Breath Holding and Photography?

[mrwa]

I have recently begun to do some underwater photograpy and I'm wondering what most people do about maintaining a position right before you snap a picture. In my experience a very brief moment of holding my breath is a useful technique (yes, I admit it at the risk of being scolded etc). But of course, I also know the golden rule "never hold your breath". Assuming people generally aren't anchoring/touching the reef for stability, is breath holding common or even necessary for photographers? What is the secret to stabilizing long enough to get your shot?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Holding your breath for a few seconds while you hover is fine, I do it all the time. Holding your breath while ascending is where the problems begin.

 

[Papa_Bear]

It is about habit! You can hold your breath descending or hovering with no ill effects, but you are taught not to so you don't develop it as a dangerous habit on the ascent! Motion Blur is one of the most common problems you face in U/W work! Breath control and buoyancy go hand in hand when you have that camera! That becomes the problem, you have to stop and think, be aware of your position in the water column! Photographers like cavers must have perfect buoyancy and control..... It sounds easy, but now do it holding a camera out in front of you while holding perfectly still, not to mention that bubbles scare the fish away! Now make sure your strobe is amend correctly and all the settings on your camera are correct! Now shoot a half dozen pictures with as little movement as possible! Get the picture?

 

[drbill]

I shoot video and breath hold while filming. I take a lungful, exhale about 1/3rd of it and film for 10-20 sec. For longer shots I breathe shallow and slowly. Of course I'm almost always planted on the bottom rather than midwater as it is easy to make vertical movements while filming midwater.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Do it all the time. Rather go to the chamber than risk a good shot.

 

[herman]

I totally agree with Papa Bear on this. Breath holding itself is not the problem, doing so and accending can be deadly. In shallow water it only takes a few feet of accent to cause problems. The task loading added by a camera is huge, a lot more than most divers realize. You will do yourself, your buddies and your photographs a great service if you put down the camera and spend your next 25 or so dives improving your buoyancy to the point it is instinctive.
Here is an exercise for you. Go to a pool or easy dive site that has some vertical structure. Dive to a depth of 10 to 15 ft and pick a spot on some vertical surface. While hovering horizonaly, extend both arms out and form a "view finder" with your hands. Approch your "subject" to within 3 or 4 inches (that is where you will be when taking macro shots). Once you can hover with little or no movement while keeping an object in your "view finder" for at least 10 seconds, then grab the camera and go shoot some photos. While your at it, take the time to learn to back up with your fins, another skill a photographer really needs to have that is not taught in OW class.

 

[matt215]

i've often wondered about this. i've held my breath for what seems like forever while waiting to get that shot as a shark was swimming toward me. BUT, I was stable in my "hiding spot" and not changing depth. Sounds like this is ok, but don't do it if you're not stable.

 

[jeraldjcook]

Hold your breathe, but just keep your airway open.

 

[Firefyter]

Hold your breathe, but just keep your airway open.

This is the key. There is a difference in "holding" your breath and not breathing. What you want to do in this instance is to not breathe.

 

[fisherdvm]

Do it all the time. Rather go to the chamber than risk a good shot.

You totally missed the point. Going to the chamber has nothing to do with lung over expansion injury. You can have lung over expansion injury without even accumulating any nitrogen in your blood stream yet.

It is simply about blowing out your inner tubes, and sending air into your pleural cavity (pneumothorax), or sending air into your blood stream (AGE -arterial gas embolism).