Author: Ipah Uid
Ipah Uid became an underwater photographer after she left the Airlines in early 2000. ，A mother of six kids and a full time PADI Instructor she also owns her Dive centre called UrbanIsland Divers in Pulau perhentian Malaysia，Her passion of the sea started when she overcame her fear of water，Wanting to learn more about photography she came up with her own sense of style pushing the limits to all compact camera and showing the best way to get amazing shots，Sharing knowledge about underwater photography is her main objective，nowadays teaching new divers to appreciate life in the ocean to a whole new level，.，.
Camera: Canon PowerShotG15
Housing: Canon Housing
Diopter: Noodilab Shamu， Subsee， Inon and Saga Wetlens
Flash: Inon Z240
Focus lights: Inon Lighting system and Sola 500
When I first began to dive I knew what I wanted to do from the beginning，Shooting pictures was what I wanted，but how did it all start?
It started when I began to dive without a camera，After a while I became bored and wanted some fulfilment in diving，I was introduced to my first camera a simple Sony camera，but the camera could not do much，so I upgraded to a Canon compact system.
During my time，Underwater photography was an expensive hobby，and classes were very pricey too，so I self taught myself，Not understanding how a camera function，I began to fiddle around with the camera learning it inside out searching the internet on ways to understand your camera，When I finally did it I started observing the ways people took pictures，I was amazed，and addicted from there on…
Now how did I come about the colourfull background，That’s the million-dollar question everyone asks and wanted to learn，How did I come about it? A couple of years ago I noticed a trend beginning in the underwater world，Everyone was either doing the classic black background or was snooting，I wanted to move away from it figuring out how to achieve something else，I wanted to be DIFFERENT. My life has always been colourfull and I wanted to apply that on my pictures
So the journey began.
I came up with a simple idea use a CD，Why a cd u say? A CD if you look closely enough has wonderful colours on it，Forget all the normality you learn，focus on the abnormal!
Now how did I manage to do it? Answer is simple，All you need is a simple torch pointed at the CD which creates this prismatic affect，Using it as a background it created bold and crazy colours.
Now with this colours you can imagine the type creativity that will come out of it，Example below:
Even the simplest critter such as the goby will be made new，and refreshing.
No two images are the same ，when you play around with the CD，because at every angle pointed at every millimeter the colour changes，Example below:
Picture 1
Picture 2
The Shorter the distance between the subject，and the graphic background the stronger the colour becomes.
The longer the distance between the subject，and the graphic background the softer the colour becomes.
Now a lot has has asked how do we create the bling bling background or what you would call a bubble bokeh. Sometimes a little aid can help. What can we use? You can use anything as long as its reflective. I use my daughters bedazzled (shimmering reflective stick on stones). Some uses laces of cloth which has labuci’s on it.
But my personal ones are the one I created myself
Basically what you need is to let your creativity flow within you，Make time to study the colours of your subject，and see what goes well with it. From now on think BIG，BOLD and WOW，Figure out a way，how to make the best out of the simplest subject.
“THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX”
