Water absorbs different wavelengths of light to different degrees. The longest wavelengths, with the lowest energy, are absorbed first. Red is the first to be absorbed, followed by orange & yellow. The colors disappear underwater in the same order as they appear in the color spectrum. Even water at 5 feet of depth will have a noticeable loss of red.
At What Depth Underwater Does Color Disappear?
- Red – 15 feet
- Orange – 25 feet
- Yellow – 35-45 feet
- Green – 70-75 feet
Most of the dives were in 35-65 feet of water, leaving the photos with a strong blue cast.
It has taken a little bit of effort to find an easy, quick way to do a little color correction of the underwater photos. I first tried using image and video editing tools but the process was slow and the results mixed. I finally found an app, Dive+, which automated the process. Results aren’t perfect but much better than with no correction. You can check out the results below.