Introduction "The underwater environment places special demands on the design and use of a camera".

Underwater photography is an activity of taking photographs which is usually done while scuba diving, but also can be done while snorkeling or swimming while under water. A productive underwater imaging is generally done with highly sophisticated equipment and accurate techniques. Nevertheless, this gives exciting and rare photographic opportunities. Animals such as fish and marine species are common subjects, but photographers also pursue shipwrecks, submerged cave systems, underwater "landscapes", and portraits of fellow divers. It is highly recommended that the photographer be sufficiently skilled so that it remains a moderately safe activity because the underwater photography is often taken while scuba diving. The quality of images depends on a good scuba technique, since marine life is less likely to be frightened away by a calm diver, and the environment is less likely to be disturbed. Sometimes there is a possibility of encountering poor conditions, such as heavy water currents, tidal flow, or poor visibility. Generally, underwater photographers try to avoid these kinds of circumstances. The Underwater photographers are faced with specific technical challenges as well. Water is approximately 600-800 times denser than air and is predominantly blue in color. Depth affects light and creates physiological considerations for the photographer. As a result, underwater photography requires an understanding of certain principles of light beneath the sea. Consideration of the variables of light transmission is very important in underwater photography. When incoming light from the sun strikes the surface of the sea water, it bents toward the normal, as light travels from air to a denser medium, such as water. This phenomenon is known as refraction of light beam. Another consequence is magnification of objects underwater by onethird as compared to viewing them in air. This effect must be taking into account when determining the distances underwater, which is crucial for both focus and exposure. At the same time light is absorbed when it propagates through water. Variables affecting the level of light penetration include the time of day which affects the angle at which the sunlight strikes the surface of the water, cloud cover, clarity of the water, depth since light is increasingly absorbed with increasing depth and other surface conditions such as temperature, pressure and salinity. The water column between photographer and subject degrades both the resolution of the image and the transmission of artificial light. Therefore, the most effective underwater photos are taken as close as possible to the subject, thereby creating the need for a variety of optical tools to capture subjects of various sizes within this narrow distance limitation. Deep-sea underwater photography approximately 35 m requires the design and use of special camera and lighting equipment. Watertight cases are required for both camera and light source, and they must be able to withstand the pressure generated by the sea. For each 10 m of depth, approximately one additional atmosphere (102 kilopascals) of pressure is exerted. At the greatest ocean depths, about 12,000 m, a case must be able to withstand 17,600 lb/in.2 (1200 kg/cm2). The windows for the lens and electrical seals must also be designed for such pressure to prevent water intrusion. Further the term "Visibility" refers to how well one can see through the water. As light from the

sun passes through seawater, the visibility due to sunlight decreases rapidly with increasing depth due to absorption and scattering. Below about 100m , most areas of the ocean appear dark. Furthermore, temperatures at the ocean surface vary greatly across the globe. Tropical waters can be quite comfortable to swim in, while polar waters are much colder. However, below a depth of about 250m most sea-water across the world hovers around the freezing point, from 3C to -1C. Even though there are several problems associated with underwater photography, here we are going to discuss how light attenuates along the water-column and how this problem can be solved in underwater photography.

Problem: Light attenuation Water is roughly 600-800 times denser than air, so due to this high dense characteristic it absorbs light rapidly. As a consequence not only does this result in dull and monotone colors, but it decreases contrast and image sharpness as well. Frequently, the new photographers get frustrated from the blue / gray hue of their images - a direct result of the properties of water and the affect of light absorption and scattering. Particular frequencies of white light get absorbed at particular depths in water column, for example red light nearly absorbed at around 5m, orange light nearly at 10m, yellow at 20m, green at 30m and eventually even blue at around 60m. See the picture below.

Absorption and scattering are the main two causes for the light to diminish in underwater. Absorption removes light altogether, but scattering changes the direction of propagation of light in a different direction. Scattering does not directly remove light from the water, but rather increases the probability that it will be absorbed, by increasing the distance that the light must travel. Absorption and scattering interact in a complex and nonlinear manner to govern the attenuation of light underwater. The equation governing the propagation of light underwater called the radiative transport equation, which has no exact solution, but there are several numerical methods available. In the simplest case, where only one single, thin, parallel, timeinvariable beam of light travels a distance r through a homogeneous medium that itself contains no sources of light, this equation can be written as[5]
dL cL dr

