I was browsing in a local secondhand book shop yesterday when I came across a book by one of the pioneers of marine life photography in the UK - Douglas P Wilson - which I promptly bought. The date on the book is 1937 (although originally published in 1935) and it is illustrated by the author's excellent black and white photos throughout. In those days it would have been almost impossible (!) to shoot the images in the book underwater, so the author did the next best thing and shot them in aquaria (he worked for the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, England). In case anyone thinks that this was an easy option, let me quote from a section on tank photography:
"Flashlight is excellent in many ways and all the motionless or slow moving creatures can be taken with it. The flash must be placed well to one side of the camera or its reflection will appear in the picture. Two flashes may be used - one on each side. The powder must be fired electrically or by mechanical means."
The last sentence made me wonder what he would have thought od TTL flash control........
