Log In
Or create an account ->
Imperial Library
Home
About
News
Upload
Forum
Help
Login/SignUp
Index
Cover
The Underwater Photographer: Digital and Traditional Techniques
Contents
Foreword
About the book
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Photographic information
Part 1: The Basics and Beyond
1 Basics refresher – traditional techniques
Shutter speeds
Synchronisation speed
Apertures
Depth of field
Lens to subject distance
Lens focal length
Wide-angle lenses
Macro lenses
Effective aperture
2 Colour loss, light and particulates
3 Getting close physically
4 Shooting up
Kicking the habit
5 Preferable lenses and lens law
Two categories of lenses for underwater photography
Digital lens law
New lenses for the DSLRs: wide-angle
Further information
6 The trouble with zooms
Disadvantages of zooms
Get physically close to your subject
Further information
7 The environment
Subject accessibility
More accessible areas for better photography
The gentle touch!
Avoid collisions
Flash hand-held techniques
Underwater camera set-ups
Give Subal elbow the elbow!
Buoyancy arms
Touching, poking and moving
Just too many shots
Buoyancy
One-on-one buoyancy refreshers
Your weight is paramount
Position of bottle and buoyancy control
Dangling hose and gauges
Towards a better underwater environment
Note
Part 2: The Digital Revolution
8 Image quality, megapixels and sensors
Sensors
Further information
9 Memory cards
Removable cards
10 File types: RAW vs JPEG and TIFF
TIFF
In conclusion…
11 Digital ISO and noise
ISO settings
‘Noise’
Causes of noise
In-camera reduction of noise
Practically noise-free digital SLRs
Further information
12 Resolution
13 Digital white balance
Auto white balance
Custom white balance
Personally…
Further information
14 Workflow and photo trips
Taking the underwater image
Downloading images
Laptops
My own workflow during a photo trip
Digital darkroom workflow
Adobe Photoshop CS File Browser
Rotate
As you work
Deletion
Large preview
JPEG workflow
RAW workflow
Photoshop CS
Conclusion
15 Shutter lag
Buying a digital camera
Further information
16 Understanding histograms: the digital underwater photographer's best friend
What does it do?
Highlights feature
Using a histogram underwater
How to adjust for the correct exposure
Wide-angle histograms: there are always exceptions
Histogram tips
17 Capturing sunbursts with digital cameras
18 Using the LCD screen
Practical uses underwater
19 Digital compact cameras
Choosing a camera
Disadvantages of compacts
Shutter lag
ISO
Advantages of compacts
Cost
Size and weight
Supplementary lenses
Wide-angle lenses and adaptors
Close-up lenses
Digital compacts and external flash guns
Connections
LCD magnifiers
Summary
20 Digital SLRs and housings – what's on the market?
Digital SLRs
Canon
Nikon
Digital camera housings
21 Digital underwater photography with filters
The theory
The real world
Types of filter
White balance
RAW files
Photographic techniques for filters
Exploiting filter photography creatively
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Part 3: Using SLR Cameras and Compact Digitals Underwater
22 Using SLRs and digital compacts: an introduction
23 Exposure modes: aperture, shutter and manual
Which one to use
Aperture priority
Shutter priority
Manual exposure mod
Advantages of manual exposure mode
Time is of the essence
Conclusion
24 Metering patterns
Matrix
Centre-weighted
Spot metering
How does it work underwater?
Digital issues
Summary
25 Autofocus
‘S’ stands for single servo
My choice
‘C’ stands for continuous focus
26 Exposure compensation
In what circumstances should exposure compensation be used?
27 Checking TTL is working
Part 4: The Mindset
28 Our mindset
29 The 'think and consider' (TC) system
How do we use the TC System?
30 Camera preparation
31 Top-side pressures
Concentration
The bottom line
32 Subject selection, negative space and potential
Where to look
Shooting the strongest features of a photo site
Condition of the subject
Negative space around the subject
Specific types of negative space
Potential
Practical experience
Digital evaluation of potential
Last thought
33 Approach
A word about your flash position
Digital users
Advantages
Disadvantages
34 Lighting for the TC system
35 Composition for the TC system
36 Visualisation
Visualisation and the film user
Visualisation and the digital user
37 Patience
38 Peak of the action
Digital evaluation
39 Shoot and evaluate
Why take underwater photographs?
