"That" diver

[boulderjohn]

While that was bad enough, I really got irritated that the DM did nothing to stop them, or say anything to them on the SI. I guess the DM was hoping for a tip from them, but I think he did not know tipping is not customary in their culture, so he got the reward he deserved for that dive.

It may be instead that what he was hoping for was to keep his job. I would bet that many an operator around the world has a "don't piss off the customers" policy for their DMs.

 

[fisheater]

Yep. A major part of the problem is that the DMs depend upon tips to make ends meet.

That means that they, as a practical matter, have no way to tell divers that they need to improve and still make a living. That's very sad. If we paid DMs for what most rely upon them for - to make their charges "safe" in the water - then they would feel able to intervene with those bad divers.

 

[mfalco]

But as someone that had a camera from almost dive one, I have to wonder if the problem is the camera or the diver. If perhaps, camera or not, these would still be bad divers and uncaring of the reef and their impact on it. I don't think the camera will turn a conscientious diver into a careless diver but rather it's a careless, self centered diver that just happens to have a camera.

I agree. I still have the camera that I brought on my discover scuba course. Unfortunately now it seems like most divers have some sort of camera, especially bad divers. I can usually pick out the guy on the boat that will see me taking a picture and crash into me and the reef while trying to squeeze his gopro between my camera and what im shooting. Maybe they should start including some video/photo rules/etiquette in OW courses.

 

[darrenlowjq]

I read posts often enough about bad dive photographers that I know it must be true. But as someone that had a camera from almost dive one, I have to wonder if the problem is the camera or the diver. If perhaps, camera or not, these would still be bad divers and uncaring of the reef and their impact on it. I don't think the camera will turn a conscientious diver into a careless diver but rather it's a careless, self centered diver that just happens to have a camera.

I had a camera from dive six onwards and in hindsight I had no business using a camera then. It's probably true, sadly, that some photogs simply don't care about not messing up the environment, but I think some of them simply have not or are unaware that they can develop the capacity to shoot while holding neutral buoyancy, trim and re-position if necessary using propulsion techniques like the back kick simultaneously.

I'm also guessing that this has to do with your self-perception. I am firmly a diver first and a photographer second, I only got into photography to catalog my memories and it all snowballed from there. Others might be a photographer first and a diver second, they just happen to be shooting underwater some of the time. Because of this, there might not be sufficient personal incentive for them to work on improving the diving aspect of underwater photography.

 

[Damselfish]

Not real common to see a DM stop someone from trashing the reef or say something to them, but it does happen. I assume many don't want to offend customers or lose tips, or just aren't comfortable doing it. (I think sometimes this is cultural.)

Complaining will sometimes make a difference. If they know you've noticed and are bothered enough about it to say something, they now have to choose between making you unhappy by ignoring it, and making the perpetrator unhappy by saying something - if they're going to piss off someone it may as well be the rototiller. At the very least they can be encouraged to talk about things in general terms without singling anyone out, though of course the people that need to hear tend to be clueless that it's meant for them or don't care.

 

[Iralub]

I remember diving in a group with a diver straight out of his ow, carrying a go pro and poking it at everything. He had zero buoyancy control and was breathing through a tank in 20 minutes on dives shallower than 18m. And never once checking his air until the DM asked how much air he had. I had about 10 dives at the time and I'd be at 150bar on a small tank and he'd be at 50 bar on larger tank, so it was pretty bad.
The DM would be justified in telling him to put that camera away and learn to dive first, as it really was a safety issue, but he didn't.

 

[Steve_C]

I started carrying a small camera early in my diving. However I was very coral safe. I would instinctively alter my breathing when I went to shoot and I would float up and not down. Lots of pictures of tops of fish. Pictures/buoyancy/breathing all improved together over the years.

 

[CamC]

I agree. I still have the camera that I brought on my discover scuba course. Unfortunately now it seems like most divers have some sort of camera, especially bad divers. I can usually pick out the guy on the boat that will see me taking a picture and crash into me and the reef while trying to squeeze his gopro between my camera and what im shooting. Maybe they should start including some video/photo rules/etiquette in OW courses.

But if you so much as suggest back on board that you might squeeze his gopro into an altogether different orifice next time, suddenly you're the bad guy! :fire:

 

[Diver0001]

Of all of my 80 dives so far I finally encountered "that" diver. While on vacation with the family I was going out on a two tank charter. The boat was fairly full and when my nephew and I set our gear near some open tanks he was the two tanks in between us. I tried to be polite and say hello. He responded with a "no entiendo" as in I don't speak English. Not a big problem and we set up our tanks but I don't know how much of the dive briefing he heard. Certainly not the stay off the reef part.

On first dive he was using (or trying to use) a GoPro video. The problem was that he had absolutely no buoyancy control and kept falling into the coral every time he tried to get close to video something on the reef. Then on the safety stop he actually ran out of air and went up sharing air with the dive master. Second dive he again kept damaging the reef trying to get pictures/video. At least he didn't run out of air.

At some point during the dive I kept thinking the DM should take his GoPro away. Then I got to thinking that PADI should have a restriction on diving with cameras. Similar to the depth restrictions. But I guess that is no guarantee either that someone would be a courteous and conscientious diver. It's just frustrating watching someone damage the reefs like that.

Don't be "that" diver. Please.

One of the worst divers I ever saw was a "famous" National Geographic Videographer who was giving a course at the place we were staying in Egypt. His students probably paid a king's ransom to be in that course.

The guy probably had more dives under his belt than I do (and I have quite a few) but he took his entire crew out an crawled around on the reef with their bigass cameras in such a toe-curling display of abysmal diving, harassing the wild life and even breaking off bits of coral because it was "in the way" that I literally no longer watch the National Geographic channel and have become quite cynical about it.

In the restaurant every evening they showed the video they got that day and ... it ... was ... amazing. The results were out of this world. But what they did to get that video just about made me want to puke.

R..

 

[Neilwood]

One of the worst divers I ever saw was a "famous" National Geographic Videographer who was giving a course at the place we were staying in Egypt. His students probably paid a king's ransom to be in that course.

The guy probably had more dives under his belt than I do (and I have quite a few) but he took his entire crew out an crawled around on the reef with their bigass cameras in such a toe-curling display of abysmal diving, harassing the wild life and even breaking off bits of coral because it was "in the way" that I literally no longer watch the National Geographic channel and have become quite cynical about it.

In the restaurant every evening they showed the video they got that day and ... it ... was ... amazing. The results were out of this world. But what they did to get that video just about made me want to puke.

R..

They got "that" video but its a shame the same scene might not be there the next time due to the damage.

I can understand the wish to record dives but I am certainly going to give it a while after my OW certification before I consider getting a GOPRO or housing for my G12. I would like to wait until my the practicalities of diving and buoyancy are becoming second nature before even considering trying to concentrate on operating a camera down there.