Any other photographers out there feel rushed and left behind on dives?

[victor]

Very familliar complaint. After the first find I am nearly always the tail end charlie.
I always tell them that I will go slowly, taking pictures takes time, and warn them that if I loose touch I will continue the dive solo if I am comfortable with the conditions. I used to follow the lost budy routine 2 minutes then surface but too many dives were ruined to keep that up.
Good DM's will recognise I am falling behind and pace the group to allow me to keep in touch. Most don't and I used to end up chasing them across the reef missing roughly one find in two.
Now I give them a couple of chances and if that does not work just dive solo if less than 80 ft or so and on a simple reef.
If my buddy (wife) is with me then I will tell the DM up front that we will follow the group as long as the pace suits us, if they go too fast then we will just drop off and continue our own dive.

Drift dives are the exception. Most of these I will just go with the flow. possibly 10 seconds fining against the flow to snap an interesting subject mostly just let the beauty slide past, the camera almost unnecessary.

 

[Darnold9999]

Happens all the time. By and large I just let the group go. What really bothers me is the guide that won't let that happen and gets pissed and tries to keep the group together AND then swims off at full speed to get to the next "sighting". Last trip had a guide do this - and on one site that particular guide did two trips around the same reef. Everyone was a bit put out re this, not just the photographer in the group (me).

I have come to hate guided dives and avoid them wherever possible. Which means that by and large I don't dive on vacation any more. Either local diving or liveaboards. Local I dive solo, liveaboards cater to more advanced divers as well as photographers so this is rarely an issue. In general I find that places that cater to vacation divers have trouble dealing with divers that don't want the "tour" that many vacation divers seem to demand.

 

[Interceptor121]

First and foremost there are good dive guides that go slow and bad dive guides that go pretty fast this without even taking into account taking photos
From there you have location where you can buddy dive so you need to find someone like minded or places where the guide has to be with you by law (most places in the Red Sea and the Galapagos where I recently went are like this)
In most cases if you are a very capable driver and the guide knows you are not going to be in trouble in the local conditions and not get lost you can follow the group taking your time and catching up as needed. If you don't manage to persuade the guide of the above then it becomes painful
Generally diving with the group too close end up with fins and bubble or unwanted subjects in your pictures that look ugly as the other divers are not models
In some location (Lembeh for example) you have a dive guide each 4 people and everybody has a camera so no issues there

 

[Steve_C]

I am also an older diver. I am not a take 15 minutes for one photo person but I do like to look around in nooks and crannies and take a minute or two for a good shot.

Pick your location. I avoid places where there are large guided groups. For special dives I hire a DM and we agree on the plan. In general I will fly down to the Keys or a place like that. When I get on the boat I find somebody that knows how to set up their equipment but looks a tad lost. We chat. I offer to buddy with them. I ask who do they want to lead and they usually pick me. I tell them we are going slow and some things to look for. Then I do my dive. They are pretty good about not running off and often take pride in finding a nice nudi or eel. I will point out a few critters to them. They get down to about 900 psi and indicate to me that we should head back. I point up and they look up and see that we have circled around and are now back under the boat. Depending on my agreement with the boat and them I will either go up with them or watch them until they are safely back on board and then solo for a bit near the boat.

 

[supergaijin]

I thought I'd point out again that a 'guided dive' is not a 'photography dive'. Both can be arranged by any competent dive operator.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Good DM's will recognise I am falling behind and pace the group to allow me to keep in touch. Most don't and I used to end up chasing them across the reef missing roughly one find in two.

Why is whether everyone else's pace is set by you the mark of a "good" DM? Go solo, call your dive, do whatever you like...I couldn't care less. But if I'm paying for a guided tour, I'm not going to be happy that our pace is dictated by one guy taking mediocre shots of the same fish that a hundred other guys just like him already took mediocre shots of. You want to do that, hire someone to follow you around like they care about your photography.

 

[diver 85]

Esp in CZM---that's why I hate that place........Told the wife last trip there 'I'm getting ready to go on another 20 year hiatus from here.'........@ 62 YO, that ought to about cover the rest of my diving time, here on earth..

 

[flots am]

Esp in CZM---that's why I hate that place........Told the wife last trip there 'I'm getting ready to go on another 20 year hiatus from here.'........@ 62 YO, that ought to about cover the rest of my diving time, here on earth..

The reefs and wall in Coz are really cool, but about the only way I'd be happy doing them is if I had a time machine and could go back 20+ years before all the "DM" crap started.

Having to follow someone around pretty much kills the dive for me now. If the choice becomes "sleep late and get a massage on the beach" vs. having someone hurry me along because I want to stare at a coral head for the whole hour while they want the Grand Prix Underwater, I'll take the "sleep late" option.

One of the best C-Cards I ever got says "solo" on it. I plan on using it whenever possible.

 

[ewaiea]

Thanks for all the replies folks. Your answers pretty much drew me to the conclusions I'd been coming to myself....hire a guide and take your time that way. I do like the other ideas too though of finding a "somewhat" inexperienced buddy and try to introduce them to taking their time, looking for the little critters and maybe taking some pride in finding the tiny stuff and taking your time. Thanks everyone.

 

[RickyF]

This is exactly why I have a solo cert and carry a bailout cylinder. Unfortunately in places like Cozumel and Roatan to some extent, this is not allowed.