inon uk underwater photography programs

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1 Underwater Photography Programs UK LEARN TO TAKE BETTER UNDERWATER PICTURES with Lisa Collins and Steve Warren Underwater Photography Programs UK

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Page 1: Inon uk underwater photography programs

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

LEARN TO TAKE BETTER UNDERWATER PICTURES with Lisa Collins and Steve Warren

Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

Looking to start out in underwater

photography or to take better

underwater pictures than you have

before? Both who you choose to teach

you and the course you select are really

important decisions. INON UK’s Lisa Collins

and Steve Warren deliver an unmatched

choice of underwater photography

‘continuing education’ programs for

beginner and intermediate underwater

photographers.

www.inonuk.comwww.inonuk.com© INON UK All Rights ReservedRegistered address: Lygon House, 50 London Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 3RA, UK. Company Registration Number 7835100Design by Seasquirt Productions

email: [email protected]: +44 (0)1795 227781

Cover image by David Bulmer

UK

LEARN TO TAKE BETTER UNDERWATER PICTURES with Lisa Collins and Steve Warren

Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

Each of our programs is designed to help you improve your

own underwater photography through increasing your

knowledge and skills. Our courses are emphatically not

dumbed down. They are comprehensive, but easy to understand.

As an underwater photographer you’ll often have to adapt your

techniques on the fly to cope with unanticipated conditions or

take advantage of a rare and unexpected photo opportunity. So

it’s essential to understand the why’s behind the how’s. Steve and

Lisa offer a range of experiences from one-day seminars in the UK

to help you understand your camera and strobe to full on two-week underwater photography safaris to the Caribbean. At all

times our goal is to help you enjoy more rewarding underwater photography.

Lisa and Steve each have established reputations for helping others improve their own underwater photography. The

proof is in their student’s pictures. Lisa has been taking underwater pictures for 20 years and has travelled worldwide

in search of outstanding photo opportunities, shooting subjects from the tiniest critters to the largest whale sharks.

She is one of the most prolific feature writers for leading UK magazine ‘Diver’, among other titles. Lisa teaches INON UK’s

overseas underwater photography workshops, which enable you to learn and practice underwater photography techniques

at select destinations around the globe. Lisa also escorts INON UK’s less formal underwater photography safaris. Safaris

are focused on taking pictures, rather than learning how to take them like workshops. Dedicated underwater photography

safaris are much more productive for getting great underwater pictures than regular dive trips because the diving is

geared around our needs as underwater photographers, which are very different to those of ordinary divers.

Steve has been taking underwater photographs since 1994. For nearly two decades he ran Ocean Optics, one of the most

respected underwater camera retailers in the world. Steve’s achievements in the diving media include writing for most

UK diving magazines, project managing dive books and, more recently, filming for British TV. Steve is credited with being

the first person to mount filming expeditions to the Straits of Gibraltar to reveal the tuna run, which sees a concentration

of dolphins, pilot whales and orcas assemble during the annual migration of bluefin tuna. A TV show about the expeditions

is currently in preproduction. Steve is the co – designer of the INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course. He

co – founded the ‘Visions in the Sea’ underwater photography festivals and is a contributing author to Martin Edge’s ‘The

Underwater Photographer’. Lisa and Steve are INON UK Instructor – Trainers and have personally taught Level One digital

underwater photography to over 150 INON UK Level One students and Level One instructors.

Lisa and Steve also organise special events at which you can learn more about taking better underwater photographs from

them and members of the INON UK Experts Panel, benefit from one to one picture clinics and mix with other underwater stills

and video enthusiasts.

Underwater Photography Programs

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

INON UK UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

IMPROVEMENT AND SPECIAL INTEREST COURSES

Lisa and Steve are teaching a range of underwater photography

courses this winter, not all of which even require you to get

wet! These include entry – level to intermediate underwater

digital photography courses to get you started, kit seminars to help

you master your underwater camera, Learn with Lisa Days to coach

you through advanced composition, photo editing and how to plan

productive photo trips and even programs to help you get your own

dive stories published. So use that winter downtime to prepare for

future success. These courses make ideal gifts for the underwater

photographer in your life!

