The most persuasive reason for taking up underwater photography is that it enhances your enjoyment of diving. Subsequently diving for a year or so, you’ll have experience the more common underwater sights. A particular, challenging underwater activity will definitely help to maintain your interest in the sport. The more you relish underwater photography, the more you’ll enjoy diving.

To become a better underwater photographer, however you will need to do something with your pictures. Other then showing it to your friends, you can also sell your underwater photographs to publisher. The process of selling underwater photographs includes a few steps. You must first create gorgeous, persuasive images that meet the demands of publishers.

Spectacular Photographs

Among the reasons that publishers purchase underwater photographs is that the photographs submitted are absolutely impressive. You’ll not go out and create this kinda photograph every day or even every year. If you spend 100s of hours in the water, you might at times get lucky. Remember, nevertheless that luck is a combination of chance and preparedness. If you don’t spend those 100s of hours in the water, then you’re not likely to have the opportunity. And if you do not bring your camera with you on every dive, you’ll not be readied when the chance appears.

There are a extensive assortment of underwater subjects that make spectacular photographs. By and large, big marine animals are the most common subjects. Whales are about as large as marine animals get, and that makes them very marketable subjects. However such photos are so common, you’ll be much more successful, however, if you shoot a species that’s not already been excessively photographed.

You could also focus on animal behavior. If you are able to take clear underwater photographs of animals engaged in behaviors that haven’t been widely photographed before, you’ll have something valuable. Even photos of humble animals doing unusual things will sell. A different kind of spectacular photograph is one that depicts a diver interacting with a marine animal. People identify with the diver and hence interest in the photograph will surge.

Specific publishers needs

Bear in mind that the second reason why publishers buy photographs is that they’ve a particular need at the time. If a publisher is doing a story about manta, and you just happen to submit good manta photographs that day, you’ll in all likelihood sell some. Timing is crucial. If the publisher called for the manta photographs last week, or wouldn’t need them again until following year, he or she will probably send them back.

It does, of course, facilitate to recognize what a publisher will need beforehand. You can often find this our just by inquiring. A lot of magazines won’t take the time to tell you what they are planning in the future, but a few will. If a magazine lets you know that they are preparing a story on starfish net year, you’ll be in a better position to sell your photographs, assuming, of course, that you have photographs of starfish.

Writing

If you compose an article based on an interesting series of your photographs, you’ve a very much better chance of selling you material than if you were to submit the photographs only. The photographs you submit with the article must, however comprise complete photographic coverage. Your photographs must narrate a story that supports the manuscript. This is called a photo story. If you write a story about eels, your photos should depict as many aspects of eel life as possible. You should show eel feeding, eel mating, baby eel, eel defending territories against natural enemies, and as many other aspects of eel life as you can capture.

Shooting a extensive photo story will for certain take time, probably a lot more than one dive and perhaps more than dozens of dives. But the result will be far more of value and in demand than a box of unrelated photographic material.

When you’ve material prepared, the next question concerns choosing a potential publisher for your work. Go to the magazine rack and look for magazines that have articles about wildlife or science. Bear in mind that publications that on a regular basis publish underwater articles in all likelihood have established underwater contributors. Look for appropriate publications that don’t carry large amounts of underwater material.

The whole process will takes lots of time, effort and dedication.

I’m Mike Chua. You can find more articles on underwater photography on my website.

http://www.worldofunderwatercamera.com/underwater-sealife
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