[Experiment] Prompts for Underwater Photography | 13 Conditions, 39 Images

Conclusions First

• underwater produces the highest-quality underwater photography. Water surface light refraction (caustics), floating hair, and buoyant poses all come together for a fully realized underwater photo.
• underwater pool adds pool walls and lane lines, resulting in indoor pool underwater photography. Water expression quality is equivalent to underwater.
• underwater ocean adds a sandy ocean floor and bluish distant scenery for an open-sea underwater shot. Expresses a clear, shallow coastal sea.
• submerged results in being partially immersed in water, not fully underwater. Many compositions show sitting in shallow water — closer to waterside photography than underwater.
• diving and floating underwater generate a fully submerged floating state. High-quality underwater expression.
• swimming generates underwater expression equivalent to underwater.
• half submerged is similar to submerged, producing a shallow-water shot.
• “Deep water” expressions like deep ocean and abyss depth are unstable. The water surface was visible in every image; the darkness of deep water was not reproduced.
• ocean floor has the effect of enriching depictions of sea floor life (coral, shells, etc.).

For underwater photography, underwater is the simplest and most stable option. Pool vs. ocean can be controlled with underwater pool/underwater ocean. Controlling deep underwater darkness is difficult.

Experiment Design

Base Prompt

white swimsuit + full body used to observe underwater environment reproduction. A white swimsuit maintains visibility underwater.

A00: control

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Observation: All 3 images show poolside photography. s1 shows a person lying face-up in a shallow pool touching the water surface, but not underwater. s2 shows the subject sitting on poolside tiles without entering the water. s3 shows the subject sitting on the pool edge with feet in the water. None show the water-specific floating of hair; gravity affects hair naturally in all images. Environment is an outdoor pool with blue-green water.

A01: underwater

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Observation: Adding underwater shifts all 3 images to fully underwater. s2 shows the water surface at the top with light refraction patterns (caustics) from above drawn on the sandy floor. Hair floats and spreads underwater. Body is in a buoyant, gravity-free pose with limbs extended. Water color has a blue-green tint characteristic of underwater. A few bubbles are visible. The white swimsuit maintains visibility underwater.

A02: underwater pool

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Observation: Fully underwater, same as underwater. The pool specification takes effect in s2 with tile wall and lane lines clearly rendered. Floating hair, buoyant poses, and caustic light patterns are all equivalent to underwater. The addition of pool shifts the background from natural sea floor to man-made pool structures. Water appears slightly greenish and highly transparent. Some images have text-like artifacts on the pool wall.

A03: underwater ocean

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Observation: Fully underwater with the same quality as underwater. The ocean specification produces a white sandy ocean floor in s2 with light streaming down from above. Unlike underwater, the background is clearly ocean water with no artificial pool structures. Water color is strongly blue, deepening toward the background. Expresses a clear, transparent shallow coastal sea. Hair floating and buoyant poses are equivalent to underwater.

A04: submerged

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Observation: Clearly different results from underwater. s2 shows the subject sitting in a shallow river or stream-like setting with only the lower body submerged. The water surface is visible and the upper body is above the water. Not fully underwater — expresses a state of “being immersed.” Hair is not floating but wet and clinging to the body. Stones and gravel on the water floor are visible through the water. No buoyant poses or underwater optical effects seen with underwater.

A05: diving

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Observation: All 3 images produce a fully submerged floating state. s1 shows a head-down diving pose with pool tile wall in the background. s2 shows a near-supine floating pose with the water surface at the top and one arm extended toward it. s3 is similar to s1 with head-down diving. All 3 have floating hair, visible bubbles, and caustic light patterns on the pool floor. Underwater expression quality is equally high as underwater.

A06: floating underwater

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Observation: All 3 images show a fully underwater floating state. s1 shows a sideways extended pose drifting near the water surface. s2 shows one arm extended upward with a sideways floating body and hair spreading widely underwater. s3 shows a nearly upright floating pose with extended legs. All 3 show bubbles around the body, water surface light reflections at the top, and visible caustic light patterns. Compared to underwater alone, the poses are more dynamic across all 3 images.