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

The INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course assumes no prior knowledge of land or underwater photography. Mark and Steve originally designed it as a beginner’s course for divers. However, many experienced underwater photographers who had already taken other courses and a significant number of underwater photography instructors who had qualified through other training agencies have chosen to take the Level One program. This in itself tells you something interesting about our course compared to others – why would anyone who had already taken one beginner’s underwater photography course believe they would benefit from taking our beginners course as well? It was based on these individuals feedback that we now describe the INON UK Level One digital course as covering beginner to intermediate underwater photography. This is a much more comprehensive starter course than you might expect. However, from experience, we believe the content of our course is really the minimum required to enable you to take pleasing pictures in good visibility, consistently. We want to take the luck out of your underwater photography and replace it with knowledge and technique. After all, luck cuts both ways.

There are six classroom presentations during the INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course. These provide essential information that will help you understand the unique problems underwater photographers face and what the solutions are. The INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course ensures you know the why’s that underpin the how’s. We build your knowledge in small logical steps. We’re not out to overwhelm you with information, just to ensure you leave our course with “must have” knowledge. Each of the first five modules finishes with a brief multi – choice evaluation. This helps us ensure we are getting our points across

and alerts us so we can quickly clarify any confusion.

“I’ve been a photographer

since I was 11 and a professional

photographer both on land and under water

since 1994. I have seen quite a few underwater

photography courses for compact camera users, and while I would hate this review to end up sounding like an ad, I

believe this is the most professional, intelligent and well thought-out I

have come across so far”.

Gavin Parsons, Diver Magazine

THE INON UK LEVEL ONE BEGINNER TO

INTERMEDIATE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE

Developed in 2009 by Mark Koekemoer of The Underwater Camera Company and INON UK’s Steve Warren, we believe this is the first underwater photography course to be endorsed by a leading underwater photography equipment manufacturer. The course has been acclaimed by students and highly rated by scuba instructors who have taken the Level One instructor course with INON UK. The success of our INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course is founded on three cornerstones. It begins with the belief that underwater photography is not a diving specialty, but a photographic one. Diving is simply the means by which you get to your location and subject. This course is all about understanding photography principals and

DETAILED OVERVIEW OF INON UK LEVEL ONE

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE

applying them to working under-water. Second, the course includes essential theory, practical skills and practice time. By essential we mean our course includes the minimum content we have found divers need to take good underwater pictures. We don’t think you can scrape by on less. Thirdly, you’ll be personally taught by Lisa or Steve, who have exemplary reputations as underwater photographers and underwater photography coaches.

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

Classroom Topics Part 1: LIGHT. How we see and how cameras record an image is all based on light. Light has many qualities and is altered radically when it passes from air into water. These differences between how light behaves in air and underwater are something you need to understand. Intensity, colour and contrast are all reduced underwater, while particulate in the water blocks, diffuses and scatters light. Not appreciating these differences is one of the main reasons why so many divers find underwater photography disappointing and frustrating.

Part 2: CAMERA BASICS. Today’s cameras can seem bewilderingly complicated. Many divers set their cameras to program, auto or underwater mode, yet often the results are very poor. Many photographs appear blurred with drab colours. Even when the pictures are acceptable, automatic settings make it difficult for the photographer to know why the camera did what it did and hard to reliably achieve good results the next time they dive. We’ll show you how to make your camera take satisfying pictures, consistently, in good visibility, by following a few simple guidelines and using the minimum of controls. We’ll demystify all the jargon and explain the main controls you do need to use, and how and when to use them.

Part 3: RESTORING COLOUR USING JUST NATURAL LIGHT. GETTING RICH COLOURS IN YOUR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHS IS ESSENTIAL TO PRODUCING IMAGES WITH IMPACT. We’ll explore the importance colour plays in creative underwater imaging later on in the course. To begin with we’ll simply show you how to get vibrant colours in your underwater photographs without using underwater strobes or video lights. This is a very useful method for shooting large subjects, like wrecks, as well as shy animals that dislike flash. We’ll discuss colour loss through water and

explain how to restore colours using your camera’s white balance controls and how and why filters can further enhance the look of your natural light images.

Part 4: RESTORING COLOUR USING ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. Underwater strobes or flashguns, as well as video lights, are often misunderstood by underwater photographers. While colour correction techniques using natural light tend to be depth dependent, artificial light works at any depth but is limited to surprisingly short distances and introduces problems such as backscatter and harsh shadows. Backscatter is caused by lighting particles in the water. Unsightly shadows are caused by poor strobe positioning. We’ll show you how to produce evenly lit, backscatter free underwater photographs. We’ll also explain the important features and benefits of strobes, including understanding power, coverage and exposure modes.

