Buddies and Photography

[RonFrank]

Ron, you are a DIR candidate. I know 'em when I see 'em.

I would rather work it out on a personal more intimate basis than have to follow a set of rules or guidelines set by...somebody else...somewhere else. There is a real rub between certain regional styles of diving in my opinion.

LOL, you are too funny. Come see me, I'm hardly the DIR poster child. In fact I got spanked for flaming DIR on this board when I first got on.

I don't do the whole non-thinking, follow the rules approach to anything in life.

However I do agree and follow the buddy system. OTOH, I'd dive solo (and would likely do so if I lived somewhere that I could actually dive often) with redundant air supply, but I'm a social animal, and actually will always perfer a good dive buddy to solo.

If you believe in the Myers Brigs test, I'm rather in the middle with everything except the Type A personality, I'm way that. Otherwise I guess one could describe me as rather confused.

 

[Puffer Fish]

1) *The degree of vigilance* is not onerous as you assume. It can actually become an unconscious awareness ~ connecting you to everything else on the dive like a spider's web. You feel the tiniest vibrations in the fabric of the dive. You focus on one thing but still see all.

Limeyx, most often with my regular dive buddies, we all have small cameras. Some are even waterproof.

I believe you are describing the "force", oh master yoda. You need to loose those neat dry-suits first, then you can be one with universe.


I love that photo, by the way, even like the uniforms - reminds me of diving in the military, except your stuff is pretty (blue, you are allowed blue?).

That sure must have been a scary dive, what with the water and waves and rocks, oh my. Sort of tiny waves, though, but the fog was scary. Try jumping out of an airplane at night, in the middle of the ocean, into 30 ft swells.

You, and many others may think you are totally aware of everything around you, but it is really easy to show that is not true. You just think you are.

When one is trying to capture a picture of a moray, with just the right mouth opening, it takes minutes to get the right image. During that time, like it or not, the person is in their own world. At that time, they have no buddy, they have no DM, what they have is their own world and the fun of getting the perfect shot.

Funny thing is, that same situation can happen to people without a camera. Say your suit inflator sticks. At that moment, your buddy's getting attacked by a shark. Neither is being much of a buddy to the other at that moment. Most UW photographers are honest and admit it, other, not so.

One of the really good lessons the military taught me was that there are things you can handle, things you and your buddy can handle and things you really really hope never happen. Planning only goes so far.

UW photographers, good ones that is, usually make rotten buddy's, but they also tend to be great people, with a great love of the world around them. They also tend to be more sensitive and more aware than most "normal" people. True, they are not much into hand holding, but they see and feel better than most.

Because they are, at times, solo divers, they also tend to make much safer dives, and are more careful about condition. Making sure that the conditions and their equiipment are right for the dive is not such a bad thing.

 

[Tortuga Roja]

Wow. I just read this entire thread. Since I am only an occasional member here it was very enlightening to hear the different opinions on buddying. It has helped me understand some of the personalities better.

My thoughts on the original subject, if anyone is interested, are probably closest to Catherine's. I dunno, maybe it is because we have the luxury of diving warm, clear water most of the time. Of course when I dive for photo workshops, I leave my camera at home and I am very attentive to my client's needs. And of course my clients are already screened to be sure they are experienced divers with no buoyancy skill issues. But that’s different than when I dive for myself.

When I dive for myself, photos are my main goal. If I'm diving for myself, I am solo or with one of a couple buddies that are like minded. That is, they are solo divers on the same dive. One of these buddies you all know as Gilligan. When I dive with someone like this, we can share the dive together, yet not worry about losing each other. If one sees a cool critter, he can share with the other if he is around. If not, we’ll talk about it topside.

I also do 90% of my diving from shore or my kayak so that I can use the DIMW skills I have developed (Do It My Way). I'm just kinda selfish like that. When I do a boat dive here, they know me well enuf to let me go completely solo or at least follow the group without a buddy. This is second best.

But if I should end up on a boat that buddies me up with a stranger, I would probably leave my camera behind (shudder). There is no way in the world that I am capable of taking good photos while keeping an eye on a buddy that is relying on me. Maybe some other divers can but as comfortable as I am with diving and my camera, I still know I cannot. Since I don’t want to pay for a dive where I can’t DIMW, I never get on a boat without one of my likeminded buddies. Never.

