Published: April 17, 2020 Updated: May 17, 2023 Author: Dr. Simon J Pierce

Underwater fluorescence photography is an extension of already-challenging underwater macro work. My first experience in 2016 at Nosy Sakatia, Madagascar, witnessing neon-colored marine life and fluorescent corals was intoxicating.

What Gear Do You Need?

Essential Equipment:

• Blue light source for activating fluorescence (mounted to housing or strobe arm)
• Yellow barrier mask filter to remove blue light and reveal fluorescent emissions
• Dichroic excitation filter for the strobe
• Yellow port filter to cut blue light during photography

I use a Cressi Big Eyes Evolution mask with a custom yellow filter from Fire Dive Gear. My strobe configuration includes a Sea & Sea YS-D2J with dichroic filter.

Budget-Friendly Alternatives:

• Olympus TG-6 with Ikelite kit (the easiest underwater photography fluorescence kit)
• GoPro with fluorescence filter kit from Backscatter

Camera Settings

Starting configuration:

• Shutter: 1/80 second
• Aperture: f/14
• ISO: 1600
• Strobe: Full power

Manual focus is essential due to low-light challenges. I use red peaking at High sensitivity with manual focus gear on the Nauticam housing.

Practical Tips

Key Recommendations:

• Maintain excellent buoyancy to avoid reef damage in low-visibility conditions
• Search sand areas rather than densely populated reefs for better subject isolation
• Move slowly and methodically across the substrate
• Expect variation: cryptic fish fluoresce well, but large morays and pelagics typically don’t
• Conduct white-light dives alongside fluorescence dives, as many interesting species don’t fluoresce

Fluorescence diving over full coral reefs resembles watching the night scene in Avatar but produces challenging photographic conditions.

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Source: naturetripper.com/articles/underwater-fluorescence-photography