Part 5: LENSES. UNDERWATER. photography is much more equipment dependent than most land photography. Partly this is because our choice of stunning subjects is so wide. We might want to shoot a huge sunken liner and a fingernail sized nudibranch living on its deck during the same dive. We rely on

a selection of lenses to provide the versatility we need to portray all these opportunities. Understanding the role of lenses will ensure you always choose the right lens for the subject and conditions. We’ll explain the difference between standard lenses, wide – angles, super wide – angles and relay lenses as well as what sets close up, macro and super macro photography apart from each other.

Part 6: TECHNIQUE. The INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course has been designed to give you the knowledge, skills, practice, equipment familiarity and experience to help you succeed as an underwater photographer. Our techniques presentation will help you plan your future underwater photography trips by explaining the ways pro’s stack the odds in their favour. We’ll also share some simple, reliable composition rules that will help you stop taking snapshots and start making underwater photographs to be proud of. You’ll learn how to frame your pictures to maximise impact, the role colour plays in creating striking images and how to exclude backgrounds that distract.

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

Practical skills

Pre-dive Equipment Preparation – Learn How to Avoid Floods A valuable part of your INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course could easily save you all your course fees and a wasted underwater photography trip. We teach the procedures you must follow if you want to avoid costly floods of your expensive camera equipment.

Learn Practical Skills in the Water The underwater exercises you’ll complete during your Level One Underwater Photography Course with INON UK begin by reinforcing what you have learned in the classroom sessions. They convert theoretical discussions into hands on, real world techniques you’ll understand and apply on your future photo dives. Our practical sessions include exercises that show you how to compensate for the effects of water, how to prevent motion blur and manually control exposure. You’ll work with different types of lenses to shoot wide-angle, close-up and macro pictures to learn how to tackle subjects from large to small. Mastering how to evenly light pictures and avoid backscatter when using a single underwater strobe are vital skills you’ll also practice and refine. Along with learning all these basics, you’ll also be introduced to creative techniques, such as how to shoot close-focus, wide-angle pictures and darken backgrounds

to add impact to your images.

The Extras

Personalised Picture Debriefs We follow each photo dive with an extensive debrief of each student’s images. This is a very important part of your learning process. It takes considerable experience of taking underwater pictures to be able to fully recognise, diagnose and explain what might be going on in a photograph. The instructor needs to be able to identify exactly why

a shot has worked or not worked technically and offer solutions, where needed, as well as provide tips on composition. As published underwater photographers, Lisa and Steve bring vast insight to their picture debriefs.

Underwater Camera Equipment Provided To fully benefit from the INON UK Level One Underwater Photography Course you need to learn to use and practice with essential underwater camera accessories including wide – angle and close up lenses and underwater strobes. INON UK provides use of complete compact underwater camera systems for each of our students at no charge. There’s no sharing of cameras between students, which would halve your learning opportunities. Many students like to use their own cameras. However, it is often the case that their own camera isn’t equipped with the lenses and strobe you’ll need to use to get the most from your course with us. Sometimes, if you don’t already own the appropriate accessories, we can loan you these to use with your own camera if it has compatible fittings. What you learn using our cameras can easily be transferred across to your own system. We do ask for a deposit against loss or damage of our equipment, as you’d expect.

INON UK Registered Membership Included Membership entitles you to big savings on selected INON UK continuing education underwater photography courses and events.

Lisa and Steve only run occasional INON UK Level One courses in the UK and overseas, so early booking is recommended. Fees vary depending upon location.

Below: Angel Shark, Lanzarote. Fuji F30, INON UFL165AD fisheye lens by Steve Warren

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Underwater Photography ProgramsUK

“Hi Lisa, Regarding to the course, Fantastic,

loved it, can’t imagine any improvement”.

Luis DaSilva

Compact underwater cameras are capable of taking superb underwater photographs. Lisa and Steve have both had pictures taken with inexpensive compact cameras published in magazines. The small size of a compact can also make it possible to take photographs simply impossible to shoot with larger systems. This is one reason why many underwater photographers who own pro level SLR outfits will also have and use a compact for certain subjects and situations. However, many divers are confused and intimidated by the complex menus of compact cameras and also find the manuals impenetrable. Adding a strobe often only increases their difficulties. A further problem is that while a manual can explain what a camera or strobe function does, it rarely explains when or why you might need to choose that function underwater. This can leave you missing important pictures because you cannot use your expensive underwater camera and strobe to its full potential.

