I've thought about this for a while, and a recent post by another noobie diver summed it up, and made me write this novel, as all divers whether novice or advanced when given a camera/video gear in hand tend to change DRAMATICALLY under water...........I know I do..............and a GoPro or Still Camera may not be right for you...............
Another Divers' recent Quote "I got a sealife camera when I was first certified and quickly realized it was dangerous. I got so involved in the camera that I lost some focus on basic diving issues, buoyancy, depth etc........"
EMPHASIS ON "LOST FOCUS"..............I REPEAT, LOST FOCUS..................
As a scuba instructor, and as just a recreational diver who shoots photos and video, I myself "transform" underwater, with dramatic change in diving technique. At many many risks.
Put a still camera and video GoPro in many Many MANY divers hands (myself included), and suddenly it's all about "getting the shot", to the self-admitted point of ignoring my dive buddy, my trim/buoyancy, dangling gauges/gear, my holding onto or banging into the reef and KILLING coral, or total disregard for my own safety, people around me, and the fragile sea life we're all here to enjoy and experience.
It's troubling to read, with the new GoPros popularity, people FRESH out of certification, wanting to add a still camera, or even worse a video camera to their already basic scuba skills. It's called "task loading", and just because you're on your first tropical trip, or fresh out of certification with 5-15-30 dives under your belt, many people simply aren't ready for a simple point and shoot camera, and certainly not a video camera.
Yes Yes we all dive to experience new worlds, and it's that same excitement wonder and joy that we want to bring back to other friends, family, land-lubbers, and others to share our new found dive adventures and critters we've seen in that foreign world the sea.
BUT, and yes that's a big BUTT. In my sense of order:
Number one. You're in an astronaut suit of scuba gear, breathing and surviving in a foreign environment. Your living through that dive, safely and safety, is #1 priority. Hestiate at the wrong moment, and things can go bad very very quickly..............Be a GOOD diver first. As an instructor I can teach you to breathe underwater, but can't equalize your ears for you nor teach you how to hover perfectly using only your breathing to stay neutral while hanging vertical upside down in a handstand position filming under a rock ledge. Lose your air source, and you can lose your life in an instant.
Number two. Your safety net and responsibility extends to the divers around you. If you're entranced taking pictures/video, and lost your FOCUS, you're putting people’s lives at risk at the stupid joy of getting that Seahorse captured just right. No Shot or video clip is worth your or another persons injury. 'nough said on safety first.
Number three. PLEASE DON'T KILL THE SEALIFE. It's all innocent, people don't even know that they're doing it. "But I didn't even touch the reef you might say" But the prop wash from your fins, or racing in like an F-18 jet for a carrier landing so fast you're back paddling so hard with your hands that Mr Seahorse is now hit with Hurricane force 5 water vortexes is now PUMMELED with major water surge from you. You also may be laying on the bottom, kneeling or finning, which simply stirs up sediment and ruins your own shot by adding tons of backscatter to your, and other divers following you, photo/video opportunities.
Gosh I know I sound like Mr Tree Hugger and a Save The Reef extremist, and maybe in a way, that's what I'm pointing out. As I said, even as a dive instructor, and with over 1000+ dives under my belt, as my Master Instructor drilled into me "A good diver is always learning". I know I myself change diving behavior with a camera in my hands, as mentioned above at the disregard for my own safety, my dive buddies safety, and the fragile sealife around me.
If I can ask, to all those excited new divers, and to all us old farts divers of the seas been there dove that, please work on your dive skills, trim out your TRUE horizontal body posture while diving, don't prop wash into the reef, and no photo or video is worth either risking a person’s health, or the reefs health, in order to get "the shot".
I've worked at a resort in the Caribbean where we had weights measured and handed out to the 1/4 pound. People would start the week with 16-18 pounds, and at the end of the week working on their buoyancy skills we'd have them down to 12-14 pounds. Trim is everything, not the weight itself, but where you wear it. Think submarine here. Next dive you do just freeze motionless and see what sinks first, head or fins? Adjust your trim. Move your tank up or down, move your BCD up or down. If something sinks, move weight away from that end. Trim is everything........
One last closing comment, I don't care if it's a Hero1, Hero2, Hero3 white/silver/black...........Sealife Camera or a $10,000 Nikon DSLR rig.........trust me on this it's not the camera that honestly gets the best shots. It's the person HOLDING and operating the camera. I've won numerous photo contests and been published in magazines..........people often see my photos and say "oh my gosh that's gorgeous what kind of camera were you using........." Most times it's 30% camera, and 70% of the operator, and sometimes just dumb luck and split second timing that gets that best shot. Give Tiger Woods a 2x4 piece of lumber, and he'll still out golf you even with your $700 graphite wizz-bang titanium head golf club.
So it's not the equipment, but the enjoyment of diving..........and seriously, read and re-read this: I've had some of my most memorable dives, with the camera left on the boat. Do the Dive for the Dive, not for the picture.
