Underwater Photography Books

In "Adventures with Sharks" underwater photographer Jonathan Bird manages to combine spectactular photographs with exciting tales of his personal shark encounters. Somehow, he also slips in lots of details on shark biology, so that the reader comes away with a far greater understanding of these magnificant creatures. I'm anxiously awaiting his next book!

I received my copy of Jonathan Bird's Adventures With Sharks right before a planned visit to my brother and his family. I took the book along thinking that maybe my 9-year-old nephew might take an interest. I don't get to see him very often but I know that his world revolves around dinosaurs, B-B guns, and Pokemon. Being my only nephew, I've held the hope that someday he'd learn to scuba diving and be a dive buddy. Sitting down near him with the book while he was watching a cartoon, he quickly noticed the photo on the cover. "That's a Great White shark, isn't it?" he asked. "Sure is" I answered, "what do you know about them" I asked as he moved over and sat next to me. We began thumbing through the pictures and he was hooked. I asked him if he wanted to read a story with me and told him he could choose which one. He flipped to the back cover photo of the ragged toothed Sand Tiger shark and said he wanted to read about that one. I read to him the story about the author's adventure with the Sand Tigers of North Carolina and stopping from time to time to discuss some of the science, biology, and behavior. At the end of the story, he asked if I had ever dove with Sand Tiger sharks, and I told him no but that maybe someday he and I could make a road trip to North Carolina and dive with them together. It's hard to imagine anything making me a cooler uncle than Mr. Bird's book had at that moment.

I can't recommend it highly enough!!

"Adventures with Sharks" is both entertaining and informative, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in sharks or the undersea world in general. Sharks have simultaneously frightened and fascinated humans for years, but the author, Jonathan Bird, carefully explains how these marine predators, honed by millions of years of evolution, are largely misunderstood by people. Bird has traveled the world to dive with a variety of shark species and presents his exciting experiences in an easy-to-read style accompanied by many stunning pictures. The photographs are outstanding - well composed and clearly chosen to illustrate the beauty and behavior of these remarkable animals.

Each chapter is a story about Bird's experiences diving with a particular species of shark, from the sleek and graceful Blue Shark, to the mammoth yet harmless Whale Shark, to the infamous Great White, and many others. There are lots of great facts and details about what science knows, and has yet to learn, about these incredible creatures. I came away from the book with a new appreciation for sharks - in particular their diversity and the adaptations they have evolved to survive in a wide variety of environments and conditions. I also learned about the vulnerability of many shark species to over-fishing and other human practices that threaten their very survival. If you like sharks, want to learn more about them, or just enjoy a good adventure story, then this book is for you!

This book is a treasure trove for artists of all ages. Every photo is a gorgeous abstract of wonderful colors, textures, and patterns, just as the title says. The text is limited, but the scientific names of every subject are provided, so one can do further research as desired. Well worth the money.

This is an amazing and stunning collection of photographs. It opens new ways of seeing sea creatures, helping us discover things, that we never noticed before, like the beautiful pattern of a coral or the sculpted detail of a featherstar. The many colours are amazing and dazzling. The pictures all come with short but very good explanations and the book has an excellent introduction.
I think this book is not only of interest for divers and people interested in the ocean world, but also for artists and designers, as I find it highly inspirational. This is definitely my favourite book about sea creatures and it truly takes you into another world.
Highly recommended!!!

Science is Fiction was amazing! If you like Painleve you'll like the book. It's filled with so many interesting essays, and I found the interview with Painleve to be particularly interesting and entertaining.

Science is Fiction: The Films of Jean Painleve, edited by Andy Masaki Bellows and Marina McDougall with Brigitte Berg, exposes the reader to the odd and beautiful films of Jean Painlevé (1902-1989), who was both an artist and a scientist. These professions do not often mix, but in Painlevé's case, his scientific side made his film work stronger and stranger. He was the first to photograph sea creatures underwater, and he was also involved with surrealist artists like André Breton, Antonin Artaud, and film giant Georges Franju, in addition to his racecar driving pursuits. The images in his films are a combination of classroom science instruction and dance.

Painlevé was focused on aesthetics as well as scientific commentary in his films. According to this book, his two masterpieces are L'Hippocampe ("The Seahorse") and Le Vampire ("The Vampire"). L'Hippocampe (1934) is about the mating process between the male and female seahorse: The viewer sees a female laying eggs into the abdomen of a male, where he fertilizes them. To Painlevé, this represented the perfect relationship between the sexes. On a darker note, Le Vampire (1945) is a film that lends a political flavor to the behavior of vampire bats. The film stills displayed in the book are quite creepy. In one scene, as a bat falls asleep, it extends one of its wings in a Nazi-like salute.

