If there ever were an example of why it is so important to shoot RAW in photography, this photo is the standard, at least in my library of images. There are many good reasons to opt for RAW format, not least of which is the opportunity to save a photo when it wasn’t captured ideally in-camera. If you’re unfamiliar, RAW format is a data-rich, uncompressed, and unprocessed capture of image information from the camera sensor which enables significant control over detail in post-processing.
This image was shot about 35 feet underwater with my Canon 5DSR and a 16-35mm F4 wide angle lens. During the dive I was having some issues with my strobes — they would misfire and occasionally not fire at all. To complicate matters, there was a strong current throughout the dive so I had to ensure I did not fixate on my camera and risk separating from my dive buddy and the rest of the group. While attempting to troubleshoot I drifted into this school of bannerfish and quickly snapped a few photos. The strobes did not fire so I assumed these would be throwaway images and that I would not be able to restore much color outside the deep blue cast.
A couple of years later, I revisited the RAW file to see if I could get a decent edit out of it. The moderately shallow depth of the dive meant that at least some of the color was preserved by natural light, so I began to adjust the white balance, saturation, and contrast accordingly.
Unedited RAW image
Edited for color and contrast
I’m quite happy with the final image and the richness of color, even if it doesn’t qualify to be portfolio shot. Look for an upcoming video where I’ll detail how I edited this and a few other underwater shots. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn about underwater photography, check out some of my videos on YouTube.
