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An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography by Michael Aw
An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography by Michael Aw
Photography was never going to be easy. I started with a three-year diploma course, but it took years of hard knocks before I became proficient, especially under water. Then, just as I thought I'd got the hang of it, digital imaging came along to provide new gaps in my knowledge.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Every man and his dog seemed to know a little about it, but it took a long time to sort out hard facts from the techno-babble of those who knew far less than they'd have others believe.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Once actual image-gathering went digital, everyone got a digital camera, me included. I found myself hunting for answers that were again not immediately obvious.
Â?Â?Â?Â? I think I've finally reached the point I could have reached five years ago had all the information been collated in one convenient place. But you don't have to go through such a painful process. Simply get hold of The Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography by Michael Aw.
Â?Â?Â?Â? The author has wasted no words on the pretentious nonsense that is so often a feature of weightier tomes on underwater photography. This modest A5 volume has fewer than 130 pages but is packed with pertinent information.
Â?Â?Â?Â? It's as if Aw's brief was to tell you all you need to know, yet packaged in such a way that you could take it all in on a single airline flight. Check in at Heathrow and by the time you get to Egypt you'll know your stuff!
Â?Â?Â?Â? And this is not merely a conversion job for those who already know how to use an analogue camera, the posh term for a conventional wet-process film camera. Michael Aw takes us from the top of Page One, through photo-basics such as getting a good exposure and lighting, right through to the subtleties of the digital darkroom.
Â?Â?Â?Â? And there is no pontificating. For example, he explains exposure in terms of cows through a gate. The lens aperture is the size of the gate and the shutter speed is how long the gate is open!
Â?Â?Â?Â? I like such simple statements as: 'Higher resolution does not mean better quality' and such explanations as the difference between a CMOS and a CCD sensor (I never knew that). Aw distils all his knowledge into a simple set of rules.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Do you know the difference between shooting in JPEG, TIFF and RAW formats? You will after only a few minutes with this book. And, granted that RAW is best, what do you do with a RAW file after gathering the image?
Â?Â?Â?Â? I had to get an expert to show me how to use Adobe Photoshop CS. I was very impressed with this comprehensive tool, but decided to write down the few procedures I was actually likely to use. I could have saved my time Ã? Michael Aw has done that too!
Â?Â?Â?Â? This part of the book applies equally well whether you've gathered your pictures digitally or work with digitally scanned pictures taken on film.
Â?Â?Â?Â? Criticisms? None! This book sits beside my dedicated digital-imaging Mac as a ready reference.
John Bantin
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| An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography by Michael Aw (www.OceanNEnvironment.com, ISBN 1876381051). Softback,132pp, £16.99 |
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