A07: swimming

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Observation: All 3 images are fully underwater. s1 shows a dynamic pose with bent legs floating underwater with a sandy sea floor visible. s2 shows a forward-swimming pose with bent legs. s3 shows a both-arms-extended swimming pose with pool tile wall in the background. All 3 show the water surface at the top, scattered bubbles, and floating hair. Caustic light patterns on the water floor. The environment is equivalent to underwater, but the poses are distinctly dynamic mid-swim.

A08: half submerged

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Observation: All 3 images are similar to submerged. s1 shows a person lying face-up on rocky shallows with the entire body covered by shallow water. s2 shows the subject sitting in shallow water with the lower body submerged. s3 also shows someone sitting in shallow water submerged to the waist. All 3 have wet hair clinging to the body and rippled water surface. Not fully underwater — expresses a state of being “half-immersed.” Visual difference from submerged is small.

A09: deep ocean

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Observation: All 3 images are fully underwater with the water surface visible at the top. s1 and s2 show white sandy ocean floor with caustic light patterns on the sand and body. s3 shows coral spreading on the ocean floor — a different environment from underwater ocean. However, none of the 3 reproduce the darkness of “deep ocean” — they all appear to be shallow, clear water. The addition of deep showed no increase in perceived water depth in 0 out of 3 images. Visual difference from underwater ocean is small.

A10: abyss depth

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Observation: All 3 images are fully underwater. s1 shows a sandy floor with the water surface at the top. s2 shows a supine floating pose with dead branches and seaweed-like objects on the floor. s3 shows a nearly upright floating pose — the darkest of the 3 images. The ocean floor is sunk in shadow. However, “abyss”-level darkness was not achieved in any of the 3. Even with abyss and dark deep water added, the water surface is visible at the top and the subject appears to be in a shallow position. A tendency toward slightly darker tones was observed, but insufficient as a deep-sea expression.

A11: ocean floor

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Observation: All 3 images are fully underwater with the subject floating near the ocean floor. s1 shows a swimming pose just above the sandy floor with strong caustic patterns on both body and sand. s2 shows coral branches visible on the floor in a swimming pose. s3 shows abundant sea floor life including coral, shells, and sea urchins, with the subject floating just above the floor. All 3 keep the subject close to the floor, and ocean floor contributes to enriching the sea floor depiction. Transparency is high with no deep-water darkness.

A12: deep blue water with distant light above

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Observation: All 3 images are fully underwater. s1 and s2 are similar to other conditions — water surface visible at top, sandy floor below in shallow water. s3 has no visible ocean floor, with the subject floating in underwater space against a dark blue background. Only s3 gives a “deep water” impression. As an effect of distant light above, s3 creates a composition where upper light illuminates the subject and below darkens, but reproducibility is only 1 out of 3.

Cross-Comparison of Deep Water Conditions

None of the 4 conditions could stably generate the darkness of deep-sea water. The water surface was visible in all images, with the subject positioned near the surface. While abyss depth showed a tendency toward slightly darker tones, it falls far short of deep-sea darkness. ocean floor enriched the floor depiction, adding sea life like coral and shells.

Summary

Two major patterns emerged in underwater photography.

Fully Underwater Pattern: underwater, underwater pool, underwater ocean, diving, floating underwater, swimming, and deep-water conditions (deep ocean, abyss depth, ocean floor, deep blue water with distant light above) all generate scenes where the subject is completely underwater. All elements of underwater photography — water surface light refraction, caustic patterns, floating hair, buoyant poses — are present.

Half-Submerged Pattern: submerged and half submerged generate scenes where the subject is sitting in shallow water. Part of the body remains above the water, and underwater photography characteristics (floating hair, caustics) are absent.

Controlling deep water is difficult: deep ocean, abyss depth, and deep blue water with distant light above all failed to stably reproduce deep-water darkness. The water surface was visible in all images, with the subject positioned near the surface. ocean floor had the effect of enriching sea floor depictions, but the impression of water depth didn’t change.

The simplest and most effective option is underwater — a fully realized underwater shot with just one added word. For controlling pool vs. ocean environment, use underwater pool/underwater ocean. For pose variation, diving (diving pose) and swimming (swimming pose) are worth trying. For richer sea floor depiction, ocean floor is effective.

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