Perfect Your Underwater Photos

For underwater photographers at all levels, we have a selection of books on our website that explain how you can perfect your techniques, and create higher-quality photos and videos. Go to Undercurrent and click on “Diving Books and Guides.” Then click on “Complete List of Diving Books” at the top of the following page, and scroll down to see books listed in the “Photography/Video” section. Buy any of these great resources through us and you’ll get Amazon.com’s best discounted price. Plus, your purchase will help save the coral reefs that you’re lighting and framing in your photos.

The Underwater Photographer, Third Edition: Digital and Traditional Techniques. Martin Edge, a protege of photography pioneer Jim Church, provides the basics for beginning photographers but he also delves deep into digital and helps even skilled shooters better use their LCD screen and read histograms. For those who want to shoot manually, Edge explains how to use exposure modes and solve metering and focusing issues. He accompanies these issues with descriptions of his own technique and mechanics, making this a great teaching tool. (408 pages, paperback, $29 current Amazon price.)

Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography. Jack and Sue Drafahl, the experts in underwater digital photography, created this must-have resource for shooters of any experience. It has great how-to information for topics from dealing with blooming and backscatter to super macro and equipment maintenance. Also included are scores of fullcolor photos and a diagram for every digital underwater technique. (128 pages, paperback, $23.)

Adobe Photoshop for Underwater Photographers. This book by the Drafahls explains how to use your computer as a darkroom to perfect underwater images, fine-tune underwater film scans, and retouch and enhance digital images with Adobe Photoshop software. It’s filled with color photos and thorough instruction on editing tools, exposure corrections and removing unwanted objects. (224 pages, paperback, $26.)

A Diver’s Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography. This book by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari is one of the most beautiful “how-to” books we’ve seen. Not only do they offer great technical guidance, the Ferraris also help the underwater photographer discover and develop the artist within. The book is filled with 360 spectacular images and rigorously fieldtested digital techniques for framing and lighting, macro photography, fish portraits, above/below split images and more. Their easy-to-read advice applies to cameras ranging from basic point-and-shoot digital to complex housed professional DSLR systems. (360 pages, hardbound, $60.)

Oceanic Wilderness: Mysteries of the Silent Deep. To get some inspiration, we recommend a book from an amazing photographer worth emulating. Roger Steene’s scientific eye lets him capture unique behaviors of unique creatures, and his point of view moves him far beyond most professional photographers. This oversized coffee-table book has more than 500 surprising and stunning shots, making it one of the best books of underwater photographs published to date. (340 pages, hardcover, $38.)

Step Zero: Getting Started on a Scuba Photo Trip. Here’s the latest addition to our library. Not only does this book by Dennis Adams and Cathy and Peter Swan provide a full 17-page checklist of everything you will need to travel and shoot, it provides an orderly planning and procurement schedule, plus scores of insider’s tips. It’s an essential book for anyone planning a first-time photo safari, and just as useful for any of us who have spent a week kicking ourselves about leaving at home that one crucial item and having to beg, borrow and jury-rig when out of the water, missing that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity below. (88 pages, paperback, $33.50.)