In conclusion…
Part 5: The Big Four
40 Composition
Introduction
Making decisions
The picture format
Camera orientation
The focal point or centre of interest
Bull’s-eye composition
The law of thirds
Diagonal lines
The diagonal tilt
Which way to view?
The curve
The circle
Simplicity
Complimentary colours
Horizon lines
Depth perspective
Balance
The baseline
Amputations
Mergers
Eye contact
Something to swim into
Summary
Breaking the rules
41 Lighting
Natural light
Blue-water backgrounds
Our own preference
White balance
Digital advantages
Sunbursts
Digital sunlight
Dappled light
Digital and dappled light
Cathedral light
Silhouettes
Exposure for silhouettes
Shapes in silhouettes
Snell’s window
Conclusion
Using flash underwater – a new approach to an old technique
Wide-angle work
My current views
Inverse square law
In the past
Personal recommendations
Close-up and macro
Twin flash guns
The second flash in more detail
Balancing exposures
Hand-held flash techniques
Types of digital flash guns
The bottom line…
Flash diffusers
Disadvantages of diffusers
Flash arms
Flash arms for macro and close-up
Flash arms for wide-angle
42 Close-up and macro photography
Introduction to close-up and macro
Close-up and macro – the difference
Digital compact cameras
Digital and film SLR cameras
Maximising depth of field
Parallel the subject
Focusing midway between one focal point (eye) and another (mouth)
Important fact
Diffraction
Working with diffraction
Effective apertures
Shutter speeds
Choice of lenses
The 60-mm macro on a film SLR
The 60-mm macro lens on a digital SLR
The 105-mm macro on a film SLR
The 105-mm macro lens on a digital SLR
Zoom lenses: Nikon AF zoom-micro 70mm–180mm
Bokeh
Which lens is for you?
Autofocusing
Limit switch
Greater than life-size
The methods
Finding life-size and measuring magnification
Predictive focusing
Metering modes for close-up and macro
Close-up and macro animal behaviour
Using flash guns for close-up and macro
Baseline position
Two flash guns
TTL flash – film cameras and close-ups
Bracketing TTL flash exposure
TTL with digital cameras
Shutter speed
Film choice
Exposure latitude
Film processing
Depth of field table
Blue-water close-up and macro techniques
Shutter shake problems with slow shutter speeds
Abstract images
Visual design for the underwater photographer
Colour
Pattern
Shape
Texture
Line
Summary
How to photograph fish
The approach
The eyes
Lighting angles
Moving subjects
Lenses for fish photography
In conclusion
The underwater photographer at night
Subjects exactly as you see them
Keep to one site
Use additional signals
Consider the environment
Subjects
Ring-flash lighting
Exposures
The disadvantages
Conclusion
43 Wide-angle photography
Introduction to wide-angle photography
Why such wide lenses?
Preferable lenses
Perspective distortion
Depth of field
Using fisheye lenses
So why use fisheye lenses at all?
Learning to ‘see’
Looking and seeing
Wide-angle lighting
Dome port theory
Flat ports
Dome ports
Virtual image
Dioptres
In summary
Balanced-light wide-angle photography
Decision time
Digital sunlight
Using film and TTL flash
TTL flash distance with film
Rule of thumb for TTL flash distance
Avoid confusion
Close-focus wide-angle photography
Photographing people
In the distance
A closer view of your model
Eye contact
Advising models
Digital advantages
Photographing shipwrecks
Priorities in wreck photography
Have a plan
Equipment for wreck photography
Lighting
Available light
Increasing the film speed
Angles of view and composition
In conclusion
Photographing schooling fish
T-shirts and posters
Organised chaos
Equipment
Zoom lenses
Panning the camera
Lighting
Flash
Dual flash
A lighting tip
Further tips for shooting schooling fish
Rear curtain synchronisation
Underwater
Under–overs
The technique: camera, lenses and dome ports
Disadvantages of a fisheye lens
Dioptres
Exposure
Being practical
Creative wide-angles just below the surface
Under-surface texture
Reflections
Piers, jetties and other structures
Wave action
Snell’s window in shallow water
Light
Internet resources, equipment suppliers and useful names and addresses
Glossary
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
← Prev
Back
Next →
← Prev
Back
Next →