If with this long post, I can help even 2-3 people with something to "think" about their behavior before they splash and during the dive, it's worth it, and your example will lead others to lead others and others to do the same.
Another Divers' recent Quote "I got a sealife camera when I was first certified and quickly realized it was dangerous. I got so involved in the camera that I lost some focus on basic diving issues, buoyancy, depth etc........"
EMPHASIS ON "LOST FOCUS"..............I REPEAT, LOST FOCUS..................
As a scuba instructor, and as just a recreational diver who shoots photos and video, I myself "transform" underwater, with dramatic change in diving technique. At many many risks.
Put a still camera and video GoPro in many Many MANY divers hands (myself included), and suddenly it's all about "getting the shot", to the self-admitted point of ignoring my dive buddy, my trim/buoyancy, dangling gauges/gear, my holding onto or banging into the reef and KILLING coral, or total disregard for my own safety, people around me, and the fragile sea life we're all here to enjoy and experience.
It's troubling to read, with the new GoPros popularity, people FRESH out of certification, wanting to add a still camera, or even worse a video camera to their already basic scuba skills. It's called "task loading", and just because you're on your first tropical trip, or fresh out of certification with 5-15-30 dives under your belt, many people simply aren't ready for a simple point and shoot camera, and certainly not a video camera.
Yes Yes we all dive to experience new worlds, and it's that same excitement wonder and joy that we want to bring back to other friends, family, land-lubbers, and others to share our new found dive adventures and critters we've seen in that foreign world the sea.
BUT, and yes that's a big BUTT. In my sense of order:
Number one. You're in an astronaut suit of scuba gear, breathing and surviving in a foreign environment. Your living through that dive, safely and safety, is #1 priority. Hestiate at the wrong moment, and things can go bad very very quickly..............Be a GOOD diver first. As an instructor I can teach you to breathe underwater, but can't equalize your ears for you nor teach you how to hover perfectly using only your breathing to stay neutral while hanging vertical upside down in a handstand position filming under a rock ledge. Lose your air source, and you can lose your life in an instant.
Number two. Your safety net and responsibility extends to the divers around you. If you're entranced taking pictures/video, and lost your FOCUS, you're putting people’s lives at risk at the stupid joy of getting that Seahorse captured just right. No Shot or video clip is worth your or another persons injury. 'nough said on safety first.
Number three. PLEASE DON'T KILL THE SEALIFE. It's all innocent, people don't even know that they're doing it. "But I didn't even touch the reef you might say" But the prop wash from your fins, or racing in like an F-18 jet for a carrier landing so fast you're back paddling so hard with your hands that Mr Seahorse is now hit with Hurricane force 5 water vortexes is now PUMMELED with major water surge from you. You also may be laying on the bottom, kneeling or finning, which simply stirs up sediment and ruins your own shot by adding tons of backscatter to your, and other divers following you, photo/video opportunities.
Gosh I know I sound like Mr Tree Hugger and a Save The Reef extremist, and maybe in a way, that's what I'm pointing out. As I said, even as a dive instructor, and with over 1000+ dives under my belt, as my Master Instructor drilled into me "A good diver is always learning". I know I myself change diving behavior with a camera in my hands, as mentioned above at the disregard for my own safety, my dive buddies safety, and the fragile sealife around me.
If I can ask, to all those excited new divers, and to all us old farts divers of the seas been there dove that, please work on your dive skills, trim out your TRUE horizontal body posture while diving, don't prop wash into the reef, and no photo or video is worth either risking a person’s health, or the reefs health, in order to get "the shot".
I've worked at a resort in the Caribbean where we had weights measured and handed out to the 1/4 pound. People would start the week with 16-18 pounds, and at the end of the week working on their buoyancy skills we'd have them down to 12-14 pounds. Trim is everything, not the weight itself, but where you wear it. Think submarine here. Next dive you do just freeze motionless and see what sinks first, head or fins? Adjust your trim. Move your tank up or down, move your BCD up or down. If something sinks, move weight away from that end. Trim is everything........
One last closing comment, I don't care if it's a Hero1, Hero2, Hero3 white/silver/black...........Sealife Camera or a $10,000 Nikon DSLR rig.........trust me on this it's not the camera that honestly gets the best shots. It's the person HOLDING and operating the camera. I've won numerous photo contests and been published in magazines..........people often see my photos and say "oh my gosh that's gorgeous what kind of camera were you using........." Most times it's 30% camera, and 70% of the operator, and sometimes just dumb luck and split second timing that gets that best shot. Give Tiger Woods a 2x4 piece of lumber, and he'll still out golf you even with your $700 graphite wizz-bang titanium head golf club.
So it's not the equipment, but the enjoyment of diving..........and seriously, read and re-read this: I've had some of my most memorable dives, with the camera left on the boat. Do the Dive for the Dive, not for the picture.
If with this long post, I can help even 2-3 people with something to "think" about their behavior before they splash and during the dive, it's worth it, and your example will lead others to lead others and others to do the same.
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