This one day INON UK Understanding Your Under-water Camera and Strobe classroom seminar is an essential walk through of your underwater camera and strobe functions. We designed it because we found that many divers set their cameras to program, auto or underwater mode and were often disappointed with the results. In fact, an underwater camera set to program, auto or underwater mode will regularly produce poor pictures and is actually working against you. On this course we’ll show you how simple it is to take full control of your own camera and strobe and how to get it to consistently take the underwater photographs you want. A key part of this course is helping you understand why certain camera and strobe settings work better than others for particular subjects and conditions. Having this knowledge will make it easy for you to adapt your camera and strobe settings to cope with almost all conditions you will encounter on your photo dives. This INON UK Understanding Your Underwater Camera and Strobe course is a valuable addition to the INON UK Level One Underwater Photography course because the Level One has to cover camera and strobe functions in general terms, partly due to lack of time and partly because we would probably overload the course with too much information. This additional course deals with equipment specifics and explains more advanced camera and strobe settings to help you progress. It also makes an excellent pre-trip equipment and techniques review session. If you are planning to invest in your own underwater camera system, the INON UK Understanding Your Underwater Camera and Strobe Course will help you recognise the features you’ll need to look for – they are often not obvious. We can supply an underwater camera

“Steve is generally patience personified”.

Steve Weinman

INON UK UNDERSTANDING YOUR UNDERWATER CAMERA AND STROBE DAY

system on the day for you to use for the practical sessions. What you learn with us can easily be applied to almost any underwater camera.

Just some of the subjects the INON UK Under-standing Your Underwater Camera and Strobe Course cover are exposure modes and scene modes and why manual exposure is often your best option; what shutter speeds, apertures and ISO do and how to use them; what focus modes do and which ones to choose for wide-angle, still life, fish and close-up photography; high speed sequential shooting; white balance settings; super wide-angle, wide -angle, relay and close-up lenses; what flash modes do including slow sync and second curtain sync; synchronising and testing your camera and strobe; understanding S-TTL , auto and manual exposure; applications for diffusers, colour filters and snoots; use of video lights.

The INON UK Understanding Your Underwater Camera and Strobe Course is £199.00 with a preferential fee of just £99.00 for INON UK Registered Members.

Photo: Steve Warren

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INON UK LEARN WITH LISA UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY DAY

Since she submitted on spec a highly individual account of how the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010 affected a dive-trip to Asia, Lisa Collins has become a highly valued contributor to Diver. High among her many qualities is the rare ability, without apparent effort, to carry readers along with her narrative and make them feel they are travelling or diving beside her.

She usually organises her own trips, which is helpful for us, and although she has other business interests in diving we feel we can trust her to be honest and objective in her choice of story and editorial judgments - she understands the need to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Lisa is not afraid to say what she thinks in print, which is a valuable quality as far as Diver is concerned, and when tasked with something out of the ordinary such as a “fly-on-the-wall” assignment has proved more than equal to the challenge. Hers have been among the more memorable features in Diver in recent years, because she comes up with original and personal angles that lift stories out of the ordinary.

Lisa is a very friendly and co-operative contributor for whom nothing is too much trouble, which makes her a pleasure to work with. We have also been interested to see how her photography has developed even over the five years in which we have worked with her - we are always sent a generous (in fact too

generous!) selection of consistently good photos from which to choose.

“In short, Lisa is a valuable asset to Diver and long may that continue.”

Steve Weinman , editor, Diver Magazine INON UK’s Learn with Lisa Underwater Photography Day is a fun and fascinating way to fast track to success as an underwater photographer. You don’t even need to get wet to benefit. Packed with hard won experience from underwater photography’s front line, you’ll enjoy a full day of insights and mentoring to help you take much better pictures from your next underwater photography trip. Your Learn with Lisa Underwater Photography Day includes one to one picture clinics, advanced composition classes, photo editing tuition and holiday planning. It’s a day that’s all about bringing out your potential and helping you plan for success – the way professional underwater photographers like Lisa do.

Personalised Picture Debrief A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a few words of advice can make a huge improvement to your own underwater photographs. Problems with underwater photographs fall into two main categories: technical or compositional. It takes an experienced underwater photographer to break down the problems that have created a disappointing image and explain them in a way that is easily understood. Because more than one problem is usually involved, a solution must be provided for each. Lisa’s skill is to diagnose all the factors that went wrong and talk you through the solutions that will make your next photo dives much more successful. Just as important as understanding why a picture did not work and how to improve on it next time around, is recognising when you have taken a great underwater photograph. Often, underwater photographers are very self – critical, but that can mean they underestimate even outstanding photographs they’ve taken. Sometimes a picture ‘as shot’ does not work as well as it could, but with a little creative cropping or thoughtful photo editing can really stand out. Recomposing images to fit a magazine layout and working on images in post-production is a normal publishing practice. As one of the UK’s most published underwater photographers, Lisa understands that process. Lisa can show you how to see that great hidden photograph. She brings a fresh pair of eyes to your portfolio and can recognise successes you might have overlooked.

