PADI Underwater Photography course? Is it worth it?

[DevonDiver]

I would think a waste of time.......Experiment is the best teacher.......

Why waste time spending months gaining that experience, when a relatively straightforward course...and some real-time critique and correction will fast-track your progress.

Who wants to waste the photo opportunities on their annual diving holiday experimenting...and missing out on good shots... when they could get straight into action after some tuition?

 

[weeksd]

hi- until you understand aperature, shutter speed and asa on your camera for land shots a course is a waste of time. When you get the basic photo principles down a professional underwater course would be of great help. I have taken the jim church photo courses on the aggressor fleet liveaboards. Jim has passed away but mike mesgleski and mike haber have continued jim's teaching methods. The course on the liveaboard is a great way to advance very quickly as 5 dives a day and with digital cameras you have metadata to look at and understand why the shot looks like it looks. When i did my courses 15 years ago the course on the liveaboard was cheaper with twice the diving than on land and taking the cathy church course on grand cayman at sunset house. Mike and Mike Workshops

 

[DevonDiver]

hi- until you understand aperature, shutter speed and asa on your camera for land shots a course is a waste of time. When you get the basic photo principles down a professional underwater course would be of great help.

This is a fair point if using a DSLR, but overkill for point-and-shoot...which is what the overwhelming majority of divers use.

A course that taught good buoyancy techniques, positioning, inter-action and behaviour of subjects, use of natural light, backscatter, macro range, use on onboard flash, Photoshop processing etc etc would be highly beneficial to any diver wishing to improve their photography.

Aiming for professional level shots, with a $$$$$ DSLR, strobes and housing is only the very tip of the market. Having nice photos from your holiday...that you are proud to display on Facebook..or hang on the wall... is what most divers hope for...at least in the short term.

 

[Rhone Man]

I certainly felt that a learned a lot of basics in a structured and useful way in my U/W Photographer course. No regrets.

 

[herman]

This is a fair point if using a DSLR, but overkill for point-and-shoot...which is what the overwhelming majority of divers use.

A course that taught good buoyancy techniques, positioning, inter-action and behaviour of subjects, use of natural light, backscatter, macro range, use on onboard flash, Photoshop processing etc etc would be highly beneficial to any diver wishing to improve their photography.

Aiming for professional level shots, with a $$$$$ DSLR, strobes and housing is only the very tip of the market. Having nice photos from your holiday...that you are proud to display on Facebook..or hang on the wall... is what most divers hope for...at least in the short term.

A lot more cameras than DSLRs have full manual available and anyone looking at taking a course to better their photography will want to learn to use manual. No doubt the other things are important but UW photography is best done manual. Any course that does not address manual mode is missing a major piece of the art of UW photography.

 

[diver 85]

Why waste time spending months gaining that experience, when a relatively straightforward course...and some real-time critique and correction will fast-track your progress.

Who wants to waste the photo opportunities on their annual diving holiday experimenting...and missing out on good shots... when they could get straight into action after some tuition?

Answer to your 2nd question---I would..........I have alot more time than money...


EDIT: forgot to add---sit a few minutes here & ask a couple questions.....see my 1st time pics from the A570 I took on Little Cayman, summer '07(click below link--all Little Cayman pics have LC in the album names))...Someone here gave me a few ideas(?30 minutes tops spent) & it worked pretty good......It's really not that hard , IMO......

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w169/GEAUXtiger/

 

[herman]

Hi there,
I am new to photography, & was wondering if the PADI underwater photography course is worth my while, or if I should look into something else. I have a DC 800 w/ a strobe & would like to get more than 1 good shot per 5000 I take

Thanks.

Aaron

While you are considering a course, why not start another thread and post some of your shots. There are plenty of good photograhpers here can help you along.

 

[DevonDiver]

Good suggestion.... you can get a lot of positive feedback just from posting your photo online, where it can be assessed. Can also look at Photoshoping it.,..

 

[hammerhead man]

Hi wakejumpr3, I agree that how good the course is depends on who is teaching it. I took the PADI UW course and learned quite a bit. However, I also took two online courses from Bonnie Pelnar and Marty Snyderman at The Underwater Photographer, Underwater Digital Photography Classes: Improve your underwater photos and learned more from those courses. The online courses were not expensive and you really learn a lot. The courses I took were Introduction to Digital Underwater Photography and Digital Workflow & Image Manipulation for Underwater Photography. Both Bonnie and Marty were available to answer questions via email when I didn't understant a particular point. One time Marty even sent me his phone number and asked me to call him because he didn't think he could effectively answer my question by email.

I also agree with those that said that just understanding how to take photos does not lead to great photos. You have to experiment and learn from your mistakes. You also need very good diving skills, esp bouyancy skills.

Regards,

Bill

 

[divengolf]

Try Martin Edge's new book, The Underwater Photogtapher, THIRD Edition. He recently revised his "bible" to include a lot of digital stuff. I'd suggest that you study this book thoroughly before going to a course.

Highly recommend both Cathy Church and Mike & Mike. But you'll get a lot more from the courses if you're very familar with the above book.

And there is no substitute for diving with your camera. And excellent bouyancy control.

I'm not familiar with the DC800. I had a DC500 and upgraded after a couple years. You really need manual control to take good UW photos IMHO. And I'm not sure if the DC800 gives that to you. My DC500 did not, so I upgraded to a Nikon P5100-now I wish that I had waited for a G10. But you can wait forever and never get into the water.