Inside Scuba Issue #56

AuthorAuthor

Andy Deitsch & Byron Conroy
March 22, 2026

Welcome to Issue #56 of Inside Scuba

Welcome to Issue #56 of Inside Scuba. This week, we’re shifting our focus from the art of the shot to the reality of the job. For many, landing a professional assignment is the ultimate goal, but as Byron explores in our lead feature, the transition from hobbyist to pro comes with a unique set of responsibilities and rewards. We also dive into the technical side of the craft, looking at the best glass for Sony shooters and how to master the moody, atmospheric world of low-light photography. Whether you're aiming for a magazine cover or just looking to sharpen your skills, there’s plenty in this edition to help you level up.

What’s happening in this edition?

From Hobbyist to Pro: Navigating Underwater Photo Assignments

Being on assignment for a dive magazine is one of those experiences that many underwater photographers quietly work toward, often without fully understanding what it actually involves. From the outside, it can look like the perfect combination of travel, diving, and creativity. You imagine yourself exploring remote reefs, camera in hand, capturing the best of a destination with complete freedom.

The reality is both more rewarding and more demanding. An assignment is not just a trip with a camera; it is a responsibility. It is a commitment to deliver a story, to represent a place honestly, and to meet the expectations of an editor, an audience, and a destination. It changes the way you dive and the way you shoot. You have to learn quickly that you’re no longer on a tropical holiday diving without a care in the world, but are instead on assignment with clear goals that you must achieve.

Before I took on any assignments, I actually hosted a dive magazine at my own dive center. That encounter was what led me to land my first gig with a publication. Because I was an operator myself, I understood the investment involved in hosting a magazine; this gave me a deep-seated desire to do an excellent job of representing those operators. That drive led to forming great relationships with many of the dive resorts I worked with, and I am still in touch with many of them today.

Seeing your work take center page in a magazine is incredibly rewarding.

The First Assignment

The first time you are given an assignment, there is an undeniable sense of pride. It is validation that your work has reached a level where someone is willing to invest in your perspective. That feeling stays with you even as the practicalities begin to take over. You are no longer just shooting for yourself; you are shooting with purpose. Every dive has context. Every image has potential value beyond your own portfolio. It is both exciting and quietly daunting.

In each issue of our newsletter, we will curate some top dive news from around the world. Links to each of the original articles are available.

Divernet: “Instructor dies on Zenobia wreck training dive. A 67-year-old dive instructor died in Cyprus while diving with two trainees on the Zenobia ferry wreck off Larnaca on the morning of Saturday, 7 March. The students were reported to have realised that the man was in difficulties and surfaced to raise the alarm.”

Dive Magazine: “Turkish diver sets new Guinness record for longest cold-water scuba dive. Turkish scuba instructor Mazlum Kibar has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest open saltwater scuba dive in cold water, remaining submerged for more than 36 hours in the Aegean Sea. Kibar entered the water at Mimoza Beach in Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula at 07:00 on 14 March and stayed at a depth of 7m in water temperatures of around 12°C.”

Divernet: “Passengers called police after skipper went off diving. When the skipper of a small boat decided to leave his two guests onboard while he went scuba-diving, his decision resulted in an air-sea search and rescue – because he had been the only one of the three who knew how to drive the vessel.”

Miami Herald: “Indian tourist dies in scuba diving incident in Florida Keys, sheriff’s office says. A man from India died in the hospital after he was found in distress in the ocean while scuba diving a Florida Keys reef Wednesday morning, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said. Abhinav Lamba, 43, was swimming on Molasses Reef around 11 a.m. when the crew of a commercial dive boat noticed him in distress before going beneath the water’s surface, said Adam Linhardt, the sheriff’s office spokesman.”

Divernet: “Ship of Gold treasure-hunter freed but still not talking. US deep-sea shipwreck-salvor Tommy Thompson was released from prison on 4 March after serving more than a decade behind bars. Now 73, he had been sentenced as part of a long-running legal dispute about missing gold taken from an historic shipwreck.”

Divernet: “First Monitor HD shipwreck images released. The first-ever high-definition sonar images of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor wreck have been released by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which manages the marine sanctuary surrounding the revolutionary shipwreck in North Carolina.”

Divernet: “Divers’ shipwreck discovery links Lord Elgin to marbles. A marble fragment revealed by marine archaeologists and identified as part of an ancient Greek architectural decorative element has been recovered from the shipwreck of the Mentor. The British brig was “owned and used by Lord Elgin to remove antiquities from Greece”, as the state’s Ministry of Culture puts it.”

Xray Magazine: “Evidence Suggests Rare Orca Cannibalism in North Pacific. Researchers studying killer whales in the North Pacific have uncovered evidence suggesting that orcas may occasionally prey on other orcas, a behaviour rarely documented among the ocean’s top predators. The clues come from two severed dorsal fins discovered on Bering Island in Russia’s Commander Islands. The fins bore clear tooth marks and other signs of feeding damage, indicating they may have been torn from killer whales and partially consumed.”

