On June 26, 2020, former Malta Olympian Neil Agius completed a 100 kilometer (~62-mile) open-water swim between Sicily and Malta in record-setting time. Photographer Kurt Arrigo accompanied Agius and documented the incredible feat.
Flying drones have become extremely commonplace but also suffer from growing restrictions on their use. It's hard to argue against their novelty, but safety continues to be a concern. So where do drones go next? What about underwater?
Scuba Diving magazine recently unveiled the winners of its annual "Through Your Lens" photo contest, honoring five gorgeous underwater images including a jaw-dropping photo of a whale shark with 50 fish hitching a ride inside its mouth.
More than two years after actually capturing the image, Brazilian photographer Marcio Cabral has officially been granted the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Underwater Panoramic Image." The incredible 826.9MP photograph is made up of 28 shots that all had to be taken from the exact same spot... while diving... underwater.
The summer 2020 release of the Canon EOS R5 made one thing clear - Canon has decided to set the photographic standard for this decade. Without a doubt, the EOS R5 is the top image maker of 2020 and could potentially go unmatched in the camera world for another few years.
The folks at Chinese accessory brand Digitalfoto have created an interesting new piece of lighting gear. They're just released a pair of wirelessly-controlled RGB tube lights that are also IP68 rated: in other words, you can use them underwater.
Photographers love to shop for new gear, but when that gear is for safety during your underwater photography session, shopping become essential. I wanted to write this article to discuss the safety standards (or lack thereof) in the underwater photography community.
When you think online photography education, underwater photography probably isn't the first niche that pops into your mind. But that's what the newly launched Bluewater University is focused on -- it offers live virtual instruction for all things underwater.
Alexander Semenov is the head of the scientific diving team at the White Sea biological station of Lomonosov's Moscow State University. But he's also a marine biologist, and an exceptional underwater photographer. And nowhere is that more obvious than his ethereal portraits of so-called 'Sea Angels.'
Underwater photographer Steven Benjamin is under one of the world's most strict COVID lockdowns in Cape Town, South Africa, but he hasn't let that stop him from capturing world-class wildlife photography. He's just doing it from the comfort of his garden instead.
Lomography is on a product release tear. After announcing two different black-and-white film stocks over the past month, the company has just unveiled the Analogue Aqua: a reloadable 'simple use' 35mm film camera that comes with its own underwater housing.
Underwater photographer Kristian Laine recently lucked into some stunning photos that are as rare as they are beautiful. While diving off the coast of Australia, Laine captured several photos of the world's only known pink manta ray—literally a one-of-a-kind photo opportunity.
The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition has named its winners for 2020, crowning French photographer Greg Lacoeur as this year's champion and selecting 8 other category winners from among 5500 entries submitted by underwater photographers from 70 different countries.
The Underwater Photography Guide has announced the winners of their 8th annual Ocean Art Underwater Photography Competition: a selection that runs the gamut between beautiful, eye popping and, in the case of the Conservation category winner, tragic and unnerving.
If you're an underwater photography enthusiast—or simply a diver who would like to take more photos—there's a new product you should probably check out. It's called 'Diveroid,' and it's an all-in-one housing, dive computer and logbook for underwater smartphone photographers.
An engineer has developed a computer program that can, in her words, "remove the water" from an underwater photograph. The result is a "physically accurate" image with all of the vibrance, saturation and color of a regular landscape photo.
Late last year, Queensland Museum photographer Gary Cranitch captured one of the most spectacular underwater images we've ever seen, a photograph of a fleeting 'coral spawn' in the Great Barrier Reef that looks more like a photo of the Milky Way than marine life.
This past weekend, just off the coast of Cornwall, UK, underwater cinematographer Dan Abbott and wildlife biologist Lizzie Daly captured what is being called the most viral wildlife story of the year: incredible footage of a rare human-sized jelly fish swimming alongside Daly in the murky deep.
Being an Underwater Photographer I've always been drawn to creating dreamscapes below the surface, it's just part of the allure for me, and trying to build a whole room underwater was one of the goals I'd set myself quite a while ago.
This article is not about my advice on how to run your photography business with regard to legalities, releases (prop, model, and liability), safety, price, and style, etc. However, it is about what I do, how I prep, and how I take photos underwater. That’s it. Read it and if you get some good ideas and want to try, then go explore and do it safely and legally.
In addition to being wedding photographers, my wife Anna and I are also keen divers (at least as long as the water is warm and clear!), so quite naturally, we’ve been eager to experiment with underwater photos for quite some time.
If you've done research into underwater housing, you'll know how expensive they can be. In some instances, they cost more than the camera. Certainly, when you pay the premium price you're also purchasing assurance, functionality, size, etc. However, rebel that I am, I didn't want to pay the premium, so I built my own.
