Hopefully Future Diver wondering about Photography

[herman]

.If you can find a good instructor, a buoyancy class is a good addition to your basic training. UW photography is a lot harder than most think and requires a lot of instinctive skill, your buoyancy control needs to be second nature and something you are doing without thinking about it. Task loading jumps a lot with a camera in your hand and buddy skills suffer. If you have a regular buddy, diving as a photographer and guide team is a good option, esp. in the early days. I know the desire to shoot UW photos but until you get your skills up, look around the group you are diving with and see if there is a good amateur photographer, most of the time they are happy to share their photos with you. You get much better pictures, get to observe them (hopefully they are a good example) and you might get in the shot as well.

Here is my test to see if you are ready.

Go to a dive spot where you can't hurt anything - a pool or sandy bottom quarry are perfect. Find a spot at least 6- 8 ft deep that has a vertical surface with something you can "focus" on at least 3 ft from the bottom or surface. This can be anything, a small rock, a paint mark, a piece of tape you put there, a spot you rubbed dirt off , anything. This becomes your photo subject.
Now move several feet away from the object, hold your hand out in front of you with your thumbs together and index fingers pointed up- the classic "director framing the shot" from old movies. Keeping your arms extended, ease up to your photo "subject" while keeping it in your hand framer, get within 6 inches of it, HOLD that position for at least 30 seconds ( you are now framing and focusing the shot) then the back away without using your hands. You must stay horizontal, not sink, rise or bump into anything. After you have backed away several feet, turn, swim away, repeat this several times. Have a buddy watch you to see if you sink, rise or kick anything while you are doing the test. If you can do this easily, you are ready to grab a camera. This is not easy.

 

[stiebs]

I LOVE your method. Thank you. I am in no rush, just looking for solid information at this time. It will be a few months before I start Scuba classes as I have to pay off a couple credit cards first. (Maxed them out buying a CNC router for the Woodshop lol... too many hobbies.

You've already received some great advice in this thread. It takes a lot of practice to become a good (not even great) photographer on land - to understand and set your camera for the scene without thinking about.
It takes a lot of practice to become a good (not even great) diver - to be able to mange buoyancy, current, air, your environment, your position in the water, without thinking about it.
To be able to do both of these things at the same time takes even longer!

But what I don't think has been said in this thread so far, is that if it will still be some months before you can afford to take your scuba class, there will be further costs to bear before even thinking about buying your first underwater camera. You will need to fund your diving in order to practice - that means either hiring gear a lot, or investing in your own. Then air fills and boat dives (depending on your location).

And then once you're ready to start photography on your dives, you'll need a camera to take underwater. And as many before you have found out, you will quickly find out that a cheap underwater camera rig doesn't go very far without adding an ever increasing list of accessories. Sure, you can get some nice pics with a $1k-$2k camera setup, but once you start adding brackets and arms, strobes, ports, etc, etc. It is not hard to spend $10k on a camera setup.

Do a bit of homework, keep an eye on the second hand market. Often UW photographers will update their camera bodies, so you'll come across reasonably cheap housings for cameras that are 5-10 years. They can still take perfectly good photos, and will help keep the initial costs down.

Not trying to put you off by any stretch of the imagination - just setting up expectations!

 

[Akimbo]

How long should I wait to video or photograph during dives?

Given that you are aware enough to ask this question, I suspect that you will know when you are ready.

 

[Doc Harry]

You can take a camera with you as soon as you get comfortable in the water.

The problems occur when a diver with poor buoyancy control and poor judgment tries to get photos close to the delicate reef.

Invariably, these divers have poor situational awareness of their body position. They start kicking up a lot of sand, kicking and break coral, holding onto coral to steady themselves (and breaking off pieces of living coral), and cause all kinds of destruction and havoc. They are utterly clueless that they are doing so much damage, and then they swim away completely ignorant of what they just did to the reef.

These divers also seem to think that having a camera in their hands gives them the right to push and shove other divers out of the way to get a photo.

Don't be that photographer.

Stay far away from the reef until your buoyancy control is perfect. You should be able to maintain position with your breath control to get your photos. If you need a little "steady stick," or you need to grab onto coral to hold you position for a photo -- then you do not belong anywhere near the reef with a camera.

Stay far away from the reef until you have mastered buoyancy control.

BTW - I call me camera my "Air Consumpterator." You will blow through your air a lot faster with a camera than you would otherwise. It takes a lot of breath control to maintain position for a photo if there is any kind of current or surge. This is especially true if you're doing macro work. If the water is calm (which is very rare), I can glide in effortlessly and remain perfectly still for a shot. But normally I am making all kinds of small breathing corrections to remain perfectly still. This increases my air comsumption rate by about 10%.

 

[kelemvor]

I am still trying to decide between the huge SSI (Diventures) or the smaller 5-star PADI (Diver’s Oasis) dive schools here in Springfield, Mo.

Although that may be the case for your local franchise, PADI is a far larger chain than SSI. Both are large agencies that will be recognized around the world. I'd consider them to be equivalent. "5-Star" is an indication that the store regularly sells a certain dollar amount in gear. It's not a recognition for anything beyond equipment sales, so don't factor that in.

 

[GJC]

All the above is good information. I'll try to consolidate it all into 3 criteria that define when you know you are ready to start underwater photography.

1 -You can maintain position long enough to frame a picture, focus, set exposure and wait for your subject to be in the ideal position. Maintaining your position includes buoyancy control, but also includes dealing with currents from your side, above, below or from behind you.

2 -You have good situational awareness of where your body, fins, tank, and anything dangling from you is in relation to the bottom, surrounding rocks or reef structures, and other divers even without looking around you.

3 -You have good dive management skill. You frequently check your air pressure, depth, and NDL time (without thinking "Oh, I haven't checked my SPG in a while") and the readings are about what you were expecting them to be.

 

[tursiops]

"5-Star" is an indication that the store regularly sells a certain dollar amount in gear. It's not a recognition for anything beyond equipment sales, so don't factor that in.

No, the 5-star shops offer more, like more courses, more travel, and more equipment. This probably correlates with more sales, but sales is not the criterion. Note that PADI makes nothing on gear sales, only on courses taught, number of certifications, and professional training.

 

[Edward3c]

Something no one has mentioned.

I was, and still am, happy if I got one, yes ONE, decent image from a dive.

I started taking pictures with film. In those days it wasn’t until we saw the pictures after development that we knew whether we had the shot.

 

[kelemvor]

No, the 5-star shops offer more, like more courses, more travel, and more equipment. This probably correlates with more sales, but sales is not the criterion. Note that PADI makes nothing on gear sales, only on courses taught, number of certifications, and professional training.

I learned something today! You're right, it isn't a specific dollar target.

To become padi 5star:
You have to be a padi dive center for at least 12 months.
You must have zero verified QA violations in the previous 12 months (verification is not part of padi's published QA flow chart)
You must have zero open QA inquiries
You must have been awarded 3 padi specific awards (education, community involvement, environment)
You must advertise with the intent of recruiting and retaining customers
You must conduct one course each of four types per year (AOW, Rescue, DiveMaster or Assistant Instructor, Specialty)
At least 30% of certifications you issue must be not Open Water
You must advertise dive travel and promote experiences through activities of your choosing
You must conduct non training related local dive tours and/or dive travel trips
You must not issue, conduct, sponsor, or advertise certifications from other agencies

 

[tursiops]

I learned something today! You're right, it isn't a specific dollar target.

To become padi 5star:
You have to be a padi dive center for at least 12 months.
You must have zero verified QA violations in the previous 12 months (verification is not part of padi's published QA flow chart)
You must have zero open QA inquiries
You must have been awarded 3 padi specific awards (education, community involvement, environment)
You must advertise with the intent of recruiting and retaining customers
You must conduct one course each of four types per year (AOW, Rescue, DiveMaster or Assistant Instructor, Specialty)
At least 30% of certifications you issue must be not Open Water
You must advertise dive travel and promote experiences through activities of your choosing
You must conduct non training related local dive tours and/or dive travel trips
You must not issue, conduct, sponsor, or advertise certifications from other agencies

I had forgotten a few of these requirements!