How to use your GoPro underwater

How-to

By Ben Southall

Queensland isn't short on places to dive in and explore the underwater world: from the Great Barrier Reef to our southernmost coast, we've got many of the world's best dive sites and snorkelling havens.

But there’s nothing more frustrating than getting back from an adventure, having been face-to-face with specacular marine life, only to find your video footage is out of focus or too wobbly to use.

Here are a few important tips on how to use your GoPro underwater.

1. Stay shallow to capture the best colour

The GoPro Hero9 is can capture footage to a depth of 10 metres, but if you stay above five metres deep you’ll retain almost 100 per cent of the vibrant, natural colour that coral reefs and tropical fish are made of.

For deeper dives consider adding a colour correction filter to bring back the red part of the colour spectrum that depth removes.

2. Deep dives need a little more planning

For close-up subjects below 20 metres you’ll need to add a wide-angle video light to your setup. This will bring the saturated colour back to life in your video.

3. Use the sun to your advantage

Snorkelling with Maori Wrasse Great Barrier Reef | How to use your Go Pro underwater

Always try and shoot with the sun behind you, it will help to lighten your subject and bring the full colour spectrum back to your video. On the flip side, it’s sometimes nice to have the sun’s rays punching through the water to add that solar flare effect.

4. Get in close

GoPros are designed to shoot the widest angle possible in order to catch all the action. When you’re underwater that’s great, until you want to get a close-up of something. Steadily approach your subject until you’re almost on top of it. That should get it all in shot!

5. Mount your camera for a steady hand

Snorkeling Manta Ray Bay Whitsundays | How to use your Go Pro underwater

Ensure you’ve got your camera connected to something, not just held in your hand; be it a wrist strap, secured to a mount or even locked onto a tripod. You'll capture more steady footage, and won't risk losing your camera to the ocean floor.

6. Combine video and photos

Underwater photographer | How to use your Go Pro underwater

Planning to take photos instead? Why not mount your GoPro onto your current camera’s housing, so you can shoot video at the same time and never miss any of the action.

7. Turn off the LCD to extend battery life

It might help you frame the perfect shot, but having the LCD turned on all the time drains battery life - so if you need your device to last a few dives, consider turning it off.

8. Avoid the fog

Operating a battery-powered device underwater generates heat; seal that in a housing and plunge it into cold water and it’ll fog up pretty quickly, ruining your footage. You can buy special anti-fog inserts at a ridiculous price but I simply buy a chamois leather, cut out small squares and drop them inside the housing to absorb any moisture. Wash it once and dry it in a low-heat oven to increase its effectiveness even more.