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

[djtimmy77]

I presume that DM's make the group swim with the current on local drift dives for a couple reasons....
1) most divers have terrible buoyancy. If they are swimming...they tend to stay more horizontal keeping their fins off the reef.
2) It tends to make people burn through their gas much faster if they are trying to keep up with the DM.

One big issue we have run into...is when we arw poking around looking at things...and the DM is swimming the whole dive....they have surfaced 1/4-1/2 mile ahead of us. That opens up the possibility of the captain not finding you...getting a ticket for being too far from the dive flag, being run over by a boat not paying attention, etc.

Our solution is diving on smaller 6-pack boats as much as possible...where our group of 4 has much more clout to set the pace.

 

[Gilligan]

Many good posts here on this subject.

I was very spoiled on Maui as I did all my diving solo from a kayak. I took pictures at my leisure and dove where I wanted. I did not have to save air for a return trip to shore. I had the kayak to surface too. I loved solo diving.

Since I am in the Philippines most of the time I have been diving with the same operator for about 4 years. The DM's all know me and don't buddy me up with anyone. I don't want a dive buddy because I have a camera and won't pay attention to him/her. Most of the diving is wall dives so it's near impossible to get lost. I lag behind with my camera and if the group goes ahead of me and out of sight no big deal as the boat will get me when I surface.

 

[James R]

I tell the DM/Guide in advance that I will be going slowly and the more critters he/she helps me find, the bigger his/her tip will be. This works very well.

Don't threaten to reduce the tip, promise to increase it.

 

[drbill]

Being used to dive boats which have no DM in the water and allow you to dive your dive, as well as dive solo, I find guided dives to be a real PITA as an underwater videographer. Although I prefer being buddied up in new locations, at least for my initial dives, I seek out operators who permit one to dive their own dive... and even go solo. I've lost many a good video sequence due to being prodded and pushed.

One of the best dive ops I've dived with was Club Ocellaris in Anilao, Philippines. Of course they cater to photographers and videographers, permit very long dives (we did some that approached 2 1/2 hours on a single Al 80) and let one remain back with a subject to get the best possible shot or footage.

 

[AggieDiver]

I hate that feeling too...even when I am not carrying a camera. It is one of the main reasons I am not as big a fan of Cozumel as others. I just hate feeling rushed, and no matter what you do, there always seems to be one buddy team on the dive that feels obliged to race the DM to the end of the reef. That is one of the main reasons I love Little Cayman so much. All of the dives are moored dives with little or no current. The DM draws a map of the site, gives you a profile, and you can dive anywhere you want as slow as you want once you hit the water. It is about as close to perfect for the way I like to dive as I think there is in the Caribbean.

 

[victor]

AggieDiver maybe have to put little Cayman on the list. Bonaire should suit you, I the DM's there seem to understand and don't act like sheep dogs. Night diving was the exception, then it was hard to loose the pack. When I stopped for any length of time the curios would arrive to see what I had found. Many were polite but the others, well the moderator might delete my post if I use my chosen language.

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk

 

[CamC]

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.

I am that mediocre photographer, and I'd be totally mortified if I thought I was spoiling other folks' dive for what amounts to a few holiday snaps. If I was any good it would be a different matter, though. Maybe one day... :crying2:

 

[drbill]

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.

Understand your point, but think that given the often very wide range of skills on a guided dive that a good operator will separate out the imagers and those that want a more fast paced dive (that may overlook a LOT of good stuff).

When I dive internationally, I try to research my operators to find those that are imager-friendly or at least let you dive your dive. For example, at Club O. in the Philippines last year, the DMs were fantastic for imagers (the resort is dedicated to serious divers and imagers) and allowed all sorts of time to film/shoot and then catch up with the rest of the group. Dives were almost always longer than 90 minutes with some lasting 2 1/2 hours. I was running low on air and ascending when our DM pulled me back down, gave me his octo and pointed at a rare nudibranch to film. I've researched my operators for the upcoming Bonaire/Aruba trip and chose Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn because they are also dedicated to serious imagers and divers and allow one to dive solo.

I've been with dive ops where we all surface once the first person runs low on air. I've seen that happen in as little as 20 minutes. On those dives I certainly did not get what I paid for.

 

[DelrayDM]

I often get paid to guide UW photographers. Sometimes the photog spends 140 minutes in the same 15 foot diameter circle. Now THAT is relaxing.

I have never dove anywhere other than Florida, so don't be surprised if other parts of the world think I am insane for this.

Some suggested 'solutions':

- Join an underwater photography club, you can and go on their group dives, -ask the club what boats are the best for you.
- find a few other UW photographers and charter the whole boat (around here many boats only have a minimum of 4 to do that). You might get scared when you hear it will be $100 each to have the boat to yourselves, but you will be the boss.
- Hire a personal dive guide that is also an UW photographer; typically $100 here for two dive boat trip $50 to $150 for beach dive. He 'carries' the flag and works for you not the boat (and does not carry a camera for himself unless you ask him to).
- Find UW photography trips and/or events. The boats & dives will be more to your liking and you'll get a lot of free UW photography advice (some of it good.)
- Go on a UW photography workshop. The diving will designed for UW photography and you'll get a lot of professional tutoring and a bit of personal assistance.

Before you reserve or pay for a spot on a boat, ASK about their 'dive style'. I know boats that drop all 12 people at the same time (11 of us are sweating in our gear waiting for that 1 that is still trying to put their reg on their tank. )

LOOK at the boat before you pay; is there only one or two dive flags in the rack? My favorite boats have 6 or 8 flags in the rack and more below if they have seating for 16 or so divers. I can recommend boats that can only carry six, but have 6 flags at the ready!

 

[AggieDiver]

AggieDiver maybe have to put little Cayman on the list. Bonaire should suit you, I the DM's there seem to understand and don't act like sheep dogs.

I really go back and forth on the whole Bonaire thing. One part of me really wants to go there and try it because I hear it compared so often to LC. But then when I really drill down into the likes/dislikes people have for the place, it seems like what comes through the most is how much people love the quantity of dives and the freedom of shore diving. I will just come right out and say that I HATE schlepping gear around. So shore diving and carrying my gear to and from a truck all week just sounds like a miserable time to me. A big part of what I enjoy about LC is the whole experience of a nearly deserted island, hardly touching my gear all week, the topside relaxation and good food, and the relaxed unhurried diving underwater. When you step back and compare only boat diving in Bonaire to boat diving in LC, nobody has given me a compelling argument about why Bonaire would be better. There are certainly parts of the Bonaire experience that people might argue can be better...but I haven't seen an option that combines all of those things into one package on Bonaire. Adding in the longer flights and higher airfare to get there, it is just hard to want to head that way when I know how good it will be in LC.