At the philosophical end of this subject, diving to me is a very personal experience. It’s like a form of meditation. If I’m doing a night dive and want to stop and sit in the sand alone for 15 minutes with the lights off watching the biolums do their thing, I can if I’m alone. If I want to change direction from my original dive plan, I can without consulting anyone. If this is a little riskier than following some strict organizational guidelines, it’s worth it to me. I’ll bet it’s still safer than the drive to the site was.

We all do our own risk evaluations every day. When we decide to run that yellow light when there was time to stop, or we climb up on a roof to fix a shingle instead of hiring a roofer. We can all make these decisions for ourselves based on our own evaluation. And since everyone puts different values on everything, we can all come up with different conclusions and be right – for ourselves.

 

[Uncle Pug]

That sure must have been a scary dive, what with the water and waves and rocks, oh my.

Yes, yes.... very very scary! Those are not smiles of glee... oh no. Those are grimaces of terror!

 

[JeffG]

Yes, yes.... very very scary! Those are not smiles of glee... oh no. Those are grimaces of terror!

Yes, Darryl and his other brother Darryl look terrified.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm hardly the DIR poster child. In fact I got spanked for flaming DIR on this board when I first got on.

LOL - so did I ... how times have changed ...

I don't do the whole non-thinking, follow the rules approach to anything in life.

Neither do most of the DIR divers I've ever met ... but that's a tale for another topic ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks for the posts Puff and Mike. Both of you have eloquently described the way I feel about my own diving.

 

[SeaYoda]

I believe you are describing the "force", oh master yoda. ...

He is not Yoda - I am! I do dive with the force and I'm connected to all things even transcending the conditions around me. I know when all of you younglings are in trouble no matter where you are. Yoda says "DIR is the dark side - go down that path and forever will it dominate your destiny".

I'm of the SSD (Self Sufficient Diver) school. I know my limitations (as well as any diver truly can). No matter if I have buddies or not, I need to be able to handle what comes. I need to be aware of what I'm getting into and prepare to the best of my ability. DIR is great for some conditions, for others it's overkill (just like a drysuit in 80 degree water). I don't need everything a cave diver needs when I'm doing a 50' jetty dive in warm water. Cave divers, Tech divers, Wreck divers, Cold water divers, Kelp divers, and whatever else divers need to be prepared for their environment. One is no better than the other, just different. To claim to be the better diver is nonsense, and unfortunately some in DIR have that opinion and do not hesitate to display their ignorance. I was called a "trailer park boy" by one such misguided diver just because I dive in warm water here in Florida - then several others proceeded to post what rule # I was violating. Pretty intense and much too exclusive a club for my taste. I'll be content learning what I can from their posts and applying what ever fits to my situation.

As to cameras and buddies, we are finite individuals. Our focus is limited so it shifts direction, never aware of all things at all times. Just like they taught me in driver's ED in high school, we need to check our mirrors often or we will likely hit something. I may have my face in a camera and not be paying attention to my buddy when he needs me but then again he may not be paying attention to me when I need him. The camera has nothing to do with the risk, attention does. A camera should never be such an intense focus that it endangers the photographer's life. We need to look up and around often for our own sake. I need to be prepared to handle trouble myself in case my buddy's focus is elsewhere just at the time I need him. I think solo diving is what prepares me the best for trouble in the conditions that I dive in. I will adjust my use of the camera, other gear, and actions depending on the conditions I encounter at the time of the dive. It's really great to come home safe from a dive so that I can do another again some day.

Buddies that dive with photographers need to be SSD because their buddy can not pay as much attention to them as if they would if they did not have the camera. I have a great time diving with others who are SSD. We dive the same ocean same day type dives. We can take care of ourselves and, at times, each other - how much safer can you get? We also experience the dive together but in different ways seeing different things. When we talk about the dive later, we get a larger picture to enjoy.

YMMV (and probably does) - That doesn't bother me at all. Go diving and be happy!

 

[Uncle Pug]

You, and many others may think you are totally aware of everything around you, but it is really easy to show that is not true. You just think you are.

We are totally aware of our surroundings at all times... the fabric of existence. The sligthest tremble in the web alerts us to changes that could signal danger, even Orca sneaking up from behind... most of the time.

 

[Puffer Fish]

He is not Yoda - I am! I do dive with the force and I'm connected to all things even transcending the conditions around me. I know when all of you younglings are in trouble no matter where you are. Yoda says "DIR is the dark side - go down that path and forever will it dominate your destiny". !

I bow to the teachings of the master - my sincere apology.