Throughout the years the two main authors whom I’ve always turned to are Martin Edge and Howar Hall. I have been eagerly awaiting the second book for a long time! His new book has greatly exceeded both my hopes and my expectations. What a major treat this book is to those who like to know where all of the dream hotels, dive sites, and perfect photographic opportunities are located! Another wonderful feature of this great book is that it also includes information about other activities for members of your family that don’t dive if they are the kind that has no interest whatsoever in learning how to dive so that they could join you. This book is the perfect travel advisor for anyone who is interested in exotic luxury vacations that may or may not include diving. Great location ideas are included in this book for all including singles, couples and families. These great ideas are so plentiful that you will be able to utilize this book for years to come. Throughout the entire book he provides a vast wealth of information that is not only practical but friendly and unhurried as well. This is an excellent book that is quite an enjoyable read. It is full of tips, ideas, advice and stunning pictures. Another great aspect about this book that is really wonderful is that the author never gets lost in the technical know-how. He does not address the reader as though he or she is an idiot. Cover to cover this book left no subject matter out of the discussion regarding underwater photography. Fantastic photographs, detailed information about times of year to see various fish, dive site locations and information and general weather patterns are just a few of the many other great things that are incorporated into the book. Martin Edge’s new book clearly sets the standards for ease of use, clarity, and up to date information. I was so excited to be able to try out some of the new techniques discussed in his book. I did so while happily exploring the many underwater treasures it is possible to see these days. In conclusion, this is the best instructional how to book that I have ever taken the time to read. Martin Edge uses very clear explanations, tips and tricks that are very straightforward, and includes tons of beautiful photographs. Martin Edge’s book, The Underwater Photographer, is the ultimate must have book. It will make the perfect present to give to the avid photographer in your life – even if that avid photographer is you!

Also please check Third edition of this book

The Underwater Photographer, Third Edition: Digital and Traditional Techniques

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New camera and housing for the underwater shooting «Sea & Sea DX-2G»  released

Company «Sea & Sea» has released its new compact digital camera, the next generation «DX-2G».

Key Features

* Matrix – 12.1 Mpx;
* 3-fold optical enlarger 24-72 mm;
* LCD Monitor 2.7-inch viewing angle of 160 degrees;
* Macrosupporting up to 1 cm  distance;
* Shooting in RAW format with 5 frames in succession;
* Manual and 5 customizable profiles;
* Underwater shooting mode «Sea & Sea»;
* Housing is designed for  depths up to 54 m.

In some forums there are rumors that this 12.1-megapixel camera is very similar to the model Ricoh GX200, however, the Sea & Sea deny similarities. DX-2G is equipped with 12.1mpx sensor, 2.7-inch display, ISO up to 1600 with several automatic shooting modes.

I’ve compared the prices and they are ranging from 799$ – 1399$ in different stores , average was 999$. I’ve not use this camera and can’t post full review yet, so I ask you to post review about this product if you’ve recently bought it or tested , though one of my friends recently bought it and he was quite satisfied with results, but he is not pro so I’ll wait until one of my readers will post full review of SEA & SEA DX-2G.

Buy SEA & SEA DX-2G from LeisurePro and get FREE $25 Digital Prints Gift Card

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Panning / Image Blurring Effect

The meaning of pictures with blur effect (motion-blur) is that the object in the center is in focus, and the background is blurred. To take a such a shot, you need to install a large excerpt with flash delay. At the time of shooting to move the camera at the same speed with which the subject is moving. Shooting with «wiring» – not the most difficult in this process, especially with such a beautiful creature as the green sea turtle, living in the area of the island of Sipadan in Malaysia, but you’ll have to experiment with long shutter speed. I believe that 1/15 seconds works best. The most difficult phase is the flash regulation. The standard flash is always triggered at the time of opening the shutter, but for this type of images you need to use the flash closer to the moment when the shutter closes. This method is called «sync of flash for the rear curtain shutter». Nikon Cameras have an advantage, as all professional cameras series Nikon, starting with the camera N90, is easy to work in this mode with any flash. Canon users may need adapter Heinrichs Weikamp to synchronize with external TTL-flashes. For this image is used a Canon EOS 5D in Subal underwater boxing, and two Double flash Ikelite 200 at full power. Exposure 1/6 sec. at f/10 and ISO 100.