Images by Lisa Collins

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PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY SAFARI With scores of trips to locations around the world under her belt, Lisa knows better than most how to plan a successful underwater photography safari. She travels to different diving destinations for a host of reasons. When she began underwater photography, 20 years ago, it was for pleasure. These days, her work as a roving reporter for Diver Magazine takes her on many dive travel assignments and her role as INON UK’s trip leader means she is often overseas running INON UK underwater photography workshops or leading INON UK photo safaris. Successful underwater photography depends on three main ingredients. Equipment is one. Knowledge of how to use it is another. The third is opportunity. Often it is how to make those underwater photography opportunities happen that is misunderstood. Lisa is going to explain in detail the differences between simply diving with a camera and actually diving to make really satisfying underwater photographs. She’ll share with you the tips that will ensure you return from your next dive trip with superb photographs. Lisa will show you why most organised scuba holidays are actually counterproductive for underwater photography. For example, the pace at which many typical dives are led by guides makes it nearly impossible to get anything but grab shots. Large groups also disturb subjects and can ruin visibility. Diving deep means reduced light, contrast and colour as well as less time to take photographs. Often you’ll only get to dive a site once before being forced to move on. Yet familiarity with a site over several dives makes it much easier to get great pictures. Unfortunately, many dive operators still don’t really provide the infrastructure underwater photographers need to succeed. Any professional will tell you a productive underwater photography trip begins with planning. We call it preparing to succeed. It’s the process of professional preparation that Lisa is going to share with you. Some of the topics Lisa will discuss include: 10 key questions to ask your dive operator before you book; equipment you’ll need : pre-trip equipment and techniques reviews; shake down dives: identifying signature subjects: researching local marine life, including migration habits; researching weather patterns: finding the best spotters and the best times of day to shoot for different effects. The best professional underwater photographers always want to minimise their risks of returning empty handed from an expensive assignment. For passionate, but non-professional underwater photographers, each trip is expensive and precious. Lisa will help you to plan like a pro, so you return with

a portfolio to be proud of.

Composition – A Considered Approach As one of Diver Magazines main contributors, Lisa Collins has to come up with the photographs to illustrate a story every time. On each assignment she’ll be shooting against the clock and having to overcome the difficulties that locations often throw at her. The success of any photograph lies in its composition. Lisa’s success as a professional underwater photojournalist is rooted in her ability to create a composition that works in a magazine. A successful composition includes and excludes a number of different elements. It is these elements that Lisa is going to explain. Lisa will show you how to train your eye to ‘see’ the potential in a subject and how to avoid taking a dull snapshot and, instead, make a photograph that engages an audience. Lisa will de-construct her own images to illustrate how to combine complimentary elements of a photograph such as balance, angles and colour and exclude competing ones that detract. Creating a successful underwater photograph depends as much upon knowing what to leave out as what to include. Just some of the subjects Lisa will cover include: a review of the problems and solutions of shooting underwater, drawing the viewer’s eye into the picture, contrast, complimentary and competing colours, selective lighting, separating your subject from poor backgrounds, picture geometry – diagonals and angles, circles, how formats frame your picture, perspective, habitat, conditions,

Images by Lisa C

ollins

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adding human interest and adding character.

Understanding the rules of composition is essential to returning from your dives with underwater photographs you can feel really satisfied to display.

