Super Macro Underwater Photography - The Definitive Guide

In our quest to provide DPG readers with the most complete resources in the world of underwater photography, we have asked DPG contributor Keri Wilk to help us put together a comprehensive and definitive guide to a technique of underwater photography that is  growing in popularity - super macro underwater photography. Shooting the smallest of the small in the largest ecosystems on earth can be both challenging and tremendously rewarding.

You can refer back to this page (makes sense to bookmark it) as a link to the complete guide to underwater super macro photography. Each time we publish a "chapter", we will update the links on this table of contents page. Enjoy the guide!

PART 1: The Basics

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definitions
    1.21 Magnification
    1.22 Macrophotography
      1.23 Close-up Photography
    1.23 Photomicrography
    1.24 Photomacrography
    1.25 Supermacro Photography

PART 2A: Supermacro Tools Intro

2.1 Standard Macro lenses
2.2 Super Macro Tools
    2.21 Camera Lenses
    2.22 Teleconverters

    2.23 Extension Tubes
    2.24 Dioptres
          (a) Dry
          (b) Wet
          (c) Hybrid

PART  3: Techniques: Lighting

3.1 Lighting
3.11 Strobe Choice
        (a) Guide Number
        (b) Other factors
3.12 Lighting Styles
    (a) Front Lighting
    (b) Back Lighting
    (c) Side/Cross Lighting
    (d) Black Backgrounds
    (e) Balanced Lighting
    (f) Ambient Lighting

4.1 Focus
    4.11 What Affects Focus?
    4.12 Methods
        (a) Autfocus
        (b) Autofocus with AF lock
        (c) Manual
    4.13 Focus Bracketing
4.2 General Shooting Tips
    4.21 Subject Choice
    4.22 Finding the Subject in the Viewfinder
    4.23 The KISS method for Composing
    4.24 Breathing/Buoyancy

PART 5: Technical Mumbo Jumbo

5.1 Optical Misconceptions/Common questions
        5.11 Tools “stealing” light
        5.12 Depth of Field
        5.13 What Diopters Do
        5.14 Diffraction
        5.15 Sensor Crop Factors