Books for beginners on underwater photography

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

down4fun

Contributor
Messages
1,170
Reaction score
183
Location
Fort Lauderdale
# of dives
500 - 999
Any recommendations on books for a noob photographer? I have been reading all I can here and other forums but sometimes I enjoy book that I can refer back to over and over. My boyfriend is very good at photography but when I ask him things its like Penny on the Big Bang Theory asking Sheldon to explain physics. :)
 
"The Underwater Photographer" by Martin Edge is a great start. Most recent is the fourth edition, I believe.

James
 
Another vote for Martin Edge's book.

Amazingly, it's a great book for both beginners and "experts."
 
Thanks all for the recommendation. I happen to be in luck as my boyfriend already has that book.
 
Another vote for Edge but...

How much of a beginner are you? If you're completely lost trying to wrap your head around the basics... then this book may just confuse you further if you go beyond Chapter 1.

To 'understand' photography, you will eventually need to come to terms (and understand the terms) with things like Aperture and F-stops, Shutter Speed, Depth of Field, Rule of Thirds etc.

However to take good pictures:
1. Stay shallow (above 2ata unless you have a strobe).
2. Get close (within 3 feet... 12 inches is better).
3. Get low, shoot at eye level.
4. Focus on the eyes.
5. The background is just as important as the subject (if not more so).
 
The BEST book (or reading material) for any photographer, underwater or not, is THE CAMERA MANUAL. Read it, practice it, understand it, practice it, play with it, and did I mention practice with the camera?

In addition, if there is a book specifically for your camera (i.e. "X" for Dummies), get it.

There are really two different, VERY different, aspects of using any camera. The first, and probably the easiest to "master" is the camera itself -- how does THAT PARTICULAR camera work. Really, all that takes is reading the manual and playing with the camera.

The most important aspect is "the eye behind the lens" -- that is, what is it that YOU want the image to be. That takes knowledge of the camera AND that special "something else" that some people have in spades (and I, unfortunately, do not, sigh). But even if you are like me (i.e., one who is artistically challenged) you can help yourself by looking at pictures and studying them. What do YOU like about the picture -- what don't you like about the picture.

A fun source of information, and free, is Underwater Photography Magazine -- UwP = Your free Underwater Photography Magazine | Home page

There are also numerous websites such as -- Underwater Photography Guide -- that have images, tutorials, etc.

Good luck and have fun.

BTW -- underwater photography tends to take a lot of a diver's bandwidth so work on your diving skills a lot before getting too engrossed in taking pictures. Your diving should really be automatic before sticking your eyeball behind a lens.
 
Another vote for Edge but...

How much of a beginner are you? If you're completely lost trying to wrap your head around the basics... then this book may just confuse you further if you go beyond Chapter 1.

To 'understand' photography, you will eventually need to come to terms (and understand the terms) with things like Aperture and F-stops, Shutter Speed, Depth of Field, Rule of Thirds etc.

However to take good pictures:
1. Stay shallow (above 2ata unless you have a strobe).
2. Get close (within 3 feet... 12 inches is better).
3. Get low, shoot at eye level.
4. Focus on the eyes.
5. The background is just as important as the subject (if not more so).
I am pretty new. Although, waaaay back in high school I did take some photography classes and have some vague recollection of f-stop, aperture, shutter speed, and then film speed which now is controlled by iso. Not that I can even begin to bring that all together underwater, but at least understand the concept. I have followed my boyfriend around for the last 3 years while he shot stills and video and listened as he gave people tips. Some of that has sunk in. Thank you for the tips. #5 i struggled with this weekend.But here is my first attempt, unedited . Need work on strobe placement among other things 1236049_10201343937813526_1848089216_n.jpg
 
There's really nothing 'wrong' with that shot but there are a few ways to make it better. However there's colour, sharp focus etc. and I personally like a bit of shadow in shots. Backscatter is a PITA but I'm yet to get a shot without at least some BS.

The 'good' photographer does as much as possible at the time of shooting, but people like me normally resort to editing.
 
I agree that Martin's book is a must have, but I also think that to be a great (or good ) underwater photographer it helps to be a good photographer. Get some general photo books, particularly books on seeing. Within the Frame by Dave duChemin is a great resource on how to see. There are many others. More importantly I think is to practice. Set up a scene in your kitchen if you are a macro wonk, or go outside and shoot some buildings if you are into wide angle. Take notes on what works and what doesn't.
Then go diving.
Bill
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom