Freediving for Underwater Photography

[ewaiea]

Has anyone out there (whether they're scuba certified or not - which I happen to be) used free diving as a vehicle for underwater photography?

I know that you can approach the underwater environment quietly while free diving but it takes a bit more practice and is a bigger challenge, I was just curious if anyone else has done free diving for the same reasons.....?

I'm not a hunter (at least not anymore) and I really don't like pushing the limits beyond 45ft on a single breath because I'm going for time, not depth.....anyone out there happen to be the same as me?

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Hi there, yes I use Freediving as a vehicle all of the time. In fact, we are now teaching classes specifically on Freediving Photo & Video. What kind of camera system are you using?

One of the main things about freediving is that you want to be as streamlined as possible. However, cameras often times create a lot of drag thereby making it more difficult to dive. Many destinations nowadays are freedive/snorkel only, especially with big animals.

As I am sure you can probably attest to, when the humpbacks are out there in Hawaii, you need the mobility to move fast and chase them.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask away. What island are you on in HI??

 

[ewaiea]

I live on Oahu, in the town of Aiea...west of Honolulu near Pearl Harbor. The boats out here don't chase whales and allow you to swim with them because there are regulations. It takes a very special and rare experience in Hawaii whereby the whale has to initiate the encounter. What destinations only allow snorkeling and free diving? I can think of the Turks and Caicos Aggressor as one when they snorkel with the humpback whales of the Silver Bank in the Dominican Republic. Can you think of other destinations?

My camera kit by the way, is a Sealife DC1000 with external strobe and removable wide angle lense.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Tonga and Niue are two other places where organized trips to snorkel with humpbacks is done. I know that in the Silver Banks you are not allowed to freedive - don't know about these other two places.

Beyond humpbacks, there are snorkeling trips in which you can freedive in order to see and shoot Atlantic Spotted Dolphins in Bimini and the Bahamas and quite a number of places for whalesharks and mantas.

But to your initial question, yes, you can shoot while freediving, and I do so whenever I'm on snorkel. Any divesite can be for all intents and purposes a freediving site. The choice of "weapons" is yours. I just don't freedive deep after scuba, that's all.

 

[fdog]

Tonga and Niue are two other places where organized trips to snorkel with humpbacks is done. I know that in the Silver Banks you are not allowed to freedive - don't know about these other two places.

Beyond humpbacks, there are snorkeling trips in which you can freedive in order to see and shoot Atlantic Spotted Dolphins in Bimini and the Bahamas and quite a number of places for whalesharks and mantas.

But to your initial question, yes, you can shoot while freediving, and I do so whenever I'm on snorkel. Any divesite can be for all intents and purposes a freediving site. The choice of "weapons" is yours. I just don't freedive deep after scuba, that's all.

...Actually, don't freedive at all after scuba diving.


Also, you implied something in your post that is amazing to me: If I read your post correctly, then at the Silver Banks, you are not even allowed to go underwater?


All the best, James

 

[Manuel Sam]

True: however, if after a scuba dive you run into a pod of friendly dolphins, it's hard to resist. So I try to keep it shallow (even tho that is the zone of greatest relative pressure change) and come up very slowly.

That is correct - in the Silver Banks you can only snorkel/swim on the surface.

 

[fdog]

True: however, if after a scuba dive you run into a pod of friendly dolphins, it's hard to resist. So I try to keep it shallow (even tho that is the zone of greatest relative pressure change) and come up very slowly.

That is correct - in the Silver Banks you can only snorkel/swim on the surface.

Wow. That sux. Thanks for the scouting report!


All the best, James

 

[ewaiea]

I totally thought that since the charters in the Silver Banks are snorkeling only that you'd get some people who might be skilled free divers - free diving with whales would be a great thing - but paying a bunch just to snorkel??? A great experience I'm sure, but not worth it for me.

The Ocean Dancer in Maldives is a Peter Hughes liveaboard that will be conducting a free diving clinic some time next year - they will actually have a bit of scuba diving in the afternoon (probably no more than 1 or two dives) but most of the time will be spent free diving and getting specific training from a couple of skilled (and supposedly renowned) instructors. Might be a fun trip! But I'm heading on the Star Dancer in Papua New Guinea 4/23 - 5/3, 2010 - we need a couple extra bodies to ensure the boat will go - anyone want in? I'm staying a night before the trip at Walindi Plantation Resort, I plan on booking a charter on their day boat and not scuba diving but dedicating the whole day to free diving! Sort of a fun kick off for the dive trip before the Star Dancer leaves port!

Who's with me???

 

[Manuel Sam]

I took a freediving course in November 2007 expressly for the opportunity to freedive with the humpbacks in the Silver Banks in February 2008. Imagine my disappointment when I was told that I couldn't.

I guess they might have allowed it some time back - some of the video that we were shown had to have been shot from well beneath the surface. When the Mother and calf are sleeping in 40 ft. of water, it is a photo op made in Heaven.....literally. My guess is that some idiot abused the privilege and, as is usually the case, the rest of the world then pays.....forever.