MARIA MUNN'S COLUMN: The Magic of Manual White Balance

I hope you've all had a lovely week and enjoyed the recent heatwave. This week we are going to look at the use of custom white balance which is one of the easiest ways to banish those blue underwater photos and replace them with wonderful colour ones. White balance is where you can use either a white card, the sand or the palm of your hand (as long as it hasn't got a glove on the end of it!) to balance your camera to the colour of light.

Always remember that you need to have plenty of ambient light for this to work effectively, and once set, your exposure can be adjusted to create colourful images. Just remember to make sure your ISO is set to a fast enough speed to make sure that your subjects don't end up blurry. You may need a higher ISO in UK waters compared to bluer ones.

Reef shark in front of school of Jacks

Remember to switch your camera's flash off or your torch once set otherwise you may end up with very pink pictures. That said, Darren Clare who participated in the British Society of Underwater Photographer's Splash-In Event last year took a beautiful picture of a pink starfish by using the two together, so don't forget to bring out that inner creative streak in you while exploring our underwater realm.

Also, don't forget that when you look up to the surface to take underwater photographs, always remember that if your camera is still set to this mode, you run a risk of the surface area being pink.

Finally, using manual white balance can help capture images of shyer subjects - those that might be disturbed by a flash. In the first of these two photos (pictured above) taken on a recent trip to Mabul and Sipidan, Sabah Malaysia with Borneo Divers, I used a wide angle lens to get really close to the reef shark and used the exposure compensation tool on its minus setting to make the blue background richer, enhancing the school of jacks in the background. In the second photo (pictured below), I found a sleeping green turtle and used this mode so as not to disturb it. I loved using it when faced with this huge schooling jacks with a fisheye lens to really give the photograph a different perspective. Don't forget to use it while shooting underwater video as well to give your movies all of the gorgeous colour they deserve.

Sleeping turtle

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing you at the Dive Show.

Maria

Maria runs very popular one day courses to help you improve your underwater photography with your compact as well as at your own dive club. She will be launching a brand new DVD at the Dive Show dedicated to helping you develop your own skills which has been shot by Scubazoo. She also runs courses around the country in her brand new VW Camper "Photobus." Visit www.oceanvisions.co.uk for more information or just drop her a line if you need any help or advice.

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