Where L L(r , ) , the radiance of this light beam, is the wavelength of the light, c c( )
c c( ) , the total volumetric coefficient of the attenuation and the dimension of light

attenuation is [m-1]. Solution (To bring back the original color): Due to this issue, underwater photography requires a means of compensation to restore the original colors and contrast lost from absorption. The ideal way to reach this is by using artificial light such as underwater strobes, this is an optimal solution to overcome the above issue. Use an underwater flash accessory, like the SeaLife External Flash (SL960) and Digital Flash (SL960D). An external flash restores lost color, even in deep dark waters. But remember to keep your shooting distance to within 6ft/2m. It is not recommended using the cameras built-in flash because it is not very powerful and, as we know, the built-in flash causes backscatter. The external flash accessory will result in the best possible underwater pictures. If you are not using an external flash accessory, stay at shallower depths and use the cameras color correction features. For example, the SeaLife DC600 camera features the SEA mode, an automatic exposure program that restores lost colors. You still need relatively bright conditions for the SEA mode to work effectively. Images become grainer in darker conditions or depths greater than 50 feet in clear water.

Qualitative Analysis of Underwater & Land camera and its images In contrast to the old days underwater and land cameras have entirely separate modes of operation and performance. Nowadays there are several varieties of digital cameras are available in the market which can be used in both land and underwater simultaneously with a special change of housing when it applies inside the water. But there are few differences between shooting on land and underwater, for example, since the light gradually becomes more diffuse the deeper we go underwater until we eventually end up in a completely blue world, to shoot colorful pictures at each depth, as we discussed above, we need to compensate by employing

supplementary light sources, such as flashes or underwater lights, or by using the white balance features of the digital camera. If we use the cameras built-in flash underwater, we may also experience the "marine snow phenomenon" where light reflects off plankton and sand particles in the water to create a haze over the entire image[8]. We can avoid this by using an external flash or video light instead of the built-in flash for underwater photography. The exception is close-up macro shots where there is a relatively thin layer of water between the subject and the camera.

The above diagram shows backscatter. By keeping the flash above the lens and aiming it at the subject at 45 backscatter (light reflected from suspended particles) will be minimized[8]. Also zoom settings behave differently underwater because light refracts at the boundary between air (in the lens) and water. This principle can be demonstrated by the bent appearance of a hand half dipped into a water glass. The same zoom setting on land will result in a narrower field underwater. To shoot wide angles, therefore, it must be shot the subject from a slightly greater distance than it would on land. There is another difference between shooting on land and underwater with a digital camera, people must take into account before use in underwater, which is not to forget to put the camera in the waterproof case before submerging it. It is not waterproof by itself. Place it in the waterproof case, then close and lock the cover. Before embarking on each dive, remember to inspect and service the waterproof case. If we compare images taken from land and underwater, there are few significant differences we can notice. For example, there is a difference in size that using a camera underwater would produce objects appear 33% larger and closer underwater than they actually are-like your cars side view mirror. It tricks you into underestimating your shooting distance. Color loss is another significant difference in the

underwater photography. Even the clearest tropical water still acts as a cyan (blue-green) filter, the complement of which is red. In water only 30 feet deep, a photograph taken without a strobe will be rendered a monochromatic blue and black.

Conclusion The underwater environment places special demands on the design and use of a camera because the surrounding medium is entirely different compare with our ordinary medium, air. In term of refractive index (RI), air has RI of 1.000293 whereas water has RI of 1.3330[9]. Due to this discrepancy in RI causes light to bend in the dense medium, water. At the same time, water molecules absorb the light particle, called photons, more rapidly than air molecules. As a result we can see the absorption spectrum, in which red is disappeared around 5m, because the red is a low frequency light, hence low energy, which can be easily absorbed by water molecules. As we discussed above, these disappearances of light follows an exponential decay, hence within 6080m all colors disappeared and most areas of the ocean appear dark. These are not our ordinary experiences in land. In land light can travel 100s of meters without absorbing by any kind of air molecules. Therefore a special care has to be taken in to account when developing a camera for underwater purposes.

Bibliography 1. Webster, M. Art and Technique of Underwater Photography (1998) 2. Edge, M. The Underwater Photographer (1999) 3. Carey, Helen H., and Judith E. Greenberg. Under the Sea. Milwaukee, WI: Raintree Publishers, 1990 4. Davies, Eryl. Ocean Frontiers. New York: Viking Press, 1980 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Light absorption in sea water, Par Bogdan Woniak,Jerzy Dera McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Environmental Science Cousteau, J.-Y., The Silent World (1953) http://www.stephenfrink.com/sf-tips/10mistakes/ Optics, Pearson Higher Education (2003)