How Coral Photography Can Inspire Your Next Dive

How Coral Photography Can Inspire Your Next Dive or Saving The Earth One Photograph At A Time.

Photograph was taken in Thailand, Koh Lipe which is full of corals like this! Photo by Milos Prelevic on Unsplash

Images of coral reefs have enticed generations to explore the undersea world, an experience that has created dedicated scuba divers and snorkelers. If you have scuba-dived or snorkeled on any of the healthy reefs in the world, such as the reefs along the Florida coast, then you understand. The coral photography you may have taken was likely shared with your family and friends. Those photographs you took might also be used to help save the world! You see, worldwide coral reefs are on the decline. Many factors are causing this. Most of these factors are caused by the way mankind is impacting our environment. As a scuba diver, I have encountered how man has harmed our oceans. I am not alone in my observation, as my fellow divers all seem more aware of their environment than the general public.

I have seen the devastation caused by coral bleaching, dynamite fishing, and Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS). Most coral bleaching events can be traced to man-created conditions. While dynamite fishing is illegal everywhere, it still happens in parts of the world. An explosion stuns or kills all the fish around the blast, which the fishermen collect. While it will create a very plentiful catch for the day, most of the fish are not collected and rot on the bottom. Also, the reef itself is killed, so other fish do not populate the area. It has become useless for fishing for decades.  COTS are a species of starfish that eat corals. A group of these starfish can kill an entire reef. While these events are considered natural, there is evidence that the behavior is influenced by water quality created by polluted run-offs.

Photo by Shifaz Abdul Hakkim on Unsplash

Understanding Coral Reefs

Coral reefs occupy just .1% of the earth’s surface but account for about 25% of marine life. Over 500 million people rely on coral reefs for substance or livelihood. As a coral reef becomes unhealthy, fish and other marine life is impacted. Small fish who use the coral for protection and sometimes substance are the first to be hurt. These small fish are generally the food source for larger fish, so fewer smaller fish means fewer larger fish, and the cycle continues. There will be a point where the fish and marine life that man uses to feed large populations will disappear. Coral reefs help mankind in other ways as well. Pharmaceutical research has developed life-saving medicine from coral reefs and their inhabitants. Also, in many parts of the world, fringing reefs and offshore barrier reefs help protect the shorelines from storm damage and erosion.

Many conservation organizations see the coral reefs as critical to protecting our earth. You should look at some of them to get a better understanding of the efforts involved and the importance of healthy coral reefs. As the song goes, Kids are our future, so involve children in coral reef conservation.

Your Coral Reef Photography As A Conservation Tool

Often, a personal touch can have a major impact. We are exposed to a wide range of images every day. Even the best pictures will likely only hold our interest for a few seconds. However, when you can make a personal connection to the image, it will have a lasting impact. Being the photographer or being the friend of the photographer makes the image more meaningful. The image by a professional underwater photographer using a camera system costing thousands of dollars may be superior to your first attempt using your iPhone in a Proshot Dive case housing or a simple waterproof camera. Still, you and your friends will remember the impact of your image longer.

Corals thrive and support a wide diversity of reef fish in the sunny, shallow water at Baker reef in the Pacific Remote Islands. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Morgan Winston.

Photographing coral underwater is not that much different than say photographing a flower garden. Instead of a butterfly eluding your camera as it lands on a flower, it is the “Nemo” on the coral that darts away from your camera. A simple underwater camera works the same way as a simple point-and-shoot camera. While there is a place for the expensive camera setups professionals use, you can create stunning photographs with your properly cased cell phone or simple underwater camera. You can find many tips here https://www.proshotcase.com/blog/categories/underwater-photography on this blog as well as elsewhere online to help you improve your underwater photography. The first step is to learn your camera and basic composition. Another important point is the light.

