The sea is a huge and lively place. If you are one who have gotten yourself an open water certificate, it will be of a total waste if you do not capture the life of the beautiful underwater world in digital images, don’t you agree?An open certificate simply allows you to swim amongst the school of fishes, get up close with the beautiful and colorful coral blossoms, also watch sea turtles pass you by. Such beautiful underwater world should definitely be photographed, shared and admired!One important thing to note though; photographing underwater will require you to spend money. The basic underwater photography equipment you ought to consider investing in is the underwater housing for your camera.This definitely is pretty expensive. But like most hobbies, the further you progress in underwater photography, the higher the investments you’ll be making.Underwater Photography Tips #1 – Underwater HousingWhen purchasing a housing for your DSLR, you will have to get one that is specific to its brand and model. It is very much advisable that you conduct a research to determine which housing best suits you before buying one.Here is a list of low and middle cost housing brands that you may want to consider; Ikelite, Hugyfoot, and Sea&Sea. Other brands that are of the more expensive range include; Subal, Seacam, Aquatic and Nauticam.Underwater Photography Tips #2 – Why Use A Strobe (Flash)?Besides the underwater housing, there will also be a need for you to have a strobe. From experience, the different spectrums of light get filtered by water the deeper you get into the sea.The reason why it is of great importance to use a flash when taking pictures underwater is to obtain the accurate reflection of colors you see.Underwater Photography Tips #3 – Use The Right Lens On The Right Sea CreaturesIf you’re a beginner to underwater photography, let me make this clear to you. The diving location determines the type of lenses you should use. There will be a need for you to pick out the right lens for the right type of sea creatures living in that diving location you’re at.It is best and easiest for beginner underwater photographers to photograph sea creatures with macro lenses. Reason being that at most diving sites there are sea creatures and macro subjects that do not move about very much.As for the little fishes you see darting around, you’re trigger finger will have to work faster to photograph them.Underwater Photography Tips #4 – Get Up Close!Photographing on land and underwater is different. Since you are underwater, everything you see including distances is magnified through the mask you wear. This makes it easy for you to misjudge distances.Once you decide on your underwater photography subject, the first thing you ought to do is to reduce the distance between both your camera and your subject. The closer you get to your subject, the better.If your subject is one that is sedentary, you’re at an advantage to move in and get as close to it as your camera lens allows you to in its focusing distance.It is great to spend time practicing underwater photography on still and slow subjects. Practice and sharpen your skills in underwater photography.