Introduction

I learnt to dive in 1979 and became interested in photography two years later. The word ‘interested’ is an understatement. When I look back I would describe it as an all-consuming obsession! By 1983 I’d learnt the theory of f numbers and shutter speeds and could set the controls of my camera to produce an image on film, but that’s about as far as I’d got. To my family and friends I was the next Cousteau, but in my own mind I was quite hopeless and sadly lacking in something.

The problem was — I had no idea what that ‘something’ was. I then found BSOUP (British Society of Underwater Photography) and began to attend their monthly meetings in London. It all then changed for me. I immediately noticed a clear distinction of quality between ...

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