U/W Photography courses

Hi all,

I just got my new dSLR gear and want to become a better photographer. Has anyone used the Underwater Photographer.com lessons. They have some basic courses that would probably help my pics and some workflow courses which I definately need!

Are there other sources of instruction ie; books, DVDs etc. that you would recommend?

Thanks for any advice,

Doug

ps- Coz in April, can't wait to get the new stuff wet!!

Obvious self-plug , but here goes:

You could get a copy of An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography, others have found it useful...

If you have the passion and drive, read every uw book you can get your hands on, most are at the Library, buy a couple of newer ones like Matt's and Norbert Wu's book is really good. Howard Hall's book is great too. All of the film stuff can still apply to digital. These are all cheap on amazon I am sure. Look at pics closely and the settings used to take them. Save the course money and practice in the water.

Pay for photoshop lessons - that will be the next step. If you are really into photography I think you can spend minimum to learn.

Thanks fot the response guys!

So Matt, if I order your book from the link u gave me, how long would it take for me to get it in Idaho, USA? Or is it available in stores in the US such as Barnes and Noble?

It looks like just what I need to get a good start.

Thanks again,

Doug

On the net the best site I found so far (After this site of course) is daveread.com its helped me a lot at the beginning.

Thanks fot the response guys!

 

So Matt, if I order your book from the link u gave me, how long would it take for me to get it in Idaho, USA? Or is it available in stores in the US such as Barnes and Noble?

 

It looks like just what I need to get a good start. 

 

Thanks again,

 

Doug

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I'm not exactly sure how long it would take to get to you, but I'd venture to guess a couple of weeks.

Alternatively, it is also available online from USA based stores,like Best Publishing:

http://www.bestpub.com/bookstore2.asp?Keyword=B1137

I guess the latter would be faster...

Cheers,

Matt

Shameful self promotion Matt!!!!!

Can't go wrong with that one i would say Doug, go for it!

Thanks everyone,

Matt, I tried to order your book through your site but it wouldn't go through

So I ordered it through the Best Publishing site you provided. I look forward to recieving it, I'm sure it will fill my beginning needs nicely, thanks

Doug

wow shipping to canada is almost as much as the book! $22.85 do you know if there are any canadian companies that carry it?

peter schulz has great great info on his site:

http://splashdowndivers.com/photo_gallery/...er_photography/

A few books:

Jim Church's Essential Guide to Composition, 1998

The Underwater Photographer by Martin Edge, 1996 (there's a 2nd edition)

Essentials of Underwater Photography by Robert M. Jackson, 2000

The Art & Technique of Underwater Photography by Mark Webster, 1998

A few tips:

-shoot in manual while underwater (cameras make dumb assumptions for UW shooting)

-know what makes a good image (critical focus, exposure, lighting, composition, negative space, impact)

-visualize images you want to shoot (sketch them so you don't forget)

-know what your camera and lenses can do

-look at your images, fix your most common mistake (repeat as necessary, fixing the next most common mistake)

-make good images with your camera (don't rely on Photoshop to "fix" everything; remember garbage in garbage out)

-look for good negative space _then_ look for subjects on the good negative space

-tell a story with the image

For hands-on training, if the budget allows, book a trip with one of the Wetpixel sponsors.

Marty Snyderman & Bonnie Pelnar offer a great series of online courses at:

http://www.theunderwaterphotographer.com/

If you'd like to sample one of their courses for free, compliments of Underwater Photo-Tech of course, we can help you there:

http://www.theunderwaterphotographer.com/UPT.html

If you happen to be in the New England area on April 30th, we are hosting Marty Snyderman for a full day seminar on underwater photography, information and the sign-up form are here:

http://www.uwphoto.com/marty_photo_class.html

In addition to the helpful suggestions above, I'd strongly recommend booking on a straightforward photography course (unless you are already familiar with above water photographic technique) which will certainly help with understanding the specific issues relating to underwater photography.

Remember that when you take these courses and/or read these books, be sure to try to apply what you learn soon....I mean go diving. All is not hunky dorie when you read about a concept or a how to. You must try to apply what theory you learn and then tweak to make it work for you.....it is not always apples to apples, it requires trial and error on your part to "fit" that skill or concept into a model that will work for you.

Best of luck.

Joe

Hey all,

Thanks so much for all the great info!

Matt's book is on the way and I've been looking at all the links that were provided.

A lot of good information out there (and here on Wepixel). Now as Joe said, I've just got to get wet and try it out. With a lot of luck and maybe 10 years I might be able to create some pics worthy of the photographers here.

Thanks again guys,

Doug