YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THE ONLY THING YOU NEED to create the Wow Factor in underwater photography is passion - a passion to bring the world that lies under water to life, and show its unique beauty.
     Thirty-six exposures is the canvas most of us photographers have to play with on any one dive, 36 chances to capture something satisfying.
     Look at the situation from a negative standpoint for a minute, and all the factors conspiring against your discomfort, imperfect buoyancy control, bad visibility, unco-operative wildlife, unco-operative buddies and camera problems - and it's a wonder anyone gets any decent results at all. The chances of achieving wonderful work depend on a single element: control.
     Control in turn is based on planning. To start with, you need some sort of photographic dive plan, based on gathered information for the area in which you find yourself. What's the visibility like? What sort of wildlife will I encounter? Can I use up my dive buddies' equally valuable dive time in some sort of photographic contra-deal?
     For example, if there is a handy gorgonian fan coral beside which you want to pose a diver, by all means take your time experimenting with angles and bracket with apertures, but swap over when you've finished, assuming that your buddy has a camera and wants to take the same shot.
     The words "Wow Factor" mean for me anything breathtaking, shining or dazzling in a photographic sense. These pictorial qualities can be achieved by good photographic practice, experience, compositional skills and, most of all, hard work. However, there are a few simple tricks that can instantly improve an image.
     Take compositional skills as an example. The rule of thirds is a good starting point. This divides a frame into nine sections (three imaginary rules across, three down), and you place the key elements within or at the intersection of these sections.
     The image instantly improves, because the brain seems to handle information best this way. The principle is shown in Diver's Head (above). Your eye is caught by the head, then the eyes take your eye to the blue negative space above.
     Awards apart, this approach offers a bonus for commercial photographers because editors can insert copy in the negative space, making the image more saleable!

The use of macro photography is always an option, and this technique can provide some extremely well-exposed shots of smaller wildlife with, in my opinion, quite a lot less effort than it takes to get good wide-angle shots.
     Macro certainly makes a good alternative when the visibility lets you down, as well as allowing you to record the beautiful detail and colour that can be found in, say, soft corals or nudibranchs. But for me this form of photography is more a matter of technical recording than of creativity, relying as it does on locating the subject, proper framing and exposure.
     My interest lies mainly in wide-angle photography. The wide-open spaces provided by the sea create more of a canvas for my style of work. A neat trick to illustrate one wide-angle technique is shown by the image Red Sea Wreck (opposite page).
     Here I have used a very out-of-focus hand rail which has been flashed to restore its natural colour as a foreground device. This leads the eye into the main part of the shot.
     Additionally, the blue water above the wreck occupies a third of the frame - the rule of thirds again. The image becomes more immediate, recognisable and perhaps more understandable because of this depth-of-focus trick.

Another idea I like to use is to fill the frame with the subject. This works well with large shoals of fish, as in the picture Barracuda Shoal (above). It might involve more patience and getting closer than you might otherwise have done to the subject. But wide-angle underwater photography is all about getting up close, reducing the column of water between lens and subject.
     The picture was shot in Sipadan, Malaysia, where the fish beg you to get that little bit closer. I was using my Nikonos V and 15mm F2.8 lens, and in this sort of situation with a little stealth and some vigour it is possible to swim right up to and among the fish, shooting as you move.
     If you use your flash while on the move, it is easily possible to freeze the action, even if you are moving yourself. All the while, in quiet moments, try to take ambient light readings accounting for light fluctuations, and balance your shutter speed, flash and aperture accordingly.
     I generally try to make life as easy as possible for myself and use my flash on the TTL (through-the-lens) mode.
     Modern flashguns are so good that once you are used to your own gun and all your exposures are turning out well, it is a simple step to control the ambient or available light.
     Assuming that camera shutter-speed controls movement (both yours and your subject's), and that your flashgun is set to TTL, you could use your lens aperture controls to make the ambient light brighter or darker.
     Say on 100 ASA film, the light-metered underwater subject reads 60th second @ F8 and your flash is set to TTL. Why not try exposing at this and then exposing at 60th second @ F11?
     This will have the effect of making the surrounding sea darker by one stop and thereby colour-saturating the background and making it richer.
     The flash will take care of the change you have made on your immediate subject (for example, a shoal of fish) and will generally expose this perfectly too. As in all techniques, practice with your own equipment is essential for good results.

Film choice for me has never been a problem because I only ever use two different emulsions, Fuji Velvia and Provia, both 50 and 100 ASA respectively. In most light conditions these two films are excellent in colour saturation and great with blues and reds.
     If things get a little sticky, and you find yourself trawling the dregs of your light meter, you can always push them both a stop. But, more importantly, they are so fine-grained as to be always marketable. Not seeing the film grain is, after all, usually very much to the point.
     Expecting the unexpected is part and parcel of the photographic experience. All too often I have been floating along with no subjects or inspiration, mentally drifting off when an awesome opportunity suddenly appears.
     Such an occasion presented itself in the picture Diver Free Floating (previous page), which was also shot in Sipadan. It was late in the dive and my air was getting low when I noticed the sublime image of a diver floating completely relaxed above my head.
     It was a free gift and took no effort in setting up - I doubt if the subject even realised I was photographing him. I was at about 20m and the subject diver at about 10m, with the sun shining at exactly the right spot behind him. What makes it beautiful for me is all the negative space, symbolising the freedom of diving.

