What is the color of water?

Water may appear crystal clear in a glass or from the surface but it's actually blue. The more water there is, the deeper the blue.  So, I custom white balance for my underwater shoots. My cameras, even the ones that have an underwater white balance setting don't seem to get it right. If you do not have a camera that can custom white balance try using a pink/rose colored filter on the lens.

Two ways how I get my CWB: 

•  I take the custom sample with a white balance lens cap in the water at the depth I will be shooting at. Pro's the white balance is spot on, cons if I move to a different depth I have to repeat the process taking my camera out of the housing for every custom white balance I do because I have to place and remove the lens cap.
•  I hold up and photograph several blue gels with my white balance lens cap before getting into the water and use that to sample from the different shades of blue when in the water. This is my favorite method because it's darn close and saves me a ton of time. 

VS

If a camera can shoot in RAW the blue can be edited out in post but I like to get it as close as I can SOOC, straight out of camera. It saves time in post and it's safer, I know I got the shot and I can show my client straight from the back of the camera. And since many underwater cameras do not have the option to shoot in RAW, yet, knowing how to custom white balance for natural light underwater photography can make or break an image.

Follow my underwater and other adventures on 500px or Facebook. Happy clicking! 

Eva Creel Photography