The Professional Association of Dive Instructors

A construction industry professional for more than 20 years, Marc Morale owns Hamilton Construction in Frankfort, Illinois. Outside of work, Marc Morale is a scuba instructor and a member of the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI).

Founded in 1966, the Professional Association of Dive Instructors was created to provide diver education and training to improve their skills and increase safety. PADI certification also includes continuing diver education for those who want to learn more advanced techniques and raise their skill level. All diver training is performance-based, allowing students to progress according to their own pace. They become comfortable with one particular set of skills before moving to the next step.

PADI also provides access to ScubaEarth, an online community that allows users to share diving experiences and activities with fellow divers on an interactive platform. Connecting scuba-diving enthusiasts from around the world, ScubaEarth gives them a place where they can share dive photos, identify various aquatic creatures they’ve seen, and plan dive excursions.

Underwater Photography Tips for Scuba Divers

A resident of Chicago, Marc Morale owns Hamilton Construction in Frankfort, Illinois. Interested in the ocean and scuba diving for years, Marc Morale became a certified scuba diver after college and is certified as a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) open water diver. Since then, he has parlayed his love of being underwater into doing underwater photography and videography.

Underwater photography requires divers to swim well in order to keep up with many of its subjects. When compared to snorkeling photography, scuba photography allows people to spend long periods of time in deeper water, giving them a better chance of being closer to marine life. Divers should keep a few tips in mind when shooting underwater.

* Use the right camera settings. Most underwater cameras have different flash settings, and divers should use the forced flash mode if possible. The camera should also be set to the highest resolution. In addition, divers should use the spot focus mode.

* Get close to the subject. When taking pictures underwater, the light needs to travel from the camera to the object and back to the camera, through water in each direction. By shortening the distance, the photographer will achieve clearer images.

* Shoot photos upward toward the surface. This allows the shot to include more than just the sea bottom, which can make your subject blend into the coral or other background. Upward shots have the sun or sky backlighting the subject.