Looking to become open water certified then onto underwater videography & photography

[eknies16]

Hello all,

I'm considering a career/experience change. I work a basic 9-5er but do freelance photography. Right now I'm based in the states, but I have been looking at the paid internships/certification programs in thailand. It seems like there are many different companies that offer the same thing there and prices vary. I'm still slightly young (28) hehe and I know Real Gap Experience offers the videography course (ages 18-30), but I would have to add on the open water certification as well (I have no prior dive experience, so I would be doing this all at once). As far as what I want out of this is hopefully a job in that area eventually even videography for tourists during dives would be something I would really love. I guess what I'm asking is what companies are worth looking into? any websites or information to check out? I know there are a couple weeks you would get paid, do any of these places offer continuing employment? I'm really just trying to find a good place to start! I have been doing the research but any expert advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

 

[Jupiter31]

There are places (Thailand, for example) that do offer a a divemaster internship - you pay for the internship, and your room and board, and are expected to work w/out compensation as part of the program - its not super cheap.

This has been posted about recently on this board; do a search and you will get lots of info, especially if you can get similar video/photo training vs the divemaster internship offered.

I know the economy s___ks, but there have been a lot of posts recently about diving as a career, often by new or those not yet certified.

Can you do it? Sure, but know that careers in diving are often very low paying, hard work, difficult working conditions, and you have the added expense of starting from square one.

Do yourself a huge favor - before you embark on an expensive overseas internship, get certified, and do as much diving (local diving is fine) as possible and see if you even like it and have the necessary skills and talents to even consider diving as a career - only then can you make an in formed, intellegent decision.








Video/photo underwater is different from on land; you have to be very comfortable underwater to get decent results, especially if you expect to do it on a commercial basis. In other words, you need to be a diver before you can (or should) look to incorporate other skills, especially photography.

You need to get some real diving experience before you can consider this IMO.

By all means do some research

 

[Jupiter31]

sorry about the somewhat disjointed post above - my laptop is acting up today; hopefully you got the point of the post above

 

[C Diver]

I would suggest you get certified first and then see if you like diving as much as you thought you would. (I'm sure you will LOVE diving) Being certified allows you to gain some diving experience which will be of great benefit....

Task loading can be a real problem for new divers (namely me). Photography as a profession will require exceptional control and hover ability in the water...(buoyancy control)... all this is something that will take time to learn...(hopefully i'll eventually get it) but as they say it comes with practice so OW certification and some time in the water is a must in my opinion.

Then if you decide you don't want this as a profession you are not out as much.

 

[Ceasar]

I realize that my profile looks just like the guy above... haha but I'll share some experiences with you, I am a freelance photographer as well, I have my own blck/wht darkroom in my house and photography has been a passion of mine since i was a little boy. I am 24, I got certified last year in June shortly before my wedding and the honeymoon to Aruba. I got a small Canon sd1100 w/ the underwater case. long story short, i fell in love with diving, i have spent lots and lots of money, and time looking for deals, on the equiptment. Close to $5 G's later i am complete. I have advance diver cert and nitrox which provides me with experience and longer bottom time. Now if you do a quick search of underwater photography equiptment it is extremely expensive as well. If money is not an issue, which in this case you are looking for a job, i agree with the rest of the guys, Get Certified, you WILL probably fall in love with it and it is a long and time consuming process. You will not learn bouyance or trim in open water. I dive Jersey, conditions vary, i have learned alot, but i think for safety purposes, get you dive straight first... I think these internships sound like a good start, but the money you will get paid for diving, i doubt, will cover the continuing cost of equiptment. I personally don't like making something i love to do a job.. good luck and keep us updated, I love reading about success..

 

[mintaka]

I'm a pretty new diver with a huge interest in photography so I'll tell you what I have done. After 6 OW dives, I decided to go for the AOW certificate and took the peak buoancy and photography as two of the elective dives. After that I was hooked on photography so I bought some UW photo equipment (you better take out a second mortgage ). But since I am a new diver I decided that if I am going UW with a camera I want to be with an instructor, so I have signed up for the UW Digital Photography Specialty Class (PADI)-- It is 2 days classroom and 4 dives. I'm going to do this in 10 days and I'm excited !

 

[frogman159]

I recevied an underwater camera as an unwanted Xmas gift (had no aspiration to become an UW photog). I had ~20 dives in varying conditions felt relatively comfortable underwater and thought what the heck, I'll try this thing out on a recent trip to bonaire.

