First underwater color photo
Magnesium flash powder explodes
Diver retrieves pre-Columbian jar
Jacques Cousteau
Coney grouper
Emperor penguin in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
Sea lions in Australia
Propeller of the Titanic
Polar bear underwater
Sea nettle in the Arctic Ocean
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First Underwater Color Photo
Underwater color photography was born with this shot of a hogfish, photographed off the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico by Dr. William Longley and National Geographic staff photographer Charles Martin in 1926. Equipped with cameras encased in waterproof housing and pounds of highly explosive magnesium flash powder for underwater illumination, the pair pioneered underwater photography.
Photograph by Charles Martin & W.H. Longley

Milestones in Underwater Photography

See important pictures in the history of underwater photography in this milestones photo gallery, from National Geographic.

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