Mexico. Having gone to aquariums as a child, I have always marveled at how much vibrance, color, and life exists beneath the surface of the water. To actually be apart of that underwater environment is an experience that is indescribable. You feel as if you are in a different universe from the world above, suspended in mid-air, with all these wonderful and different species around you. What a challenge it would be, I thought, to take a camera underwater and try to capture that all those splendid creatures and landscapes on film.

The very first underwater photograph was taken in 1856 by William

Thompson, an Englishman. It was a blurry photo of sand and seaweed using a camera housed in a watertight box, mounted on a heavy tripod, lowered 18ft from a rowboat. The shutter operated manually from the boat by pulling a piece of string, with an exposure time of 10 minutes. While the photo was indeed a remarkable achievement, critics have been known to say that the image itself was not considered a success.

It was not until 1893, Frenchman Louis Boutan, had what was considered sucess with underwater photography. A zoologist for the

However, he continued searching for methods to take better photos, even deeper underwater. Boutan went on to develop underwater arc lamps enclosed in watertight cases which could be attached to the camera housing. With this, he succeeded in taking images at a incredible depth of 155 feet. In 1900, in his book Underwater Photography and Progress in Photography, he predicted that underwater photography would become a new sport. It is very unlikely, however, that he could have even fathomed the idea that it would become the hobby of thousands, as it is today.

Argo Marine Laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer in the South of France, he started out with a magazine camera, containing six 5 by 7 inch gelatin dry plates, housed in a massive watertight metal box. In this box, he made portholes out of glass for the lens and the viewfinder of the camera. Then, to compensate for the pressure differences underwater, he connected an air-filled rubber balloon to the box by a tube. This contraption was huge, weighing over 400 lb., so big, it needed to be lifted out of the water by block and tackle. To counteract this enormous and awkward weight, the camera was attached to a floating barrel full of air so Boutan could maneuver it more easily.

Using this apparatus, Boutan managed to produce

Some common words found in the essay are:
South France, Progress Photography, Shortly Calypso-phot, Titanic Underwater, Vallarta Mexico, Thompson Englishman, underwater photography, Louis Boutan, Underwater Photography, camera underwater,
Approximate Word count = 863
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)