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Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer by Jack and Sue Drafahl
Jack and Sue Drafahl
are a widely published couple who specialise in underwater and
photographic journalism. They have written hundreds of articles that
have been published in such magazines as Skin Diver, Photographic,
Sport Diver, Rangefinder and Focus on Imaging.
Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer is not another
underwater photography text, and does not discuss camera equipment or
techniques in any detail. Rather it focuses on the post-dive activities
relating to digital imaging - input, editing and output.
There are many books, but the Drafahl's have done a good job in
keeping focus on the issues that commonly face underwater photographers
- particularly things like correcting colour, colour cast, contrast and
saturation, and removing backscatter. Most underwater photographers
shoot slides, so there is detailed information on reducing grain,
fixing scratches and correcting processing errors.
The above actions are pretty straightforward actions that have
direct correlations in the traditional imaging world and do not change
the substance of what the photographer saw. However when the substance
of an image is changed such that it represents something that was not
there, there are ethical concerns if this is not divulged. The
Drafahl's talk about photo manipulation and the ethics of this, and
don't spend much time on techniques herein.
The book also talks about input considerations (scanning) and
also output - in the form of presentations, posters and slide shows.
There are also discussions on image compression, archival and the
future of underwater photography.
The Drafahl's have based their examples on use of Adobe
Photoshop, the leading tool for digital darkroom activities. Whilst
many photographers have this software, the cost is high, and a more
cost effective alternative is the recently introduced Photoshop
Elements software. Rest assured that most of the techniques introduced
have equivalents in Photoshop Elements, and also in other programs such
as PaintShop Pro.
This is a good book, especially for the novice at digital
imaging. It provides a good overview of the key aspects, and how
underwater photographers may apply these. In this regard, readers will
want to have handy a copy of the manual for their software or another
book on digital imaging if they want to drill down to greater levels of
detail.
I'd put this book on the highly recommended list.
Des
Jack and Sue Drafahl
Amherst Media
Buffalo, NY, 2002
See Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer at Amazon.com (aff).