Being an inexperienced diver, what a pain in the @$$ that camera was. Backward roll off the boat..Hold mask and SPG--Wait what about the camera? IS this $700 peice of gear going smack and scratch against something?, hope I don't drop it.

OK check depth, air, check buddy..damn what about camera, still attached ok good, hope I didn't smack it or scratch the lens. This isn't even counting how HARD it is to take a good picture underwater, many of mine came out blury and fish don't "pose" for you. And if you really want them to look good, you need strobes

Guess what I'm trying to say is with my limited experience with a camera to be a "pro" you need to be a good/great diver 1st, then work on becoming a good UW photographer...

Needless to say, the camera sat in the hotel room most of the trip

 

[Jupiter31]

My point exactly..........

Before you can hunt or take photos/video, you have to master boyancy, and be very comfortable underwater.

Everyone is different; for some, boyancy control comes in after a few dives; for the vast majority, its a much longer process.

The OP's question is possible, but he is not going to get there after an open water course and a few dives.

 

[diversteve]

And then there's the cost of buying/maintaining the rebreather(s)...lol.

Before you can take photos/video, you have to master buoyancy,

Can't stress this enough. My video rig is always slightly negative and it's easy to get lost in what your filming and not notice that you're about to crash into the reef.

but I would have to add on the open water certification as well (I have no prior dive experience, so I would be doing this all at once).

Read it again. You can't take the RGE course without being rescue certified. Although their website is contradictory. Is this the requirement:

To join the paid internship after your training, you need to be Rescue Diver qualified and have 50 logged dives

Or this:

Skills Requirement: You should be an experienced PADI Advanced Open Water diver with additional dive experience as a minimum. It is possible to add on the scuba training courses before the start of this programme if you have no prior dive experience.

I shoot HDV solely as a "hobby" I have $4000 invested in video gear and don't even own lights. Add another $1500-2000+ for that. Plus you'll need a relatively fast computer to edit it. Macbook Pro or a dual/quad core PC equivalent. With the widespread adoption of HDTV and Blu-Ray this year, I believe most people will be expecting HD videos of their trips. The plus side is that diver's expectations don't seem to be that high, I've seen some awful DVD's that people were thrilled with. But I don't see how you can sell enough DVD's to realistically make a living and pay for your training at $15 US per copy.

For each copy that you sell, you'll be paid 500 baht, so you can re-coup your training expenses.

Seems like the program is quite a bit cheaper direct through DJL also - about L1350. Although I didn't price it with all the add-ons.
http://www.techdivethailand.com/paid-gap-year.htm

One other point to consider is that there are a small percentage of people who can't get certified, either they have a medical issue or there's some other reason they fail. It's a long expensive trip to Thailand to find this out.

Not sure where you're located, but personally I'd look for a way to do all the certifications reasonably somewhere else first. There are some really inexpensive programs available in the Bay Islands (Roatan, Utila) for example, the cost of living is dirt cheap and (at least from the States) the flight is only about $4-500 or less. Of course you'd still have to take the video training somewhere.

Sorry if this sounds negative, just trying to point out some of the realities.

 

[Pre BC]

Since you mentioned Real Gap, I am assuming that you are originally from somewhere in UK or Canada! I used to live near Oxford and tapped into Real Gap a couple of times for one of a kind educational experiences... I wish we had the same concept of Gap Year travel here in the US...

I keep in touch with my diving friends in the UK and recently heard that either Real Gap or Yomps is planning to add underwater videography programs in the US this summer. If you can't wait for them to launch their programs, you might be able to figure out who they are working with here and put together your own personalized dive/photo/videography program.

If I remember correctly, there is some kind of connection with the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. This is a very serious photography/videography school. In fact, the only two American winners of the Sony World Photography Awards attend the school.

With regard to the pure diving side of the equation, everything others have posted about the importance of bouyancy control and comfort underwater is spot on. Be sure to pay as much attention to the quality of your dive education as you do your video/photography training... If you can't effortlessly control your depth and body position underwater you are going to have a tough time getting that perfect shot!

P

P.S. If you are considering becoming a professional underwater videographer (i.e. you want to shoot features/documentaries), be prepared to play with toys well beyond video cameras/housings and lighting. Be sure you train somewhere that can give you experience using both full face masks with communications and dry suits. It is difficult to say "lights, cameras, action" underwater without specialized gear and you need to be prepared to stay warm in a variety of settings... not every shoot is going to be in a tropical paradise!