Snooting: Mastering the Art of Snooting in Underwater Photography

One of the Holy Grail techniques of macro photography for people new to the subject is creating black backgrounds. A black background macro shot creates a powerful image that separates a magical macro subject from what is often an unsightly background found at muck diving sites such as Lembeh, Blue Heron Bridge and Anilao. A black background is created by using a combination of settings and lighting. By setting your camera to remove all ambient light with settings of 1/250, ISO 200, and F16 (or higher), you will naturally make an image where the only part of the image with any color will be where your lighting falls.

Now that you have the background figured out, the next step is to gain control of your lighting so that you only light the subject and none of the unsightly parts of the frame. We can use light modifiers to help us get more precise light. The first of these would be some macro reduction rings. But for more control and precision, it is best to use a snoot.

What is a Snoot and How Does it Work Underwater?

A snoot is a device used in photography to control and narrow the spread of light. In underwater photography, a snoot functions similarly by directing light precisely onto a subject, eliminating unwanted spillage and creating dramatic lighting effects. By shaping and restricting the light, photographers can highlight specific details, textures, and colors, adding depth and dimension to their images.

The first snoots were made using basic things such as drainpipes of different thicknesses and attached to the strobes. By using different thicknesses, you could then change the width of the “spotlight” beam that was created.

Modern snoots have come a long way and now feature lenses to control and amplify the light and aperture cards with various-sized holes that can be slid from side to side, changing the size of the aperture on the subject.

How to Choose the Right Snoot

Firstly, this will often be your only light source in the frame, so don’t try to save a few dollars on this; you need to buy a high-quality snoot. My personal favorite of all the ones I have tried is the Retra Pro LSD (Light Shaping Device), but there are a few others on the market that are of high quality, including the Marelux SOFT. For a more basic option, you could look at the Backscatter MFT2 and snoot combo.

My preference is a snoot that attaches to your strobe, so find one that is compatible with your strobe. The Retras has a great locking system that mounts very well directly onto the Retra strobe. It also comes with various other attachment types for other strobes, but the connection is not as good as the native one.

Ensure your snoot allows you to use the focus light on the strobe, as this will become your aiming light when setting up the snoot. The Marelux snoot has an interesting design with the aperture as it’s a wheel that changes the size, rather than the standard aperture card.

The MF2 is a snoot and strobe combo; as a result, this makes the price higher and means buying an additional light, but it does come with colored filters which can be used for creative lighting. However, of these three, the MF2 has the lowest power and the worst light quality. The MF2 is light and flexible though, so it is easiest to set up, but it is not as useful when you need a large amount of power for more advanced techniques.

How to Set Up a Snoot

I often see an underwater photographer handing off their snoot to a guide and shooting away, allowing the guide to decide where the light will fall. This is fine if you are just looking for average black background photos, but this is not the way to snoot. As a photographer, you should be able to work independently of a guide, and if you want to get absolute pinpoint lighting on the subject, then you will need to learn to do this on your own.

Please be aware that when you first try this on your own, you will be incredibly frustrated and feel as though you are missing a lot of opportunities, but be mentally prepared for this and be prepared to lose a couple of dives to master it. Once you have gained this skill, it will become an essential part of your arsenal and allow you to learn many other more advanced techniques.

Option 1 – Remote Firing

You can set up a snoot on a tripod (such as a Gorilla pod) and use a remote flash trigger to fire the strobe from your main camera. By attaching a remote strobe to a tripod, you can then set the snoot up at your preferred distance and aperture size and then just shoot away. Turning your main on-camera strobe to point away from the scene will allow your remote flash trigger to still see it without the light affecting your image. You can then fire away repeatedly, knowing nothing will change with the setup.

Advantages

• This setup allows you to continually change your composition without having to change the snoot position.

• You can leave the autofocus on while you shoot.

• Easier to make the initial setup.

Disadvantages

• Requires additional expensive equipment and carrying of additional items underwater.

• Does not work on moving subjects.

• Danger of causing disturbance to the scene and adding in backscatter during the setup.

Option 2 – Attached to Main Camera

This method is my preferred method and the one I find the most reliable, consistent, and most accurate. I have both my strobes in their normal position and then just clip the snoot to a D ring on my BCD. When an opportunity arises for snooting, I then remove the snoot and attach it to my right strobe (personal preference). I then move the elbow of the arm over and line the snoot up directly with the center of my macro port at a 45-degree angle pointing around 12 inches in front of the port in the center.

Alternatively you can also decide to dedicate the whole dive to snooting enter the water with only a snoot with one strobe, when doing this I like to set it up on the hot shoe of the macro port so it is always in line with the enter of the port

I then, with all lighting turned off, go and look at my subject and compose it how I want it and have it all sized up in the viewfinder and the correct focus distance set. Once this is done, I turn the autofocus off from my shutter and turn it to back button focus.

The next step is to turn the snoot on and also turn on the focus light and set it to max power. I then find a stone of a similar size to the subject and rock the camera in/out until I find the focus. I then move the snoot so that the aiming light is directly over the part of the image that is in focus. Then I take a test shot, move the snoot again for final precise adjustments, and also adjust the aperture card of the snoot for the required size.

Once this is done, I now know that whenever I look through the viewfinder and move in/out, the second the subject is in focus, I know that the snoot light will only fall on the subject, and I am free to shoot. It is important to lock the arm reasonably tight at this point so it no longer moves; also ensure your second strobe is turned off.

Advantages

• One-time setup and then you can leave it set for the whole dive just changing the aperture size of the snoot.

• Works on all subjects, stationary or moving.

• No need for any extra equipment and can revert to normal shooting anytime.

Disadvantages

• If you are moving between big and small subjects, you will need to make adjustments.

• The snoot can move if you do not lock the arm in place.

• Takes longer for initial setup.

General Tips and Tricks for All Snooting

• Remember to use the aperture card for precise control of the size of the beam for varying sized subjects. Try this before readjusting the snoot.

• All snoots have an optimal distance from the subject; you can see this with the aiming light. If the aiming light is perfectly circular on the ground, then you are the right distance away. If it is too high or low, then the light beam will lose shape and definition.

• Once you have set the snoot, turn the aiming light low, or even off if possible, to save annoying and disturbing the subject.

• If you are not happy with the shadows and highlights, then change the angle. A more shallow angle will light the subject more from the front; a steep angle will light it more top-down.

• Be aware of the spotlight effect. When the aperture size is bigger than the subject, you will get a spotlight effect. There is nothing wrong with this, but be aware of it. I prefer a snoot slightly smaller than the subject to leave no extraneous light on the sand.

• Practice first on static subjects; it is much easier to learn in this way.

• Be patient, practice, and be prepared to learn. As with all techniques, you will initially be very frustrated and hate your snoot, but within a few dives, you will grow to love it, and you will be able to set it up in seconds.

• Once the snoot is all set up, you can actually rock in and out for the focus. But you can also use a back button focus button to press exactly when yo take the shot to ensure everything is perfect.

• When using a mirrorless camera you can use focus peaking to ensure the eye is in perfect focus

Taking it to the Next Level

Snooting and black backgrounds are great, but for me, the true magic of snooting comes when you take this new precise lighting you have learned and combine it with another technique. Read our Slow Shutter Speed Macro article to find out how you can utilize this new skill, and tune in next time for our article on artificial backgrounds in macro photography.