Books on digital UW photography

[jepuskar]

Does anyone have any of the books on digital UW photography? I saw some on Amazon last night and want SB'ers opinions.

Also, do you think any book on digital photography is worth it as far as basic concepts or should I stick to underwater books since thats the realm I photograph in exclusively?

Thanks,

Jason

 

[PapaBob]

There are a lot of great books on UW photography but none I know of on the digital revolution and UW photography. Dan Brown is supposed to have one released in the near future. Anyone know any recent titles? I am interested too.

---Bob

 

[justleesa]

I have "Digital Imaging for the UW Photographer" by Jack & Sue Drafahl
(ISBN 1-58428-061-1)

This book deals less with the photography and more processing - I feel that is was an ok buy (got it on half.com for about $10.-), but I didn't really need it.

I have many, many books on photography (digital and film for above and below) and they all have something that can help and give me some new inspiration....but I have yet to find a book that covers "it all"

I found more help here in the forum, the web and practice.

 

[Dee]

I have that same book, Lisa, and I agree. It was a help but not what I was looking for at the time.

One of the best books in my library is Jim Church's book Essential Guide to Composition. Composition can make or break a photo, no matter what your experience level is or what type camera you use.

Any book on understanding aperture and shutterspeed and how they work to get the perfect exposures would be good. It doesn't matter if it's film or digital, exposure is the same.

 

[justleesa]

yeah, that one is the UW photography Bible Dee (Got it too)

 

[justleesa]

BTW, what camera do you have Jason?

 

[alcina]

Yeah, Jim's book is a must have.

The books dealing with digital photography that I've seen aren't terribly helpful, though here and there will be a useful tidbit. Library them instead of buying. There are some good processing books to help you through PhotoShop...but the basics are the same whether you are shooting digital or film.

Also have a look at books with just underwtaer photos in them...the more you see, the more you will develop your own senses and discover new things to try & modify. You'll be able to start getting a feel for what is "good" what doesn't work for you, what you think you would like to expiriment with and how others perceive images.

 

[dsafanda]

I tend to agree that there is better info to be found here and there on the web than there is in any bookstore.

However there is some good stuff in magazines from time to time. This guy Rod Klein has some of his Fathoms magazine articles online. Much of the info is pretty basic but there are a few helpful tips here and there I think.
http://www.rhkuw.com/pdf/FathomsDigitalWorkflow.pdf
http://www.rhkuw.com/pdf/FMMYTHS.PDF
http://www.rhkuw.com/pdf/FathoMacro.pdf
http://www.rhkuw.com/pdf/FathomsWideangle.pdf

 

[jepuskar]

Hi Leesa,

I have an Olympus 5050 with a D180 strobe. A SLR camera is in my future sometime, but I feel I lack a very basic understanding of photography. Until I understand more, I think a SLR is a waste of time.money...the 5050 is more than enough right now and I would like to stick with it for now.

Trial and error has led to some ok photos. I shoot purely in Manual mode so I am always adjusting shutter/aperture and my strobe...so I do know a little, but I'm concerned because I lack a solid foundation with it. The picture below came from Hawaii last week, its one of the better ones I took during the trip.

I'm technical by nature so I need to understand the nuts/bolts of why this is and not just doing it. I am very interested in learning more because this will play part with future employment.

I agree with Dee in that the Composition book would be a great addition, but I would like to learn more about shutter/aperture/exposure and strobes first.

thanks for all the input.

Jason

 

[alcina]

Jason -

Jim's book talks about apertures, shutters, strobes etc too - trust me, it is the one photo book you will reference over and over and over and over again!