FiNS Magazine Associate Editors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have just released a new book titled The Art of Underwater Photography, showcasing first-rate underwater images from the Ferraris and contributors around the world, as well as setting out the Ferrari’s personal philosophy of the art behind creating outstanding marine images. Read Dr. Alex Mustard’s in-depth review of the new book at Wetpixel.

Constable publishing in the United Kingdom has recently released a new hardback book titled Reefs Revealed, featuring images and text by marine biologist Alexander Mustard. 

Best known to FiNS Magazine readers for his Talking Megapixels column, Alex has painstakingly put together a beautiful collection of over 150 images spanning the coral reefs of the world, including photographs from the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asian waters, and the Caribbean. Moreover, reflecting his background as a marine biologist, Alex’s incisive text explains the value of reefs and explores many of the intricate relationships to be found in this unique and precarious environment. 

Testament to the quality of the book is the fact that Reefs Revealed received the prestigious Prix Mondial Du Livre D’ Image Sous-Marine (World Prize for Underwater Photo Books) at the 2007 Festival Mondial de L’Image Sous-Marine in Antibes, France, following in the footsteps of FiNS Magazine contributors Tony Wu, Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, and Mirko Zanni. 

Reefs Revealed measures 310 x 245mm and is available through through Amazon and Amazon UK. Order a copy for yourself, and send one to a friend!

Our friends at Wetpixel have just released the second issue of Wetpixel Quarterly, featuring the work of James Watt, as well as images from many of the talented Wetpixel team. Click here for more information.

It’s out at last - the much-awaited A Divers Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari is now available worldwide!

Eight enjoyable chapters about motivation, equipment, technique, mindframe, philosophy, artistic influences, cameras, housings, strobes, macro, wide-angle, portraits, topside surface interval photography and many, many other subjects.

Illustrated with a spectacular selection of some of the authors’ top shots, plus image contributions from some of the world’s best professional and amateur underwater photographers - including Doug Perrine, Tony Wu, Charles Hood, John Scarlett, Alex Mustard, Eric Cheng, Stephen Wong, Takako Uno, Alberto Luca Recchi, Fiona Ayerst and many, many others.

A Diver’s Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography strives to be completely different from other guides currently on the market. Not only is it produced on heavy glossy paper with the highest colour separation and printing quality, but the book also features scores of spectacular images from some of the world’s most influential professionals and also many extraordinarily gifted amateurs.

This reinforces one of the basic themes the Ferraris strive to convey: that taking great underwater images has less to do with camera models or technical trickery than with the “art of seeing” and the willingness to react on instinct, recognising beauty when it appears.

The book is a large, high-quality paperback measuring 25 cm x 22.5 cm, with 360 pages, 300+ large photos, and printed on glossy heavy paper. Each photograph (all 300 of them!) is extensively captioned, illustrating technique, equipment used, location, creative choices and final results.

The book is available from selected shops, including NHBS and Amazon UK at EURO 37,00 / GBP 24.99 / USD 51.00. Coming to the FiNS Online shop soon!

Are you a nudibranch fan? Do you find yourself staring at the reef, peering into little crannies, gazing at patches of coral…all in the hope that you’ll spot one of these wonderfully patterned, and often remarkably camouflaged, jewels of the sea? If so, then you’re in luck. FiNS Consultants Helmut Debelius and Rudie Kuiter have just released a new book called Nudibranchs of the World.

At 360-pages, this isn’t your ordinary guidebook. It’s the second in a series of atlases that this hard-working, self-taught pair of marine-ID experts is working on.

Unlike Helmut’s original IKAN series of guidebooks, which most divers in Asia are familiar with, this new book, as well as the World Atlas of Marine Fishes (the first book in the new series which was released slightly less than two years ago), aims to provide a comprehensive reference for comparing species in all the world’s oceans — no easy task.

To this end, Nudibranchs of the World contains over 2,500 images contributed by more than 100 photographers, covering nearly 1,200 species of sea slugs. No doubt there are more of the shell-less sea snails patrolling the seas, but the images in this book provide the most extensive reference for divers available to date.

If you’re an avid diver or sea slug enthusiast, this is a must-have. It’s far too heavy to take on dive trips, so get one for your bookshelf, and hopefully your dive resort will have a copy on hand for your slug-ID emergencies!

For more information, listen to the interview with Helmut below, which is also available via our iTunes Podcast

Worldwide distributor list

Helmut’s contact

Our friends over at Wetpixel.com have announced a new print magazine called Wetpixel Quarterly, which celebrates the beauty of the underwater realm while carrying a gentle message of conservation. Every three months, Wetpixel Quarterly will feature a pro portfolio alongside themed contributions from the greater online underwater photography community. That means that you can have your photo presented right next to one taken by Norbert Wu… or maybe next to Tony Wu (both of whom might be likely to make fun of you — but only because they love you).

Wetpixel Quarterly is the lovechild of Eric Cheng and Eli Woolery. The first issue is shipping now! For more information, please go to http://wetpixelquarterly.com.

There’s an excellent review on Wetpixel of The Art of Diving, which features photography by FiNS Contributor Alex Mustard, who writes our Talking Megapixels column. Alex is an innovative photographer who’s been at the forefront of exploring new techniques with digital photography, and many of the images in this book show off his unique talents. If you’re looking for a present for a diving friend or even a treat for yourself, check out this review!

FiNS Magazine contributor Gunther Deichmann has just launched a new coffee table book entitled Journey Through Colour and Time at a gala event held at Le Souffle Restaurant in Manila.

The launch event was supported by sponsors like Apple and Epson, and the list of VIPs in attendance included former President of the Philippines H.E. Fidel Ramos, as well as ambassadors from Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Also joining the festivities was Dermot Keane from Sam’s Tours in Palau.

Check out photos of the event and sample pages from this beautiful collection of images here and order your autographed copy via Gunther’s website.

Need to find your way among butterflyfish galore? Lost in a maze of confusing groupers? Can’t make your scorpionfish out? Now your problems are solved!

FiNS Associate Editors, Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, have finally published their much awaited new book A DIVER’S GUIDE TO REEF LIFE, a formidable yet handy field guide for scuba divers and snorkellers worldwide featuring an incredible 1,200 tropical marine species from the Indo-Pacific to the Red Sea and the Caribbean. Read more…

FiNS friends “The Fabulous Five” from Thailand (Aey, Tik, Mean, Nu and Noi) have just published a second guidebook, following on the success of their popular debut effort last year. The new Pocket Divesite guidebook focuses on dive destinations in the South Andaman area of Thailand — covering perennial diver favourites like Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Phi Phi.
Read more…