Photo editing All photography is about image manipulation. From which subject we select to how we frame it, choose to light it and even how we alter perspective to dramatise it all come into play. A lot of image manipulation is done ‘in camera’. But in the digital age, much more is now done in photo editing, long after the original picture itself was taken. Photo editing offers many benefits. At its most basic, it can salvage a valuable image that simply cannot be shot well in camera. For an underwater photographer fighting the problems of backscatter, diffusion and absorption, photo editing can, for example, recover and bring to life an otherwise hazy and lackluster image of a blue whale shot right on the limits of visibility. Or it can be used artistically to make water backgrounds a stronger blue or green to give your main subject more punch. Photo editing allows you to recompose your image for more impact or remove elements that conflict, such as stray fin tips. In the digital imaging era, the skills of using your camera to take a picture are intrinsically coupled with using photo editing techniques to create the final underwater photograph. Just some of the subjects Lisa will discuss and demonstrate during her review of photo editing include the pros and cons of shooting in RAW or JPEG; buffers and their limitations; cataloguing your images for easy retrieval; watermarking for copyright protection, basic adjustments including whole picture enhancing of colours and contrast, changing to black and white or sepia; cropping and altering angles to strengthen composition. She’ll also cover advanced adjustments such as selective area white balancing, colour adjustment and contrast control, removing backscatter, lens flare, bubbles and other distractions, cloning for adding missing elements such as tail tips, removing distracting backgrounds and correcting lens distortion. The INON UK Learn with Lisa Underwater Photography Day is packed with

valuable background information and insider tips.

INON UK Learn with Lisa Underwater Photography Day is £199.00 with a preferential a fee of just £99.00 for INON UK Registered Members

Images by Lisa C

ollins

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Ever wanted to see your pictures or words in a print or web magazine? For many underwater photographers publication is a real accolade. But how do you break in? Steve Warren from INON UK is going to show you exactly how to get published. Steve has twenty-one years experience of writing for diving magazines and project managing diving books. Now a regular contributor to Diver Magazine, he’s a former technical editor for Dive International Magazine and Dive Magazine. Steve’s many published articles encompass consumer equipment testing, dive safety projects, investigative reports and opinion pieces. Behind the media diving scenes he’s selected the writers and photographers for publishers and headhunted talent for TV production companies. In recent years he’s filmed underwater for ITV and the BBC. Currently Steve is serving as series consultant for a marine themed TV show that’s in preproduction. With no media training whatsoever and no real aspirations to become a writer/photographer, Steve kind of fell into the role. He firmly believes that if he can do it, almost anyone can. Steve is going to show you how to get started in underwater photojournalism. Topics include; creating a publishable story; travel writing; equipment reviews; marine life features; investigative reports; opinion pieces; quirky articles; speculative and commissioned assignments; your story’s unique selling point; thinking beyond the obvious themes; magazine styles; giving the editor what they want; writing strong openings; sentence construction; paragraph construction; writing to length; sub - editing your work; shooting supporting photographs; exploiting stock shots; writing picture captions; research; making contacts and working with co-authors/co- photographers. Steve will de-construct some of his own features line by line to explain the writing, rewriting and editing process. He’ll also outline the picture requirements of magazines. Steve will discuss both his successes and failures and how he might have changed and improved his articles with hindsight. Drawing on the media work of colleagues, Steve will also show how other writer – photographers have made their own successful break into underwater photojournalism. This is a unique course that is intended to help you see your own work published. We only expect to run one course per year.

£250.00 (INON UK Registered Members £125.00)

INON UK Private Tuition We’re very proud of our INON UK underwater photography courses, but we know that some people will need tailored content or can’t fit around our teaching dates or just prefer to learn one to one. Lisa and Steve offer private tuition and will always try to work around your specific requirements. Many underwater photographers hit problems that frustrate them and struggle to find solutions. If Lisa and Steve can’t help you personally, with their extensive connections they’ll know someone who can and will be happy to make introductions for you.

Private tuition with Lisa or Steve starts from £250.00 per day, plus expenses. We look forward to hosting you on our courses. For details of dates and venues, please check our website or email us to register your interest. For more information please visit:

www.inonuk.com

AN INTRODUCTION TO SUCCESSFUL UNDERWATER PHOTOJOURNALISM WITH INON UK’s STEVE WARREN

“Steve Warren has been writing for Diver Magazine for 14 years - not all the time but

in what appear to be sudden bursts of

activity. We always look forward to receiving

his copy and invariably publish it, because

where so many people just want to write

about their dives, he prefers to tackle tricky

issues, whether it be solo-diving or buoyancy

control.

His first piece for Diver was a comprehensively

researched feature about junior divers at a time when this was more controversial than it is today, and

it set the tone for articles that combine

substantial diving knowledge with

an ability to think laterally and find fresh

perspectives.

In an article such as Survivor, which

culminates with Steve diving on a wreck with a man for whom it has tragic associations, he

shows how deftly he can weave personal observations with

underwater narrative, a real journalistic skill. He works and reworks

his material to get it right, where others

might just dash it off and hope for the best,

and the time and effort always seems to pay

off. Editors appreciate that.”

Steve Weinman , editor,

Diver Magazine

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Photo: Lisa Collins