I would like to talk about how I achieve very accurate focusing in underwater macro.
As you can see on this photo the focus is exactly on the antennas of the nudibranch, which are very small. In addition, with underwater macro you often need to have your lens so close to the subject that the shadow of the housing blocks ambient light and it becomes too dark for the camera to focus properly.
The solution for this issue is focusing lights. Although my strobes have embedded led light, I find it rather difficult to use as the light beam is very narrow and may not get on your subject with most creative lighting techniques. In addition as it is a white light it can spook and disturb some animals.
Much better option is to use additional small torches such as OrcaTorch D710V as your focusing lights. They have 120 degrees beam angle to achieve even light coverage and most importantly they have red light mode. Red light doesn’t spook your subject and allows you to take your time composing the shot. You can mount this small torches together with the strobes using triple clamp as shown in the second photo. As D710V lights are very small and light this won’t make your rig too cumbersome and will only have minor effect on its buoyancy.
I hope these tips will help you on your own underwater macro journey.
Author: Andrii Slonchak
Nature and outdoors photography
Underwater adventures
