One2one tuition with Martin Edge

I had finally taken the plunge and spent an amount of money equivalent to buying a small car on a dSLR camera, underwater housing and assorted lenses, strobes etc., and after my first trip I found myself thinking that I had been taking better photos with my old compact with its wet lens attachments and single external strobe.

That was frustrating! And although I could see the potential in the dSLR system, I didn’t spend all that money for potential; I wanted to see some results now.

What to do? I decided to get a leg-up the learning curve by having some tuition with a professional. I had his book and read his column in the dive press, I had heard him speak and a friend had recommended him; so I booked a day of one2one tuition with Martin Edge.

One2one tuition appealed to me as I liked the idea of getting Martin’s undivided attention as well as the opportunity to benefit from his vast experience without distraction.

I thought that I needed to nail the technical side of things, like what settings to use in various situations (there is so much choice on dSLR!) and where to place the strobes etc., so that I could concentrate on taking photos when faced (for example) with a school of hammerheads at 25m at Daedalus, or a dugong at Marsa Abu Dabab. I also thought that I would pick up a few hints on subject choice and creative composition along the way.

I had explained all this to Martin in an exchange of emails and a phone call beforehand. The tuition takes place in a hotel in Bournemouth, so I booked in the night before as the day was due to start at 8.30am.

The day started with a review of my photos. Martin asked me to bring 250 to 300, or ideally a complete set of unedited photos from a whole trip. Of course Martin wants to see all of the photos and not just the best of the trip; the point being that it is the photos that did not work that betray where you really are. You have to admit that we all get a great shot now and then; it is the photos that do not end up in the favourites folder that are more revealing than those that do. And for me, one of the major objectives of the day was to get more into the favourites folder.

A month previously I had been to Marsa Nakari for a week (a second trip with the camera after which I was feeling much happier!) and so I had all 572 photos unedited on my laptop. Martin spent well over an hour going through them with me and asking lots of questions. This was challenging, flattering, embarrassing, frustrating, and revealing in turns. It was also exhausting: it is hard work explaining how and why you took a series of photos, why you think they work, or not, as well as being brutally honest (otherwise what is the point?).

Having identified key areas for improvement, but not having told me what they were yet, Martin showed me some other photos that he had brought along with the aim of getting me to identify what was common to them, and by implication what was lacking in most of my own efforts. Hard work again; especially when you like to think that there is not a lot lacking in your own photos, except maybe opportunity and a bit of luck!

It took me a while to work it out; but when the penny dropped it was quite obvious. Then when we went back to my photos, and it was clear that these were fundamental techniques that I was only getting right on the photos in my favourites folder.

We spent the next hour and a half talking about technique; mainly creative. This was also my opportunity to go through the long list of questions I brought along. To my surprise I was getting the technical bits mostly right. I guess I had been transferring shortcomings in creative technique onto shutter speeds, f-stops and strobe angles!

After lunch we got into the pool and spent ninety minutes putting into practice some of the things I had learnt in the morning. I had been doubtful about the value of a pool session, but found it to be extremely valuable. The day ended with a review of the photos I had just taken, some final lessons from them, and a few more questions from me.

We finished a bit after 5.30pm. After a long and intense day I drove home quite exhilarated from the experience. Not only had I learnt a great deal that I was eager to put into practice, I was also feeling significantly more confident about my ability and technique.

It was an excellent day that I would thoroughly recommend if you are keen to develop your technique and approach to underwater photography.