Photos of Reefs

While diving in the waters near the Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat, I found a place called Nusa Indah. Swimming in shallow water, I saw this huge actinium with two colorful fishes-clowns, but what most attracted my attention – it is a beam of light directly in front of me, which seep through the hole in the stone wall. This light touched actinium top to cover fish-clowns. Capture on camera what I saw, was not easy. The key to the solution was to use three outbreaks. This allowed me to get a full color range in the foreground, while I selected the correct exposure for the background correction by combining the appropriate aperture and shutter speed. I set the flash up in such a way that the middle one would light the center of the photography.  To reduce back scatter, I sent an external flash so that they covered the rest of the photos only to the edge of the beam. All outbreaks have been included at full capacity, so that I could use the relatively small aperture value (f / 4) to display the foreground with a good depth of field. Since the background was fairly dark, I had to use more restraint (1 / 25 sec.) And try to keep the camera still, so as not to get a blurred image.

Fish Photos

Of course fishes are the most popular objects for underwater photography but photographing a fish in the ocean is not as easy as it seems. Fish is always in motion, swimming from side to side, showing its tail at a time when we press the shutter button. The key to a good photo of the fish is to find the fish, which itself wants to be photographed. Find the one that does not swim away or hides, and then spend a bit more time: do not do 100 images at once, and wait until the fish takes the right position. Time delay after pressing the shutter button can be minimized if you half pre-click on it and full press at a time when the fish turns to you. Regarding the song, then I most like to shoot fish in front – so they «person» like a human: two eyes, nose and mouth. This allows the observer to see the fish in the human character traits. The fish may look grumpy, sad, surprised or curious. When people are looking at you shoot, begin to talk about emotions, you understand that you’re able to grasp something to remember. This photo shows the dory fish – predator-alone, found in temperate waters from Europe to New Zealand. Strips in the eyes of the fish are a reflection of my flashes. This shot I did using the Nikon D2x, using a macro lens for Sigma 150 mm lens Canon 500D. Settings: 1/250 sec. at f/14.

Large Animal Photography

Since large animals are moving objects, often they can be reached at the time of feeding or matrimonial game, when they are closer to the surface. Therefore you need to understand their behavior and in advance to imagine the pictures that you want to take. To do this, you will have time on the boat, as you may need many hours to find hales and calves, resting near the surface, as this pair of islands in Tonga, or fish-sailing ships, driven near the Isla Mujeres in Mexico. However, it is very difficult to find and get close enough to make a photograph, which displays the true size of the animal – in these moments are very useful skills of good swimmers and freedivers. To make such a shot, there is no need to dive deep – we have to dive for only 1.5 – 3 meters, to be on a par with animals. But you’ll have to hurry.

Tips for composition

1. Put something in the frame to show the size of the animal – in these examples, the young whale shark and a flock of fish helps make the main object more impressive.
2. Find the appropriate exposure settings for shooting under diffuse illumination at shallow depths can be a daunting task. Usually take pictures with the aperture priority, because when aperture is open, shutter speed is reduced, which allows me to capture the motion.
3. You can reduce the aperture when the object in the frame moving slowly when needed the effect of horizontal blur, or when I want to increase the depth of field. To equalize the light and dark spots, I believe in Matrix Metering. My main camera – Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III in the box Seacam. Depending on the situation, I use a fixed 14 mm wide angle lens or a 16-35 mm lens with a zoom. Zoom is especially helpful when I can not get to the object as close as we would like.
4. This genre of underwater photography requires more physical training than others, but your efforts will be justified.

Split Photography

A key element is an impressive split composition. The part of this photo, which shows above the surface, should be as interesting as the underwater part of it. I believe that the best split – those that are made in shallow water, where the undulating sand visible at the bottom, or coral reef, stretches up to the aquifer. You will need super-wide angle lens, such as 14, 15 or 16 mm (for full matrix), or 10.5 mm or 12-24 mm. The lens should be set to f/16 or f/22 to maximize depth of field, and the underwater box should have 8 – or 9-inch hemispherical glass port in order to lengthen the line surface. Both parts – underwater and surface – should be on focus, but if one of them is impossible to get into the focus, let it be the upper part of the photo. You can use a neutral density filter on the surface or use a flash to align the illumination at the surface and under water. For this photo I used two flashes Sea & Sea YS-200 at half power and tilt brackets slightly downward to illuminate the head of a turtle. I used a Nikon F4 camera in the box with the Nexus 8 inch hemispherical port and 30 mm extension ring. A key element of this photo, made on the islands of Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia), was 14 mm f/2.8 lens Tamron, defined by 6 inches, which allowed me to pick up very close to the turtle and make a small object dominant in the photo.