Divernet: “3 missing, captain held after Seychelles liveaboard sinking. The captain of the dive liveaboard Galatea is reported to have remained in police custody since the vessel sank near the island of Marie Louise in the Seychelles Outer Islands at the end of last week. Ten people were rescued from the stricken vessel but search operations have continued for three others who remain missing, complicated by the remoteness of the area and open-ocean conditions. Marie Louise, part of the Amirantes island group, lies some 300km south-west of Mahé, where the Galatea had begun its trip.”

Divernet: “Diver found unresponsive on Keys wreck-dive. A 71-year-old man died yesterday (13 March) following a scuba dive on the Eagle shipwreck off Islamorada on the Florida Keys. He was identified by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office as Lonnie Lee Higgins of Columbia, Missouri. Higgins had started his dive at about 9am. Divernet understands that he was part of a group of four escorted by a divemaster, and is thought to have suffered a serious medical emergency that left him at or near the maximum 33m depth of the site.”

Divernet: “Experienced diver died while retrieving vehicle. A highly experienced British-born scuba diver who went missing in Ontario, Canada while working to retrieve a submerged road vehicle on 18 March was found dead by divers the following morning. The body of Gary Smith, 67, was recovered following a search that involved local police and fire department crews as well as the Ontario Provincial Police underwater search & recovery unit.”

Divernet: “MoD slaps Controlled Site order on bell wreck. HMCS Trentonian, the Canadian corvette wreck from which UK divers raised the ship’s bell in the English Channel last year, has been designated as a Controlled Site by the UK Ministry of Defence Navy Command – along with another Canadian corvette, HMCS Regina, and a 127-year-old experimental destroyer, HMS Cobra.”

Shooting in Low Light Environments

For years, the underwater photography industry has quietly pushed a narrative that more power is always better: bigger strobes, higher output, and wider coverage. The assumption has often been that the solution to lighting a scene is simply to add more light. However, this is generally only true when working in bright, sunny conditions where you must overpower heavy ambient light. The industry seems to have forgotten that some of the most challenging conditions we face are actually those with low ambient light.

Low-light images are full of atmosphere, depth, and mystery. If you can master this skill, these shots can become the most powerful images in your portfolio. But it isn’t easy; there is a reason you see so few great low-light shots and why photographers often become specialists in this niche.

Good low-light shooting is about blending ambient light with artificial light in a way that feels believable and intentional. Learning to do that in darker conditions is arguably the most challenging task in underwater photography. There is less margin for error, less visual feedback, and a far greater reliance on judgment and an understanding of how your settings will affect the final processed image.

ISO 1600 F6.3 1/50th second exposure in Low light

Low Light Shooting Is Easier Than Ever 

Low-light underwater photography has always carried a certain quiet appeal. There is something instinctively compelling about working at the edge of what is visible, where shapes emerge slowly and color begins to fall away. For a long time, these conditions were seen as limiting—something to be avoided or "corrected." Increasingly, however, that mindset is changing. Low light is no longer a problem to fix, but a tool to use.

A large part of this shift is due to modern sensor development. Sensors have improved dramatically, offering greater dynamic range and far better performance in dark conditions. Where an image would once fall apart as soon as the ISO was increased, detail and color can now be retained at levels that would previously have been unusable. Autofocus systems have also become more capable, locking onto subjects even in low-contrast environments.

These advancements do not remove the inherent challenges of low-light shooting, but they do make it far more accessible. They allow photographers to work with available light rather than constantly fighting against it.

Best & Worst Lenses For Sony Underwater Shooters - 2026 Edition

By Alex Mustard and Matthew Sullivan

Underwater photography enthusiasts, welcome back to another article from The Underwater Photography Show! It has been two years since our last breakdown of the most useful lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras, and it was time for an update. Today, Matthew Sullivan and I (Alex Mustard) are revisiting this topic with a revamped list, grading each option from widest to narrowest to help you choose the best glass for your underwater system.

Wide-Angle Options

The Fisheye Classics: Canon & Nikon 8-15mm These remain the most popular, high quality fisheyes available for Sony shooters, despite needing adapters. If you are starting from scratch, we recommend the Canon version because its adapters provide more reliable autofocus. These are essential for split levels and offer a full 180-degree coverage, which is noticeable when shooting large subjects like shipwrecks. They are also excellent value on the secondhand market.

The Optical Pinnacle: Nikonos 13mm Converted to a native Sony mount by Isaac Szabo, this lens is arguably the peak of Sony wide-angle performance. Because it is fully underwater corrected, it offers fantastic corner sharpness even at wide apertures. Its small footprint makes it perfect for chasing big animals in open water where minimizing drag is key. You can’t really do splits with this lens.

Jessica Lawrynowicz models on the Kittiwake in Grand Cayman. Shot with the Nikonos 13mm conversion by Isaac Szabo.

In this issue, dive into another spectacular video by Joseph Ricketts as he joins scientists conducting a crucial turtle survey in Florida's Silver Springs State Park. This footage not only showcases a successful scientific operation but also highlights the breathtaking beauty of a well-protected Florida spring.

Summary

As we wrap up this issue, we hope these insights inspire you to look at your next dive through a new lens—whether that’s by experimenting with low-light settings or starting to think about your portfolio in a professional context. Remember, every great pro started as a hobbyist with a passion for the story. Until next time, stay safe, keep shooting, and enjoy every moment below the surface.

Andy & Byron

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