Practicing with a flower garden as your subject can help you visualize your subject (coral) better. While corals are animals, to our sight they appear to be plants. We can learn to use our cameras and understand the basics of depths of fields and composition, where we can more easily move around a garden. Experiment with different angles. Shoot the same flower while laying down, on your knees, and from above. See how that impacts the image. A table coral photographed from a low level will not have the same impact as an image of the same coral photographed from above at a 45-degree angle down. The reverse may be true, trying to catch baby fish hiding among soft corals.

Composition is equally important in coral photography and is also something you can practice before an underwater photoshoot. A principle of the rule of thirds is a good place to start. Please note, that I am not talking about the scuba diving rule of thirds for overhead environments. The composition rule of thirds references where in the image your most important feature is placed. Some subjects do work if centered, but more often you get a better impact if the main subject is off-centered. A quick visualization, your view should have two horizontal and two vertical lines equally spaced, kind of like getting ready to play tic-tac-toe. Your main subject should be centered where any two of the lines meet.

The light and the way it falls on your subject is another item that is important to understand. Light and shadows are an important part of photography, maybe even the most important. Again, practice in your garden, and explore how adding your flash can help improve your photographs. Underwater, using your flash may be even more important. Even in clear water on a sunny day, about 50% of the light is lost within the first three feet. More importantly, we start losing colors. Reds start disappearing in those same 3 feet with most of it gone in just 10 feet of water and completely gone in just 15 feet. Orange and yellows are not far behind. So, using a flash is necessary to record those colors. If you notice the big and expensive underwater camera setup, flash units are a major portion of what you see. While shooting coral reefs as a snorkeler or scuba diver, your small camera and flash should do the trick.

Here is a small tip that shows what sets the professional photographer and the casual photographer apart from each other. The professional photographer only shows his best work.  A wedding photographer may present you 50 proofs for you to select the 20 photographs that you will choose for your album. Those 50 proofs were selected from the hundreds they actually took. Develop your skill and take hundreds of photographs, but only share the best.

Push Coral Photography

Let your family, friends, and the whole world of social media contacts know our world needs the coral reefs.

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught”. Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet and environmentalist

Think back to the first time you experienced a living, healthy coral reef. Mine was a coral reef off the pier at Sunset House in Grand Caymans for a discover scuba dive. The colors were amazing and the fish darting around were mesmerizing. The instructor had to tap me on the arm to get my attention so we could start our dive.

Share your experience using your photography, and share other photographs that you find captivating. Most of the ocean conservation agencies have galleries of images that are free for you to share. I do not have many underwater photographs of my own because I mostly dive in waters with lower visibility. I do have one on my home office wall of a Bishop’s Cap Sea Urchin aka Red Urchin (Astropyga radiata) that I am proud of, and it is alongside other underwater images from other photographers.

Clownfish, Red Sea Credit: Cinzia Osele Bismarck / Ocean Image Bank

Let Coral photography inspire your next dive and your next vacation. When you are looking for a place to snorkel, look at photographs taken underwater and share the ones you like best. Let your friends and family share your love for corals using your photographs or those that you admire. The more people that we can get to visualize the beauty of the coral reefs, the more we can educate on how important maintaining that beauty is for our own health and well-being.

A Look Back: How Photography Helped Us Make a Difference

Capture the stunning beauty of underwater corals and make a lasting impact on ocean conservation! We're excited to launch the #ProShotAdventure photo contest in collaboration with Reefscapers, a leading marine consultancy dedicated to restoring coral reefs in the Maldives since 2005. Utilizing a pioneering coral frame technique, Reefscapers significantly increases coral cover and enhances the biodiversity of coral reefs, making their program one of the most successful marine conservation efforts globally. Our 2024 Coral Conservation Photo Contest brought the dive community together for a powerful cause—helping restore coral reefs through underwater photography. Thanks to your incredible participation, we planted over 147 coral fragments in 2024 in partnership with Reefscapers.

Every photo shared played a role in spreading awareness and directly supporting marine conservation efforts in the Maldives.

We’re just getting started. Another photo contest is coming this summer—bigger, better, and with more ocean-saving impact. Stay tuned!