Underwater toy photography can be fun but making the scene come alive can be a challenge.

Often, the scene can look a bit too sterile with zero movement.

In this video, I’m going to show you how to add a stream of bubbles to divers and underwater objects.

The secret ingredient is an effervescent tablet. That can be an antacid like Alka Seltzer, vitamins, water purifiers or in my case, retainer cleaners.

There are a few things you need to know about shooting with these tablets: they dissolve quickly and messily.

To get the shot, you should leave your camera on a tripod with burst mode on and leave your free hand to shoot as soon as the tablet is submerged.

In my video, I lament that I didn’t use distilled water, thinking that it wouldn’t have the impurities in it to create the “backscatter” effect.

Well, the tablets brought enough particles on their own despite being wrapped in cheesecloth, and the tap water only added microscopic bubbles everywhere.

I really enjoyed shooting with this effect.

I tried it with an old-time diver anchored to the floor as well as with a tablet tucked into a treasure chest (spoiler alert: the force of the bubbles can push open the chest lid and send the tablet floating away).

If you try shooting with this effect, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram (@fourbrickstall) so I can see how you use it!