Photographers make the worst dive buddies?

[Jeff Toorish]

she does want a pony bottle, any thoughts on sizes?

At least a 30cf. Anything smaller is really pretty much a waste.

Jeff

 

[Charlie99]

i she does want a pony bottle, any thoughts on sizes?

It's you, not her that needs the pony if there truly is a need. You watch her. She doesn't watch you when doing macro stuff.

Realistically, if you keep reasonable separation distances, the pony bottle doesn't help you much. You know where to go for air. What you do miss when she is nose-in-the-camera is someone picking up on the problem if you suddenly start having some sort of major medical problem, a major narc, or just some incredibly stupid momentary lapse of judgement that puts you at risk. That may be a risk that is small enough that you don't feel hauling a pony around is worth it.

The two of you have high visibility working in your favor. In low viz, it only takes a few seconds of inattention to get complete buddy separation. In high viz, it takes a lot longer to wander out of view.

 

[Cacia]

OTOH, I see sharing air early in the dive, when both divers have plenty of air, as no more dangerous than diving with different sized tanks. You're just effectively shifting some of your air over to him.

Charlie, I love that technique and I call it parasiting! Once I anticipate a big disparity underway on the air supply, I will put my regular dive partner on my long hose and attempt to "time us" together especially when it involves the group's bottom time or a boat pick-up on a drift.....One reason I am a fan of this, is that I usually feel like if we ever get in a situation, the air share will be a comfortable manuever. For example, I bet Jim was thinking about where, exactly where, his own regs were as we clutched the ledge. I hope he was thinking "hey this could get complicated if she blows off, I better start the mental prep about whats my next step...." I want to mention, I said low on air but he had 500 lbs and I guess we were at 30-40 ft. I had 1500. I was more worried than he was, mostly because I was on my stomach and could not see any gauges or communicate with him visually.....OH and then I reallly hate it when the current starts filling your mask with water and blowing your hood off your head. Once I looked over and this guy's board shorts were almost around his ankles! We had a new dive guide and I sort of wonder what he was thinking trying to ask us to hold on.....I think he was all excited about the action in front of us... Of course the reason I was reflecting though was why I felt the need to continue taking pictures.....thus my term "photo-drunk". Oh and I will be the first to admit when I am shooting big sharks, lots of sharks, I do not want to be the only one in the huddle to drift off by myself. I find comfort in being one out of six instead of one out of one.

 

[Dee]

Excellent point, Charlie...I totally agree. But a pony bottle should never be used as an additional gas supply. It's a bail out bottle for if/when the brown stuff hits the fan. Better gas management is the key, whether than means a bigger tank for the buddy using the most air or ending the dive when that buddy needs to.

Catherine...I used to be the same way, the photo was the whole thing. I get minimal time in clear water every year and no dive was 'wasted' by not taking a camera. And I was a perfectionist on top of it! At that time I could count on one hand the number of dives out of the last 5-600 that I had done without a camera. (with the exception of working DM dives). Then one day I had a slight camera malfunction with no time to fix it before the boat left so I went sans camera. What an eye opener! Yes, I spent alot of time wishing I had the camera but I also saw things I always missed by having my eye in the camera. But what made the biggest impact was Beast made the comment that it was his most enjoyable dive to date because I was diving, not taking pictures. Now THAT made me do some thinking.

Beast had tried the camera thing and although he liked it, it wasn't a big thing to him. But he really enjoyed video. So we made a specific effort to accomodate them both. What we do now is we take turns....one dive I take my camera and next he takes his video. The non-camera buddy keeps an eye on the other, helps spot stuff, keeps up with the group if there is one, etc. and generally is in charge of the dive. Yes, I only take photos on half my dives now but I enjoy them all, just for different reasons. On those dives without the camera, I'm still 'working it'. I'm planning how I 'would' do that shot and that cuts down on my set up time for the next dive when I get that chance. Now I actually look forward to those non-camera dives and believe it or not, my photos have improved because of it. The time spent planning future shots has made me really think about what I needed to do to improve my shots instead of shooting everything I saw.

Leeward
As a fairly new diver I like diving with a photog. I get LOTS of time to work on my hover, kicks (including the back kick) and other boyancy skills. My buddy asked me if I mind the picture taking. I said I'm not just hanging around...I'm working on stuff..She was suprized. Also important is I get lots of cool pictures.

Exactly! Being the non-camera buddy doesn't have to mean boredom! Practicing your bouyancy and fine tuning those skills is always a good thing. It's also a great time to practice your bubble rings! eyebrow

 

[Cacia]

Dee,

I like that! I do need to spend some time thinking and composing. Kevin Davidson (Sam's Tours photographer) told me the same thing. He said I was a kamakaze (sp) photographer, He said DON'T TAKE SO MANY PICTURES!

I also notice what you are talking about with missing a lot only taking pictures. We have all seen the mommys that miss entire childhoods with the damn video camera.

 

[Dee]

Yeah, I used to fill up both the 1g CF and 512mg XD cards in my 5050...hey, the 'film' is free, right?!? My keeper rate was only about 25% and I might be able to photoshop a few more to make them acceptable. But since I've backed off and am putting more thought into my photos, I seldom fill half the CF card but the vast majority of those are good keepers. The old saying 'Less is More' certainly is true in this case.

 

[cdiver2]

catherine96821

Oh and I will be the first to admit when I am shooting big sharks, lots of sharks, I do not want to be the only one in the huddle to drift off by myself. I find comfort in being one out of six instead of one out of one.

A dive shop manager in Yap told me to come off the wall and go into the blue to attract sharks. Next stop Palau. I'm going along the wall at big drop off trailing behind everyone else as usual when along comes this shark from the opposite direction. So off I go into the blue. right enough as soon as I got about sixty feet from the wall and looked around there were sharks all around me and they were all mine. My buddy/wife stayed on the wall along with one of the DM's watching me. I have to tell you it was mind blowing being out in the blue with sharks above, below and all around me.

 

[Cacia]

cdiver2: I am not there yet. But I can tell I am heading in that direction, because even though I am a big chicken, I have realized that if I am not afraid, I am not having fun. What a concept, huh? I can imagine the thrill of what you describe. Are you braver with a camera? Thats the other thing that I trip on a little.... Giving myself something to focus on, keeps me from getting frightened. And having that camera and stobe between me and the ...really big shark... provides some sort of irrational security blanket. It's like I am going to feed them the camera first, or something.

 

[cdiver2]

cdiver2: I am not there yet. But I can tell I am heading in that direction, because even though I am a big chicken, I have realized that if I am not afraid, I am not having fun. What a concept, huh? I can imagine the thrill of what you describe. Are you braver with a camera? Thats the other thing that I trip on a little.... Giving myself something to focus on, keeps me from getting frightened. And having that camera and stobe between me and the ...really big shark... provides some sort of irrational security blanket. It's like I am going to feed them the camera first, or something.

That's the plan give them the camera then fin like he** cutting my Buddy's wrist as I zoom past.
Yes I tend to be braver with the camera between me and the subject, it gives you a little time to back off.

Incoming PM on what I was told about getting sharks to come in close.

 

[Cacia]

hey, I want to know....in case someday I want to do that.....