If you get a lot of photo-opportunities on a dive take full advantage, but generally I doubt whether you will have more than one or two opportunities for excellent but different shots. In my experience, with a limit of 36 exposures and the need to stay safe under water, when you find an interesting subject it's a good idea to work it until you feel sure you have the shot.
     Look for the unusual, and if that shoal of fish refuses to provide a good angle the first time, try a different angle and perhaps your luck will change. The Batfish Shoal (right) looked good only for a split-second, and I have a dozen or so frames of them presenting their backs to me. But you need only one good frame.
     Diving with other photographers can be huge fun, very sociable, and it's a great way to improve your technique. It's normal to exchange stories and ideas, especially when you're a long way from home. Technical advice is shared and those present provide a forum for debate if and when problems arise. Kit can even be shared out in emergencies, if enough beers are bought.
     I'm not saying that there is no healthy rivalry in such situations because there is and should be, but knowing how to work in collaboration with others is essential.
     Having said that, it's equally important to know when to split from the pack, shooting your picture with a clear frame and no divers' fins clogging up the shot, or divers queuing behind you to nick your picture.

There are so many skills involved in underwater photography but only the inner vision of the photographer can provide that something extra - the Wow Factor. Experience, hard work and an eye for commercial viability are all important, but the signature of the photographer is that essence that creates a sharp intake of breath and causes people to look at an image - and then to look at it again.

IMAGE 2001: GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOTS From the '60s until the late '80s, Diver's International Festivals of Underwater Photography and Film became world-famous and made the reputations of some of today's best-known professional cameramen.           The festivals were rested after 1987 in the belief that that year's event could not be surpassed for the volume and quality of the entries.           We were wrong! We have discovered that things have moved on. For Image 99, the relaunched festival, we received more than 2500 individual images from 16 countries, and in most categories the overall quality was superb.           Now is your chance to make or enhance your reputation by entering Image 2001, the 10th Festival. The competition will have no fewer than five categories and 18 classes for underwater photographers at all levels of experience, covering prints, slides, manipulated images, portfolios, videos and cine films.           There are categories for professionals as well as non-professionals, and there are also distinctions between film shot in British waters and elsewhere.           A total of nine stunning trophies, 66 gold, silver and bronze medals, and up to 100 Highly Commended Certificates are to be won, together with valuable prizes for the trophy-winners.           A primary aim of the Festival is to reward merit in underwater photography and film, and to obtain wide recognition for achievement in this field for those who successfully take part, be they "beginners" or otherwise. CATEGORIES & CLASSES SECTION ONE This section is NOT, repeat NOT, open to those who have previously won an award in a national or international underwater photographic competition. Category 1: Prints Classes: (a) Marine Life (b) People and/or Scenery (c) Macro Entrants placed first, second and third in each class will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Category 2: Slides Classes: (a) Marine Life (b) People and/or Scenery (c) Macro Entrants placed first, second and third in each class will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Category 3: Portfolios Six slides or six prints. Entrants placed first, second and third will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. SECTION TWO This section is open to ALL underwater photographers, whether or not they have previously won an award in an underwater photographic competition. Category 4: Manipulated Images To include double or multiple exposures (either in-camera or in-darkroom), and digital images. Such images are not eligible for the Prints or Slides categories in Section One. Entrants placed first, second and third will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. SECTION THREE Category 5: Moving Images Videos and ciné films: (a)Non-professional (b)Professional. Entrants placed first, second and third in both will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. Grand Master of Underwater Photography Separate awards will be made to those who have previously won an award of any kind in a national or international photographic competition. The categories and classes named in Section One - ie, categories 1, 2 and 3 - will apply here. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in each appropriate case. SPECIAL BRITISH AWARDS There will be additional special awards for the best entries in categories 1, 2, 3 and 6 for images/footage shot in waters around the British Isles. "Grand Master" contestants will be eligible Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in the relevant categories and classes. TROPHIES A trophy for the Best Festival Print will be awarded to one of the gold medallists in Category 1 A trophy for the Best Festival Slide will be awarded to one of the gold medallists in Category 2 A trophy for the Best Festival Portfolio will be awarded to one of the gold medallists in Category 3 A trophy for the Best Manipulated Image will be awarded to the gold medallist in Category 4 A trophy for the Best Video/Ciné Film (Non-professional) will be awarded to the gold medallist in Category 5 (a) A trophy for the Best Video/Ciné Film (Professional) will be awarded to the gold medallist in Category 5 (b) PLUS: A trophy for the Most Promising Underwater Photographer will go to the photographer whose entries in Section One show the greatest promise in the opinion of the judges A trophy for the Best British Underwater Photographer will go to the British photographer whose overall entry in categories 1 to 4, wherever shot, is of the most outstanding quality, proving consistent photographic technique and talent The Diver Trophy for the Grand Master of Underwater Photography will go to the photographer whose overall entry in categories 1 to 4 is of the most outstanding quality, proving consistent photographic technique and talent Diver Magazine, 55 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8HA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 8943 4288. Fax: +44 (0)20 8943 4312. E-mail: ceta@divermag.co.uk DOWNLOAD AN ENTRY FORM WINNERS FROM IMAGE'99