"My photos are going to be SO much better when I get my new [insert something here]!"

[charlesml3]

I think a lot of you read the first few lines of what I wrote and then replied. You're missing my point. Let me try it a different way:

Diver starts with some basic camera rig and fires away at most anything. The shots are boring but they keep at it for a few more dives. The shots improve a bit. Then before they really know the rig they have, UPGRADE. Now they're right back where they were. Behind the 8-ball shooting a more advanced camera before they really understand the basics. It's a vicious cycle that often ends up with a diver owning a very expensive camera rig and still not being a very good photographer.

I saw a big group of them last time I was in Bonaire. There were about 5 divers in this group who'd apparently got into a battle of "one-upping" each other on gear. Jeez, they had some nice stuff but all of their photos were mediocre. I tried to talk to them about composition, creative lighting, strobe positions, backgrUounds and every time they'd go respond right back with "All I need is this new focus screen and my shots will be awesome" or something along those lines. It was a bizarre conversation.

I'm not at all suggesting that any camera can take any photo. That's absurd. I am saying you have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run.

 

[Thiad]

"when I get my new .... grasp on good buoyancy??"

I like to think it's not the camera, it's the photographer. I've taken some (I think!), nice photos with my NEX-7 and with my POS even though, yes, I did like to do upgrades and such. Yes, I love my rig. Yes, it's a nice rig. And yep, I do think it does take some amazing pictures.

But diving skills also have a lot to do with it. I think diving skills have just as much, if not more, to do with it, then the camera.

I look at the pictures I took when I first started diving and taking pictures to the ones I've done lately, and it's night and day. It's night and day in just the past 6 months. I've learned patience, buoyancy, the ability to keep still, creep and crawl and just take my time.

You have to be a reasonably good diver, too. You need to understand (and maybe even master?) the basics of both endeavors and then work from there.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Example with a point and shoot camera and no strobe, is pretty much must macro.

I would/will respectfully DISAGREE with this statement. No Strobe ? No problem ! You are NOT limited to Macro. It's artistic fun photo time, even with a point and shoot. Set to RAW (if available) crank up your ISO to 1600 or 3200, open your lens up, and start shooting with ambient/available light to achieve that "grainy, contrasty, actiony, B&W, Sepia, highlight a specific color" style shot. This ties right in with what the OP is trying to say. If you know at least a little something about photography and your gear, you can push your gear and get a great shot Besides, (and this is just my opinion & shooting style), Macro just does not do a thing for me. Whole separate conversation. Just my 2 cents

 

[Interceptor121]

ISO 1600 or 3200 is not grainy contrasty is just noise. Maybe you can do a few abstract to put on the wall but that is quickly boring
There is a difference between creativity and having hallucinations besides little compact don't even get to 3200

 

[chile7236]

My photos are going to be SO much better when I get my "new" [realization of my camera's capabilities....and mine]

 

[muzikbiz22]

ISO 1600 or 3200 is not grainy contrasty is just noise. Maybe you can do a few abstract to put on the wall but that is quickly boring
There is a difference between creativity and having hallucinations besides little compact don't even get to 3200

Grain/Noise = Semantics. Pictures from the 1950's were "grainy", today they're "noisy" Film/Digital Look at it however you like.

Compacts with ISO 3200 or above - Elph 110 HS, S95, S100 G12, G1X,P7000, LX5, LX7, others.

 

[Interceptor121]

We are in 2012 there are tools available there is no reason to have excess of nostalgia you can do one or two shots per dive but then it gets boring

Besides is not the point of the op he is saying that there are too many people that shoot bad pictures and use the equipment as excuse I think that actually happens because those divers don't understand the basics of photography so no matter the upgrades there are always problems

 

[Layla]

My photos are going to be SO much better when I get my new .... job, which allows me more time to travel, thus allowing me to practice more and get more experience

I don't need any further upgrades on my camera, and I've never heard anyone say what you have suggested that you hear a lot of??

 

[charlesml3]

I don't need any further upgrades on my camera, and I've never heard anyone say what you have suggested that you hear a lot of??​

I read that sentence 4 times and I still can't figure out what you're asking.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I'd like to go out on a limb and say that P and S's have more than just a place for macro and artistic grainy shots. As a working diver, you can't always carry a large DSLR with dual strobes setup with you, but when that shark gets kind of curious, some ambient light shots with the P and S help bring that moment back to the front of memory.

Beyond that, even, a lack of a strobe can often be compensated for by ascending to close to the surface.

Taken with a Canon A650.