Shark Photography

Photographing sharks requires proper equipment, shooting techniques, training, availability of opportunities and – most fickle ingredient – luck. To take photos of sharks use a hemispherical lens «fish eye» and you have to find a friendly shark. Better to choose fixed lenses or zoom lenses with a focal length in the range of 24-50 mm. In the case of hammer-shark, I used a Canon 1D Mark II with 17-40 mm f / 4 lens, which allowed me to shoot the shark as its approximation, choosing the correct composition, I shot. Rapidly recharged underwater flash Ikelite DS125 has helped me add a few photos of the underwater world. Settings for this picture: 1 / 250 sec. at f / 9, ISO 200. I made a point in the Metering of water and picked 2/3-stop exposure correction. To meet a sharks is largely dependent on the season or their behavior. No one will replace an experienced guide who will take care that you are in the right place at the right time, as well as the need to maintain your safety while scuba diving.

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Underwater Photography

Underwater photography can be a real fun for scuba diver. There are so many amazing scenes to be shot included (but not limited to) colorful marine animals, coral reefs, sharks and it seems that they are shouting “Photograph Us”. Like many other persons, I was fan of Jacques Cousteau specials too and scuba diving was always in my “Things to Do” list. When I tried it first time, I was completely stunned with its beauty and it’s like an addiction you always want more. So I decided that next time my digital camera will not be left at home alone.

If you have paid attention to underwater photography in past, you may noticed that there are 2 types of underwater photographs, wide-angle (main subject in the foreground) and macro (close-up). The reason is that in underwater environment water is not clear at all even if it seems that it is crystal clear, thus it’s quite difficult to shot subject which are located far from camera. Another very important factor is that ray of light which is passing thru water is being partially adsorbed especially warm colors (red and yellow). That is why in depth of 50feet all around will be presented in blue/green; same is true if subject is 50 feet away from camera. Thus one of the most important actions is: Eliminate the distance between subject and camera. With use of wide angle lenses it’s possible to have very close focus on large objects not losing environment view around it. Macro shots are working well if you’re quite close the subject which might be shot. There is no sense to take Telephoto lenses as they are completely useless underwater.
Most of professional photographers who are making their photos on the ground (I mean outside of water) would agree that it’s possible to get decent results with Point and Shoot or cheap SLR camera under the certain conditions, but same is no true for underwater photography. It’s almost impossible to get good images using cheap SLR or P&S devices in underwater. And it’s not because that making underwater photos are harder, but plus you always should consider the fact that in water there are many specific optical problems, which should be always considered. Thus cheap products ( such as Bonica, Snapper, ikelite, Aquashot, some Sea & Sea cameras and ect) are going to give you fair results and most of time you’ll be disappointed unless you’re looking for some snorkeling snapshots during your vacation in Hawaii. But if you’re looking high quality images, stock photography which you’re planning to sell then always remember this quote “Higher is quality – higher is price”. Another thing which always should be remembered is that Flash Units or more often referred as Strobes are mandatory equipment and not optional like in regular photography as loss of colors in the water is one of the most common problems, I’ll not be mistaken saying that 90% of underwater photos are made with use of flash units ( strobes ). So again if you’re only snorkeling at depth of 1-2 meters it is ok not to obtain strobes, but even in such small depth the results will not be good always ( can’t be fixed with Photoshop ). Color filters will not help either , as for each given filter there might be exact depth-subject-exposure , but chances to bring all these things together are obviously very small .

Underwater Photographer should be a good scuba diver

In general successful underwater photographer is also good scuba diver, as for this hobby/profession you need to be scuba diver. Well of course some specific subject require skills of snorkeling and free-diving (skin-diving, breath-hold diving) and it’s mainly because that some marine mammals (dolphins, whales) are being afraid from noisy bubbles coming out from scuba diving gear. I’ve met some guys during my life who were able to hold breath up to 2min. With holding breath you’ll surely be able to get some good pictures of shallow reefs, but you’re limiting the area of your subject significantly, thus being scuba diver is one of the essential part of being successful underwater photographer.

For making really good images you must have very good diving skills. It will make your work much more enjoyable. The quality and type of your photos will depend from your diving skills always. The photographer which shot terrestrial animals use completely different tactics to approach his subject , and it’s mainly because that these animals have natural fear from human and that’s why photographers quite often use long lenses , building blinds , masking himself , climbing on trees , tiptoeing and ect. But in the marine wildlife human is like an alien, and animals are not looking to them as a potential threat unless they behave strangely. And here your scuba diving skills will payoff; marine animals will let you approach them (even more they will come to investigate you) close enough only if you and your body will act like another underwater creature.If you can’t keep yourself comfortable or will start to kick and thrash around just to keep buoyancy, feeling anxious which in turn will produce more are bubbles coming out from your scuba gear – be sure you’ll be able to shoot only subject which are not able to move. The slowest marine fish will swim much faster then you, so trying to chase them is another thing about which you must forget at once. Being good diver will also impact the environment less, as coral and other marine life can be quite fragile thus easily can be damaged.

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