Over at the official Windows blog, Microsoft has an interview with Stephen Alvarez, a photographer with National Geographic, on how to take underwater photos with a smartphone. While mostly a showcase of what the company’s new phone, the Lumia 950, can do, the piece the tips Alvarez provides can be used to great effect with any smartphone. Let’s take a look.
To start, the most important tip here is to either buy or make a waterproof case for your smartphone. While some smartphones are water-resistant, salt water adds new variables to the whole waterproof equation that’s best simply avoided. Besides, with how expensive great camera smartphones are these days, it’s best to take that extra step to ensure it’s protected.
Moving on, Alvarez suggests staying relatively close to the surface. Go deeper than five metres and it quickly becomes a lot darker, which makes it more more challenging to get a decent shot. Moreover, the water starts to alter the colour of the light, as well. “If you go very deep at all, the spectrum changes,” says Alvarez, “because the water filters out all the red.”
With even relatively clear water being obscure a subject easily, it’s best to get up and personal with a subject, says Alvarez. This is a great tip to keep in mind whether you’re photographing underwater or during a perfectly clear day. The simple act of moving closer towards your subject and filling the frame will lead to a lot better photographs.
Alvarez doesn’t mention this, but it’s also definitely worth considering accessories like the Olloclip. Made for the iPhone 6/s and 6/s Plus specifically, this accessory gives iPhone users access to fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses, and dramatically expands the the creative possibilities.
Check out the original post to see all of Alvarez’s tips.
[source]Windows Official Blog[/source]
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