Underwater Photo Tutorials by Brent Durand

About this course

Underwater photography can feel like learning a new language: light behaves differently, colors fade fast, and even a small mistake in settings or strobe placement can turn a promising scene into haze, backscatter, or a flat image with no depth. This free course helps you build practical, repeatable skills so you can get cleaner water backgrounds, more accurate exposure, and reliably sharp subjects—whether you love tiny macro details or dramatic wide-angle reefscapes.

You will learn how to take control of artificial light underwater by positioning strobes to reduce scatter, shape the scene, and bring back color without blowing highlights. The course also explores constant lights and their advantages when you need predictable illumination, as well as how to balance ambient light for effects like sunbursts or motion blur with slow shutter speeds. Instead of guessing, you will start reading your histogram and using in-camera highlight alerts to protect bright areas while keeping shadows intentional.

Focus is another make-or-break factor underwater, so you will practice techniques that improve keeper rates: choosing the right autofocus drive mode for your subject, refining tracking, and using approaches like back button focus to separate focusing from the shutter release. There is special attention on shooting fast-moving marine life, where timing, shutter speed, and preparation matter as much as your lens choice.

Beyond settings, you will improve how your photos feel. You will train your eye with composition guidance and unusual creative prompts for both macro and wide angle, helping you move from snapshots to images with a clear subject, strong background, and deliberate framing. You will also learn smart habits for gear care, including underwater housing and O-ring maintenance, plus easy ways to practice at home so each dive becomes more productive. By the end, you will have a stronger workflow, more confidence at new dive sites, and a toolkit you can apply immediately on your next underwater shoot.