Ten samples of Motion Blur Underwater Photography and How

Motion Blur in Underwater Photography is a fun way to add a bit more action to your Wildlife Photography.
Jackfish Shoaling 1/15, F16, iso100

If you shoot a lot, you're probably looking for a technique to kinda break the monotony of shooting the same scenes or subjects over and over again. Enter Motion blur which adds 'trails' to you're images...

Spinning Manta, 1/15, F13, iso200

Like all my posts, I usually go direct to the point for beginners how to achieve this effect...start with 1/15, F13, iso100 and adjust this median setting depending how fast your subject is juxtaposed the light available when you're shooting (e.g. too deep, lessen f-stop, in the shallows, jack up the f stop, night dive, bump up the iso... here are more samples and their settings relative the light available at the time

Pan Shot, Butterfly fish taken in 2012, 1/10, F13, iso100

I've been taking slow shutter shots underwater since 2012 where this butterfly fish I probably followed 30 minutes to achieve a specific effect which I wanted. Settings are in the photo caption. This was shot in the morning with great light available.

Waves from below, 1/50, F13, iso200

Shooting Waves in Siargao, the rolling waves were moving fast why the shutter speed was higher than normal, where 1/50th of a second blurs the line between still and motion

Anchovies by the Thousand, 1/15, F8, iso400

One of my favourite shots is a thousand anchovies shoaling in a frenzy whenever light is shined upon them on a night dive. Had to bump up the iso since the only light available was the fisherman's light used to attract the anchovies.

Portraits, 1/10, F13, iso200

Taking portraits is pretty straightforward, on a fisheye, for that spinny effect, remember to press the shutter halfway during your spin... you can experiment with speeds 1/5- 1/20, where for me, the best effect happens with a 1/15th of a second setting.

Statue, 1/15, F13, iso100

Shooting downward changes your metering, everything gets darker so even with great light available, lower your f-stop. The statue is an Anilao resident, used by dive master trainees to practice using lift bags, why you never see this 3.5 foot statue in one place.

Ride the Current, 1/10, F16, iso200

Shooting your buddy while on a current dive is sweet, just ride with the current with him/her and for the best effect, make sure the reef is not far behind him/her :)

Turtle Selfie, 1/15, F13, iso100

Taking selfie with turtles is a habit of mine, spinning with one while taking a selfie is simply me showboating :)

Giant Frogfish Black, 1/20, F10, iso100

In Summary, using motion blur or spinny sh*t as Ozzy man reviews calls crazy motion flippy sh*t all the time is a fun way to while your time if you're tired of shooting the same subject or scene  over and over again. Hope this helps, especially for beginners...cheers everyone :P

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