with on post-production on Lightroom or Photoshop.
Focusing and getting the perfect underwater photo the first time can be pretty tricky, and even more so when we are trying to photograph moving subjects, we can also have some problems with foggy lens in colder water on just not getting the right result we are looking for. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get the perfect shot.
Get the Maximum Lightning Possible
Shooting underwater is a bit different than shooting above water, in above water we talk a lot about shooting in the “golden hour”, but sunshine and sunset don’t work at all underwater since the water doesn’t have enough light from the sun and is very dark, leaving you bad results for your GoPro pictures.
The best time to shoot underwater with your action camera is any time when the sun is very bright, you can get even better results if there are no clouds to get the most brightness.
If you are going scuba-diving or going deeper you will lose some sunlight so it’s recommended that you get some extra lights for your action camera, as well as a red filter that will color correct your underwater pictures and videos providing you with vibrant tropical colors.
Stabilization
It’s difficult to stay steady underwater especially when there are waves, the result is blurry pictures. There are some accessories which might help with that as well as being extra steady.
Try to take pictures in transparent water as well, this will help taking clearer and sharper photos.
Be Careful With Foggy lens
When taking photos underwater with a waterproof case your lens might get foggy and produce bad pictures. If there is any trace of moisture inside the body for any reason and the external temperature is colder, moisture condensation occurs inside the device. This condensed moisture accumulates on the lenses and produces foggy lens.
There are many ways to fix this issue. The best way is to use anti-fog inserts. Anti-fog inserts help prevent the camera housing lens from fogging up, even at low temperatures and in humid environments, you can find them in the 50 in 1 kit (Check here) or get them separately.
Get the Perfect Angle
Getting a good angle can really help with the composition of the pictures and get exciting results, a rule to follow most time when shooting underwater is not taking pictures looking down directly, try and get under your target to get a better shot.
Use a Waterproof Case for Deeper Dives
Most action cameras already come with waterproof cases, but newer action cameras such as GoPro don’t come with waterproof cases since they are already waterproof, a downside to this is that it can’t go as deep.
This is why you should consider getting a waterproof case for your GoPro or making sure your action camera’s case can go as deep as you would like to on deeper dives such as scuba dives, most waterproof cases can go up to 30m underwater.
Use Bursts Mode
When taking underwater pictures it’s difficult to get the right picture, with the movement of the water and the movement of the fauna using the burst mode will help get the perfect shot
You can use the Burst mode with the same settings as shown above.
LCD Screen
Most action cameras nowadays come with a touchscreen LCD, underwater the touchscreen becomes useless, to solve this you can get a remote control or use the screen lock option and change modes using the buttons.
Use Presets
With Lightroom Presets you can quickly and easily improve your picture, Presets is a configuration of settings from Lightroom so you can achieve a certain look you are going for, for example getting rid of the greens in an underwater picture.
The Underwater Pack will improve your pictures taken underwater, one of the main improvements of this black is the removal of the greenish color you get while shooting pictures underwater (these Presets will work with any underwater camera) the presets are also perfectly adjustable if you need to make small changes.
Check out the Underwater Pack to Improve your pictures (Click Here).
