Max Bottomtime, that's a great shot of the Scrawled Filefish!
I won't even try to address all of the photography issues, but I don't think you'll have any trouble combining photography with drift diving, even for macro shots. First, the current at the southern dive sites is rarely fast. And on some days, at some sites, the current is barely discernable. I've been on Columbia Shallows, a beautiful shallow dive site, when I actually had to fin occassionally to keep moving. If you acclimate yourself to drift diving, learn the tricks, you shouldn't have any trouble. Here are some tips - (1) try to keep perfectly horizontal, with the smallest cross-section for the current to affect, and bouyancy control is essential; if you get perfectly horizontal facing into the current, you can stay motionless against a gentle current with very little effort; (2) the current is slower, and sometimes almost non-existent, very close to the bottom; don't lie down on the bottom (unless it is a clear sandy bottom), but it you get very close, you can stay long enough to take a good shot very easily; (3) DON'T grab on to the coral, but if you can find a patch of sand, you can anchor youself with just a finger or two; (4) as mentioned above, there are a lot of coral heads, ledges and such to duck behind to get completely out of the current. Finally, if you do get behind the group, you don't need to scramble hard to catch up; keep your group in sight, but let the current do the work. Your group is bound to stop to look at something, and you'll get there.
