Underwater Photography in Curaçao
I've been a certified open water scuba diver for over 5 years now, but up till now, all my underwater media was done on various GoPro cameras. On our recent vacation to Curaçao, I decided the time was right to try out some underwater photography using a better camera.
Given the price of most underwater housings for DSLR cameras, and my relative inexperience, I decided it didn't make sense to invest too heavily at this time. Luckily, after chatting with the folks over at Ikelite, it turns out a camera I already own is one they recommend, the Leica D-Lux Type 109. I picked up the housing and a red filter (helps control the color cast in tropical waters) and familiarized myself as best I could with the ins and outs of using it.
We did two dives in Curaçao, one called "Tugboat" and the second we went diving under a giant decommissioned oil tanker. I shot all these with no strobes, as I wanted to focus more on the atmospheric feeling one gets underwater rather than the underwater sea life.
Overall, I was pretty amazed at how well the camera & housing performed. It certainly adds a bit of heft when traveling, but underwater it was simple to use. The Leica also did amazing with no artificial light sources, with many of these images shot at 6400 ISO!
Can't wait for our next diving trip to try my hand at more underwater imagery!