Painlevé didn't believe that there was a separation between science and art. Throughout his life he founded a series of movie clubs as well as film schools. This lavishly designed book by designer Jean Wilcox is a perfect complement to the aesthetics of Painlevé. It is a book fetishist's dream date. Very rarely in this business does one see such a perfect combination of content, text, and design. Imagine the film viewer who went to see one of Painlevé's films expecting a dry documentary, but instead encountering a strange and poetic way of looking at the world.

This book is chock full of incredible photographs of the wonders of Antarctica. Any Diver, Swimmer, Marine Biologist or lover of the oceans will enjoy this book, its incredible photographs and well written text will add to your understanding of the underwater world of Antarctica. When people think of the southern continent, they picture the stark white ice fields and distant mountains. This book will let you see and appreciate the amazing life that goes on under the ice along the coasts. A rich and diverse ecosystem that very few have ever pondered, much less seen. You will be in awe of the amazing array of animals seen in this book. Penguins, Jelly Fish, Whales, and all manner of critters...

This is undoubtedly the most spectacular book ever written about the natural history of Antarctica. Wu's photographs are spectacular, and the text is a brilliant mix of scientifically accurate descriptions laced with thoughtful prose. If you're just looking for a picture book about Antarctica, this book will satisfy your every need. If you want to *learn* something about Antarctica, you'll treasure this book!

i have purchased many underwater photo books and this is my favorite . i also love jim church's guide to nikonos systems but the two should not be compared because they have a different subject matter. this book is geared more towards film systems than digital. the pictures are a great break from the usual because they are mostly from scotland and other less common areas. this book stands alone in its style. i was very impressed when i checked it out at a book store and had to have it. P.S. it was recently published and is modern in its content.

This is a very satisfactory book for three reasons: (1) The text is well written, no-nonsense, to the point, and technically accurate as far as I can tell, (2) the photographs are the best that I have seen so far and, more importantly, they complement the text, and (3) it emphasizes photography in temperate waters. Because I live in the temperate zone and cannot afford to casually visit tropical reefs, this aspect is particularly interesting. The only thing that I would improve in this book is to expand the discussion on evaluating mixed-light scenes (p. 141). From my land experience, this makes or breaks a photograph. Because this book assumes little or no prior knowledge of photography, this is a point worth emphasizing. Also, I find incident light meters indispensable on land, are they usable in underwater photography? Overall, this book is a great value.

This book is one of the most beautiful i have ever read. The photos are amazing. I was fascinated by the way that babies can swim in this environment. This book also showed pregnant women working with dolphins and in water. They were some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. The birth pictures were awesome..if you are interested in water birth, this is the book for you!

This book is full of very beautiful full-color photographs throughout, and the quality of the printing is very high. This is an extremely beautiful book!

I bought this book as a photographic work, although there is running text along with all the photographs. It's primarily about the joy and great value of introducing babies and children to water and swimming in a supportive environment, and it also has a good chapter on water birth.

Abstract macro photography art underwater! If you like any one of these things you will love this book. The beauty of nature in deep rich detail that jumps off the pages. Truly enrapturing

I borrowed this book from the library and I love it. My children have spent more time in this book than just about any other book we own. They are learning about sea life and having a great time looking at the pictures, while I am learning about the world. What a fabulous book!!!!

This book offers a nice general introduction to underwater photography, and is relatively current with its equipment discussions, etc. It offers a nice introduction to both photography in general (f-stops, exposure, etc) and the special considerations you'll face when shooting underwater (color changes with depth, strobe usage, etc). While it's targeted to those with full underwater camera setups (its discussion of strobe placement is great), it would also be useful if you have a simple housing for a point-and-shoot. It's full of great recommendations on improving the quality of your photos, and some of the tips have already helped me make better shots.

I have read this book several times, and review it before any major photo expedition. Howard concentrates on the essential art of underwater photography in a concise, readable, meaningful way. He avoids extraneous technical information that so many other manuals use as filler, and focuses clearly on the essence of underwater photography. I gave my original copy away as a gift, and was overjoyed when I was able to pick up a used copy of this out of print paperback. I recommend this superb book to all underwater photographers, new and old.