Underwater photography is a travel-intense endeavor. Fortunately, we get to go to some pretty wonderful places in pursuit of our passion. But sometimes underwater photographers have a kind of single-minded obsession with underwater images that keeps us from embracing the amazing photographic opportunities above the Plimsoll line.

Recently, I returned from a trip to the south coast of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, and in reviewing the photos, I found some of my more compelling images were of the indigenous people, the World War II artifacts and the landscape. Likewise, places like Dominica, the British Virgin Islands, the Maldives and French Polynesia (to name just a few) are awash in tropical splendor. If you’re spending all your time under water, it’s likely you’re missing a very significant part of the experience. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of topside imaging in a marine environment.

Keep Your Camera Accessible and Usable

While this point seems obvious, I have missed more than a few topside photo opportunities because one camera was already set up in the camera housing, and the second camera (the one presumably dedicated to topside photography) was sitting in the air-conditioned salon of the live-aboard, ready only to fog massively when I brought it out into the hot, humid air of the tropics. When dolphins come to leap in the boat’s bow wake, the whole encounter may be only a few minutes long. The camera has to be good to go, with charged batteries, fresh media, acclimated optics, the right lens and a good neck strap or lanyard if you intend to be hanging over the front of a moving boat.

I still remember the best shot of orcas I never got last year in British Columbia. I was in my cabin downloading images when the PA system shrieked, "Orcas to starboard!" I grabbed my camera with a 100-400mm zoom, perfect for the image in my mind’s eye. I had the eight-frames-per-second camera set to its highest motor drive setting, the exposure perfectly dialed in, autofocus zone preset, and I found the ideal vantage on the boat to render just the right angle relative to the light and the pod’s position. With the pod less than 10 yards away and the lead killer whale’s dorsal just beginning to break the surface, I started what I knew was going to be a great Bob-Talbotesque sequence, and ... nothing! I had left my compact flash card in the card reader in my cabin. The shutter wouldn’t even click. Even worse, this camera has the option for dual media slots, so if I had had the second digital card in place (as Canon had intended), I’d have nailed the shot.

Keep Your Camera Safe for Topside Use

This is a corollary to the previous point, but once you have a reliable carrying case for your topside camera, it will become far more accessible because you’ll trust that it’s safe against splash. When I’m on a live-aboard with a roomy, dry camera table, I tend to leave my topside camera case (a wheeled Lowepro Pro Roller 2) on a lower shelf of the table and then the lenses, strobe and spare camera body are quickly accessible. On a smaller, and potentially wet boat, I use either a Lowepro Dry Zone soft bag, or for ultimate protection an O-ring-sealed hard case like the Storm or Pelican.

I remember being out in an open inflatable boat on a very bumpy day on the Silver Bank of the Dominican Republic shooting topside pictures of humpbacks. Between the spray from the boat and all the fin slapping and blowhole purging from the whales, this was a very damp and potentially hazardous (to the camera) environment. My O-ring-sealed hard case saved the day and I got the shot.

Carry a Strobe

You may not use it often, but strobe fill from your topside flash unit can make all the difference between a stellar image and a run-of-the-millograph. I found the flash very helpful to pull detail from the faces of the dark-skinned natives in Papua New Guinea, and even with marine mammals I’ve found a topside strobe unit to be an invaluable tool.

Once while shooting dolphins leaping out of the water at Anthony’s Key Resort in Roatan, we got caught in a summer squall while out at sea. The sky rapidly darkened, though it hadn’t started raining yet. When you have only 30 minutes to take advantage of such a special imaging opportunity, you have to get creative to make it count, no matter what the light conditions. So I went for a slow shutter speed to open up that dark background and accentuate the motion of the leaping dolphins, and I used rear curtain synchronization with my strobe to stop the action and add contrast to what would otherwise have been a very monochromatic scene.

Carry the Right Zoom Lenses

There are now some extraordinarily versatile lenses for topside shooters, including Nikon’s new 18-200mm lens and Canon’s 28-300mm lens. Able to encompass wide to telephoto in a single lens that is typically fairly light and compact, these new lenses can cover just about any topside subject. And that’s key, because you’ll never be able to predict exactly what the above-water imaging potential might be. A super-wide prime lens and one of these zooms is probably enough for most marine-related subjects, even in a destination as diverse as the Galapagos, for example.

Learn How To Work with People

Carrying a versatile zoom lens will ensure you can handle almost any unexpected subject you might find.

It isn’t easy for some people-in fact, it’s not easy for me-to walk up to a stranger and intrude on her privacy for a photograph. Really, what’s in it for the subject? The photographer gets a significantly improved destination portfolio at the very least, and maybe even gets to make some money from the image. But the model can either be offended because someone from a possibly more affluent culture thinks she is "quaint" and wants her picture, or she may be flattered and choose to cooperate. To a great extent, it is about the local culture and the approach.

In some areas, locals know very well that their image is a commodity-they don’t mind posing but they do expect a significant tip. The camel wranglers at the Great Pyramid in Cairo, Egypt, are the classic opportunists. If you even point a camera in their direction, they’ll want to be paid. I remember one who eagerly said, "Take my picture, it’s free." And, after I did, he wanted $10. "Outrageous," I said. "You told me it was free!" His reply, "Ahhhh, yes, for me it’s free, but for my camel it’s $10."

In other places, the exchange is less commercial. In Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the local residents are wonderfully cooperative. If you spend some time with them and cultivate the encounter, they learn a little about you and you take home a memory (and a photo) of them. I found it doesn’t hurt to have a few kina (or whatever the local currency is) in your pocket as a gesture, but your interest in them as people will probably go as far.

Don’t assume the subjects can’t figure out what your picture is all about though. If your model’s teeth are really bad, maybe stained from decades of betel nut abuse, you may find he tends to smile with his lips closed. Gesturing like an inane monkey to get him to show his teeth may work, but your behavior may also reinforce Ugly American Syndrome.

Be aware of local customs. For example, people in the Cocos Islands (in the South Pacific, not Costa Rica) use their right hand for eating and greeting, and appreciate that others do so as well. Like people in many destinations with a Muslim heritage, they prefer not to be touched on the head. Wherever you travel, ask permission of your subjects, be polite, be prepared to offer a gratuity and be prepared not to take a picture if your choice of models prefers to be left alone.

Master the Over/Under Technique

The over/under is the one type of image best able to capture the beauty of the underwater environment with the shoreline landscape of a destination. There aren’t that many places in the world that actually offer lovely shallow reef and clear water in proximity to land, but if you find yourself in Indonesia, the Solomon Islands or another place where such a photo op exists, don’t let it pass you by.