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The Art & Technique of Underwater Photography by Mark WebsterThe Underwater Photography Handbook by Annemarie & Danja Koehler
The Art & Technique of Underwater Photography by Mark WebsterThe Underwater Photography Handbook by Annemarie & Danja Koehler
'Technical gobbledygook' is how Mark Webster describes much of the theory behind underwater photography in the introduction to The Art and Technique of Underwater Photography. He's right: when I started I was baffled by f-stops, slaves and extension tubes.
My beginner's 'bible' was Guide to Successful Underwater Photography. Howard Hall explained the photographer's language in an easy-to-understand format and, more importantly, how to photograph images and achieve the same sort of results as he did.
Now well over a decade old, that book is technically out of date. I've been waiting for someone to write one that takes over where Howard left off. Several photographers have tried, but always come unstuck by making their books too complicated and boring.
Mark, however, seems to have done the trick. His book emphasises that underwater photography is a hobby any diver can take up without putting a massive hole in the pocket. And his pragmatic approach is demonstrated in the chapter on equipment, with advice on making your own slave flash unit out of a cheap land slave fitted to the inside of an underwater torch - genius!
Most of the book is on technique, with chapters on macro, wide-angle, wreck and marine-life photography. Mixed in are chapters on composition secrets and creative technique, full of practical advice as opposed to techno-babble.
For example, on using the Nikonos V for macro shots, Mark explains how the framer size is larger than the picture area. Bizarrely, Nikon didn't think of mentioning this in the instructions for its extension tube kit. As so often in underwater photography, you are expected to find out for yourself.
How can you use TTL (through-the-lens) in wide-angle photography? Just about every book I've read to date says you can't. Mark disagrees, and advises on how you can use automatic metering systems effectively.
In a book about underwater photography, it is only right that half of it is filled with photographs - more than 250. What's different is that Mark explains with each example how, without even knowing how the camera works, the reader can obtain similar shots. You might even end up challenging Mark in underwater photography competitions. He provides excellent advice on what judges look for and how to prepare. He even advises on marketing your photographs in what is an extremely competitive commercial world.
Underwater photography books are like policemen. When you need one there are never any around, then two turn up at once! I had never heard of Annemarie and Danja Koehler, whose The Underwater Photography Handbook was published recently, but theirs is another book that goes for that 'spare-us-the-technicalities' approach that I find so appealing.
This book differs from Mark's in havng a 38-page section dedicated to video. It offers plenty of tips in the text, though the photographs are not accompanied by as much individual advice. The images are of a high quality and illustrate the text simply, and though in my opinion they are less creative in style, this might aid the learning process.
I like the aim of this book: 'to get you in the water and taking photographs, fast!' and am sure this is achievable. Buy either or both books. I guarantee they will improve your results.
Brendan O'Brien
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The Art & Technique of Underwater Photography by Mark Webster, Fountain Press (0181 541 4050). Hardback 160pp, £19.95
The Underwater Photography Handbook by Annemarie & Danja Koehler, New Holland (0171 724 7773). Hardback 160pp, £17.99
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