underwater Photo Course :: (1) The Basics :: Where to Start?

For those of you with no previous background in photography it can be a daunting subject at first - and overly technical at times. Brain damage can result when you first try to understand F-stops, X synchs, P modes (and all the other photo jargon that spews forth from most 'teach yourself' books like alphabet soup). Don't be put off. And don't worry if you don't take it all in first time, we'll cover all the same ground again in later chapters.

It seems as though the Klingons invented the language that 'serious' photographers use to communicate (come to think of it, they probably did!). The first piece of advice then, is to do what Captain Kirk did in such situations - i.e. flip open your communicator and cry 'beam me up Scottie'! If that doesn't work - then consult the appropriate section in this book.

Although there is a bit of terminology that you need to pick up basically it's all very straightforward. Just remember two things:

1. if it were that simple it wouldn't be fun
2. even the pro's struggled at first.

Here we go then, repeat after me: the very first thing you should master when taking up photography is exposureRecording light onto photo sensitive devices and materials and this is governed by the relationship between shutter speed and apertureThe variable diameter hole used to control the amount of light passing through a lens..