How to Edit Underwater Photography
Underwater photography offers some of the most captivating and unique perspectives of our world. However, there are certain limitations to photographing underwater and these are primarily due to the differences in the available light, how light behaves, and consequently, how that affects colour in the resulting images. That is why knowing how to edit underwater photos is almost as crucial as knowing how to take them.
Learning how to edit underwater photos means understanding how to neutralise and/or compensate for the effect of water on light. Light travels much slower and in a different manner through water than through air, which makes it a bit trickier to capture details in vibrant colour. By using underwater photo filter apps to colour-correct photos, we can extract more vibrant colours and stunning details from underwater photographs. The great news is this is all possible using your smartphone, too.
Colour
To explain underwater photo colour correction, we’ll focus on the two most affected colours in this scenario: red and blue.
Water applies a blue or blue-green tinge to the images depending on the condition of the water. This results in a shift in colour, as well as altering how vibrant other colours will appear. Since light travels in a very different manner through water than it does through air, this has a profound effect on certain colour frequencies.
Red is the colour most affected, as it is a high-frequency colour that travels in shorter wavelengths. This is why even in very clear water, objects that are red, even in relatively shallow depths, can appear pale or even totally grey or black. One feasible approach that many underwater photographers take is attaching a red filter to their lens while shooting. This way it boosts the red colors that are otherwise lost in the water. All other colours are also affected but less so than the colour red.
Nonetheless, this still poses a challenge when it comes to producing vibrant colours in underwater photos. There are various approaches to editing underwater photos to bring out the colours muted by the water. The simplest approach is simply adjusting the white balance through colour temperature and tint. Starting with a generally bluish image caused by the water, you can increase the warmth of the image, which will bring out warm tones in the shot. However, this can also lead to the blue tones appearing more green. When this happens, you can neutralise the effect by adjusting the tint. Shift it more towards magenta to cancel out an excess of green.
In some instances, recalibration of the white balance can be enough to colour-correct underwater photos. If the colour of your image shifts too much and comes out too blue or too green, it might be best to switch your photos to black and white and increase the contrast, instead. Colour filters, presets, and underwater photo filter apps can also help you to edit the colours in your underwater photos effectively. Vivid or vibrant filters or colour profiles can help to accentuate the warmer tones that are usually drowned out by the water.
Some cameras, and even smartphone cameras, have an underwater white balance setting which can be very helpful when getting started with underwater photo correction.
Brightness and Contrast
Exposure is often thought to be concerned only with how bright or dark an image is, but it also impacts the level of detail in your photo and variations in colour. A poorly exposed photo will result in a lower level of detail lacking in subtle colour variation That is why it is very important to first get the exposure right while shooting, and second - as much as you can, shoot in RAW format. Doing both will allow you to have a much more flexible image when you’re editing and colour-correcting underwater photos. When editing underwater photos, you can, of course, fine-tune your exposure by adjusting using an exposure tool or exposure slider to adjust the overall brightness of the image
To better balance the image and bring out necessary details and colours, you can use highlight and whitening tools to selectively reduce clipping and bring out more detail in the image. You can use shadow and black slider tools to recover details and even add colour to the darker parts of the images. Using these tools intuitively will not just improve the brightness and the details of the photographs but also manage the eye-catching contrast of the image as well.
Composition
Editing can only alter composition to a certain extent since it’s highly dependent on how the image is framed and the angle at which the image is captured at the time of shooting. However, it is possible and there are two ways that this can be done.
Cropping
Cropping allows you to remove certain portions of the frame that might not be contributing to the visual design of the image. Cropping a photo also allows you to reposition certain objects in the frame to a spot where they will be more beneficial for the visual flow. At the same time, cropping can allow you to realign an image to improve the overall orientation and balance of the shot.
You can also use cropping to reduce negative space and improve the visual balance of the photograph to give your viewers a more satisfying experience when looking at the photo.
Removing Unwanted Objects or Visual Elements
Whether it’s a speck of dust or a large distracting object in the scene, it’s possible to remove these in the editing process. Certain mobile applications, such as Adobe Lightroom mobile, are equipped with tools that can allow you to remove unwanted spots or patches to virtually clean up the image for a more coherent visual design.
There are many different compositional techniques that might benefit from either cropping or the removal of certain visual elements, such as the rule of thirds, golden ratio, and golden triangles.
Authenticity and Maintaining a Natural Look
Technology and the abundance of options in editing underwater photos offer way more retouching than what most images need. While it is good to be able to play around with the creative possibilities of these editing tools and underwater photo filter apps, it is important to remember that subtlety is key.
The goal of underwater photo correction is to make up for the challenges imposed by taking photos underwater and recover the colours and details that may have been muted by the water. However, with so many editing options available, there is a tendency to go beyond simply recovering the colours and details and instead make adjustments that are too drastic and unnatural.
Shooting in RAW format is a crucial step toward keeping the natural look. RAW files pack exponentially more information, so they also offer more flexibility in the editing process. This means adjustments to bring out details and recover colours can be more subtle and result in natural-looking outputs.
Apps for Underwater Photo Editing
There are many apps capable of editing underwater photos and intricate underwater photo correction. These apps can be used with your computer to maximise the level of control and precision but most can also be used, conveniently, on your smartphone.
The on-board editing apps on iPhones and Android phones are also capable of editing underwater photos. These apps can adjust exposure, individually adjust colour temperature and tint, as well as fine-tune your composition with cropping.
Adobe Lightroom on desktop or mobile is one of the best choices for precision editing, whether for underwater photo correction or rendering your photos taken underwater in black and white. Lightroom is equipped with multiple ways to fine-tune your images as well as some AI features that can help push your composition to perfection. While the free versions of Lightroom can be quite limited, Snapseed offers a similar array of options as well.
Another available option on smartphones is Polarr, which offers a certain level of control when it comes to making manual adjustments while offering quick solutions for rendering out effects and retouching images for a cleaner feel. Afterlight offers various presets and filters that can be used to enhance the colour and mood of your underwater photographs.
Explore Your Underwater Photo Editing Skills
Underwater photography is an exploration into a side of our world barely seen by most people. Exploring the depths and bringing those images to life in the edit can be extremely rewarding. There are challenges both in shooting and editing underwater photos but with enough practice and a lot of exploration, you can capture the best of our natural world.
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