How to Get the Best Underwater Engagement Photos
So you’ve decided to schedule an under water photoshoot, what now? Oftentimes people think that underwater shoots are easy and will go swimmingly (pun intended), but we’re here to be brutally honest and tell you that anything underwater is at least 10x harder than on land! Never fear! People of all swimming abilities are able to take amazing underwater photos with the right preparation and mentality. Here are our top tips on what to expect during an underwater photoshoot so you can practice and prepare to have the best photos possible!
Be Realistic About Your Swimming Ability
People often think they are better at swimming then they really are. Swimming in the ocean can be much different than a pool and this can lead to a lot of problems when doing underwater shoots. Two of the most common issues are people who cannot dive below the surface (the salt water makes you more buoyant than freshwater or a pool) and being able to hold your breath longer than 15 seconds without panicking.
Please let us know which swimming ability you are. If you’re a beginner than we like to bring an assistant who stays nearby with a surfboard you can rest on.
What Swimming Ability Level are you?
Beginner: A great starting point is if you should be able to hold your breathe for at least 30 seconds while actively moving underwater. You can go 10 ft. underwater easily and be able to clear your ears.
*this should be standard, if you can not do this then we do NOT advise doing an underwater shoot at all.
Intermediate: You can hold your breath moving for 60+ seconds and can dive comfortably to 30 ft.
Advanced: You can free-dive for 2+ minutes and go beyond 60ft.+ deep comfortably.
2. Sea Life Are Not Pets
Some people have the expectation that we can guarantee swimming with turtles, schools of fish or even dolphins. These are wild animals and a more realistic expectation is that we will not see any of them at all. If you schedule an underwater shoot do not plan to see these wild animals, but if you do get to swim with them it’s a bonus!
3. Water Clarity is Weather Permitting
Honestly, we tend to post our best photos, from days where the water clarity is really good. We try our best to schedule underwater shoots on days where the water is really clear, but the water clarity can really depend on weather conditions that we cannot control. If you have a hard date that you can not change then it’s a 50/50 chance at having pristine water. We advise having a flexible mentality so we can pick a day with low wind, no swell or waves and a lot of sun with no clouds.
4. Can You Open Your Eyes Underwater?
A lot of couples want to dive without goggles on and while those photos seem beautiful and graceful, in reality this makes diving much more difficult. We don’t like to do this unless you’re at least an intermediate level free-diver. Seriously, salt water burns your eyes! It’s even worse if you aren’t used to being in the ocean on a frequent basis. If you wear contacts (or even if you don’t) swimming without goggles makes seeing underwater extremely difficult.
Water shoots up your nose when you don’t have the mask on and we’ve found it makes clearing your ears more challenging. This can be really painful if you aren’t used to it and even though it’s a great way to clear your sinuses, it’s also a painful way to guarantee cutting your dive short.
Don’t get us wrong we love shots without goggles, but just have realistic expectations of what it will be like down there without them on. We advise practicing a bit before the shoot to get used to it.
5. Clothes vs. Swimsuit!? What to Wear…..
This is totally up to you! But if you’re a beginner, we do not advise wearing clothes. Clothes weigh you down, are extremely hard to swim in and are exhausting. Also it looks a bit silly to be in clothes without a mask so that could be the decision maker right there.
Swimsuits are what most people are used to wearing in the water so they’ll be more comfortable in them. They have significantly less drag and don’t make you feel like you’re drowning haha.
6. What Color Swimsuit or Clothes Should I Wear?
If you’re wearing a swimsuit, you can’t go wrong with a one piece underwater. We suggest black, white or solid colors. Underwater photos edited differently, mainly because the color red doesn’t exist underwater. There’s a lot more to that last sentence, but just trust us on it haha. Essentially patterned suits can be really difficult to edit. Please avoid green, blue and purple underwater. We’ve found there’s not a natural contrast underwater and they also tend to change into weird colors underwater.
For men’s clothes we suggest black or khaki pants. Jeans work, but the blue is not ideal. A white button down is ideal.
For women’s clothes we suggest a solid color dress. White, Black, Red and Yellow are preferential colors. Depending on how big the train is or how flowy it is will affect how difficult it is to swim. We advise picking a dress that’s appropriate with your swimming ability.
*Don’t worry, we will consult with you about what to wear before the shoot!
This was a brand shoot for Buddha Pants- this is an extreme example, but notice the patterns tend to look funky especially when they crease. They’re also very distracting vs. the black bikini top she’s wearing. This is why we suggest wearing a solid color.
7. Should I Wear a Weight Belt?
If you are used to wearing a weight belt when you free-dive then you should absolutely do what you’re comfortable doing. It helps you stay calm underwater with a longer breath hold giving us more time to capture beautiful images. It is not the most aesthetically pleasing in photos though, so it’s up to you.
If you want to wear a weight belt with clothes, we suggest wearing it underneath the shirt or dress so it’s not visible. Also wearing less weight than you’re used to is smart because the clothes will make you sink a bit more than you realize.
8. Leis Fall Apart in the Water
Leis get destroyed within 5-10 minutes of going in the water, We never suggest wearing one underwater because it will just look like it’s falling apart and it will float up in to your face.
Haku leis can be a beautiful addition to a photo if you keep it dry and above water. An instance where this would work is if you are floating on a surfboard or taking photos on the beach before hand. Haku leis do not work with underwater photos. As with regular leis, Haku leis will fall apart when they get wet, and if they don’t fall apart, they will fall off your head as soon as you start swimming underwater. When the Haku Lei is taken off, the photographer usually has to hold it so it doesn’t float away and anything extra that the photographer has to hold on to, makes their job more difficult and potenitally can take away from the photo. If you want to wear one while you sit on a surfboard or above water that’s totally fine!
9. Surfboard Photo Tip
Two people balancing on a surfboard is way more difficult than most people realize. We suggest bringing a really big/thick longboard or SUP for this shot:
10. Midday Sun is Best!
For clear and crisp photos underwater you want a lot of light. That means shooting in the late morning-noon time is best here in Hawaii. If you plan to do a photoshoot on land before the water shoot then know that the light will be more harsh and the photos more contrasty compared to soft sunset lighting. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, we just want you to have clear expectations for your shoot!
We hope that this will give you clear expectations on what to expect when you want to do an underwater engagement or trash the dress photoshoot with us. If you have any questions or comments, go ahead leave them below or contact us here.