It's been called the first underwater photograph and the first underwater self-portrait, but it doesn't seem to be either of those things. No, but this photo by diver and photography pioneer Louis Marie Auguste Boutan, taken in 1899, does seem to be the world's first underwater portrait.
There was a freezing 4°C (39°F) dunking pool at the freediving world championships in Turku, Finland... and photographer Daan Verhoeven did not want to let it go to waste. As the competitors took their shocking dunk into the freezing cold water, he was there to capture their reactions.
The stakes at the Olympics are unimaginably high... and we're not only talking about the athletes. As a professional photographer at the Olympics, you're constantly searching for a unique vantage point. Getty Images is finding theirs by using fancy robotic underwater housings.
Canon called the EOS-1D X Mark II a "remarkable combination of innovation and refinement" when they announced it back in February, but they should have just posted this video instead. Sure, that violates the space-time continuum, but I'm sticking by it.
You don't see that every day. Australian photographer Tim Samuel recently captured a couple of photos the likes of which we feel confident saying you have never seen before. He photographed a fish... trapped inside a jellyfish... controlling the jellyfish from inside.
Another wonderful example of how technology is helping photographers and videographers capture unexplored beauty on camera. This video might not be possible if it weren't for the Sony A7s and its impressive High ISO capabilities.
A popular Taiwanese model and amateur diver died on Monday after reportedly suffering an asthma attack during an underwater photo shoot. Her death has shocked the diving community, and many are wondering if human error is to blame.
The winning photos have just been announced for the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2016 contest. The grand prize was awarded to Italian photographer Davide Lopresti for his image "Gold," a portrait of a spiny seahorse.
In August, I undertook an exciting personal project, an attempt to create underwater fine art images of a beautiful swimmer arcing alongside enormous whale sharks. After a busy year of shooting, I’ve had a welling desire to create imagery that speaks to my deepest soul; and to forge a large-format print for my house.
Now that we've released the photos, I wanted to share more details about how I captured the images.
Bahamas-based underwater photographer Elena Kalis and her daughter Sacha Kalis have a deep connection with the water. Elena has been an underwater photographer for many years, and Sacha, thanks in part to her mother's encouragement and in part to her own natural affinity to the water, says she "learned to swim before she could walk."
Together, they create dream-like, peaceful portraits that capture Sacha's world beneath the waves and her connection to all the creatures that make the waters of the Bahamas their home.
Perspective, gravity, up, down, all of them are mere suggestions in The Ocean Brothers: a mind-bending, surreal video by …
For photographer George Probst, Shark Week must be like looking through a family photo album. That's because this photographer's bucket list item turned passion is swimming with great white sharks and taking pictures that will help smash the 'Jaws' stereotype that clings to these majestic (if terrifying) creatures.
If you enjoy strange and experimental photography, Nathaniel Stern's work should delight you.
For the past ten years, Stern has been creating experimental image-capturing devices using a conglomeration of hacked-together desktop scanners, battery packs and other various computer components. Once created, he straps these machines to his body and takes them from location to location capturing images unlike any other camera out there.
Here’s a short jealousy-inducing behind the scenes look at some of what storied underwater photographer …
No photoshoot goes off without a hitch. But with the correct amount of planning in the way of a vision, schedule, proper team and backup equipment, the risk that you'll run into a big hitch is dramatically reduced.
One photographer who seems to have mastered putting all of those components together seamlessly is Benjamin Von Wong, but it took all of his skill and more to make sure that his most recent crazy adventure came together seamlessly.
Water photographer Sarah Lee (recently featured in a behind-the-scenes artist profile for the SmugMug Film series) grew up in Hawaii, surfing and swimming competitively. One day, while at a swimming competition, she was handed a camera and hasn’t looked back since.
In the latest installment of the SmugMug Films series, the site takes us behind the scenes with underwater photographer Sarah Lee as she does what she does best: dives under the waves to capture powerful, cinematic photography while being tossed around by the currents.
Deb Schwedhelm is a wife, mother, former nurse in the US Air Force and professional photographer who specializes in shooting underwater. Her photographs have been exhibited widely and featured in numerous publications throughout the world. Visit her website here.
PetaPixel: First off, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. You were a nurse in the Air Force before becoming a photographer, right?
Deb Schwedhelm: I grew up in Detroit, Michigan. After two years of nursing school, I decided to enlist in the Army Reserves. After boot camp and Advanced Individual Training (to become a Unit Supply Specialist), I returned to college and finished my Bachelors in Nursing. I then decided to become an Active Duty Registered Nurse, which I continued to do for 10 years. In 2003, I separated from the military in order to pursue a cochlear implant for my hearing-impaired daughter. In 2006, I purchases a DSLR and begin teaching myself photography -- a longtime dream of mine (more on that below).