Question for you GUE/DIR/Other TLAs: Photography and team diving

[TSandM]

I'm not from NorCal, but I'll echo what's been said, and add a little: I have done a lot of dives in three man teams where there is more than one camera. But none of us was a pro, and we all simply accepted that there would be a little compromise on which pictures, when and where. My buddy would go in for a shot, and I would watch, and then I'd go in for mine, and he'd watch. What keeps it working is communication, and the willingness not to spend five minutes of utterly concentrated attention on getting THE shot.

When you dive with the latter sort of photographer, you simply prioritize the photography, and organize the dive accordingly (as has been described). And having more than one of "those" photographers on a team usually doesn't work very well. On normal dives with "normal" photographers, you prioritize the team and fit the photography in where it works.

BTW, Jim, I know DIR teams that photograph and do video in any environment you can come up with -- open water, caves, technical dives, wrecks. Just because we're DIR, doesn't mean we don't do the things other divers do!

 

[opisthobranch]

Definitely nothing about DIR that precludes photography or any other similar productive activity. In fact I'd say we strive to encourage it. Getting useful things done underwater is a big part of the point. Photos, video, cave survey, installing scientific instruments, marine life surveys, etc. are all things GUE divers are involved in. It isn't hard to find pictures of nearly all the big gun GUE guys with cameras in their hands.

Now to make it work your whole team has to have the right attitude - and in the case of photography it's especially important for the photographer to have the right attitude. It needs to be about TEAM. Pictures aren't the product of the photographer, they're the product of the team. If you want teammates who add to the experience by modeling, critter spotting, keeping you safe when you're distracted, etc. they need to feel like they're invested. This isn't actually that hard but for some reason a lot of photographers I've met tend to think of buddies as either slaves or nuisances. If you think of them as teammates it all changes and for the better.

With good teammates I take better pictures and am safer. With wide angle I now always have models who follow directions and look good in front of a camera. When I'm shooting macro it's amazing now how every time I look up a teammate is pointing out another subject for me. Having spare brains to keep you out of trouble when you've lost situational awareness is an important safety feature too.

One other thing that was non-obvious to me before I was involved in team oriented diving; Dives where somebody else in the team has the camera are very useful (and fun) for me as a photographer. When somebody else is holding the situational awareness sucking device you're free to think about subjects, composition, light, etc. You can also see things like strobe positioning, and other technical aspects and go to school on that after the dive. I've found that both modeling and critter spotting are challenging and fun. Plus, sometimes you want to go to bed early instead of doing o-ring maintenance. Spreads the burden around.

Finally a very important aspect is the post-dive de-brief. This is important in terms of involving the other members of the team and also for improving your pictures. Talking about what worked, what didn't, what people like about the images, what they don't, how it can be improved, etc. is critical. Probably true of most aspects of diving.

$.02

Clinton

 

[rhlee]

I believe that's the one that Rob wrote... Maybe he'll repost it here for everyone to read.

http://www.baue.org/quest/TeamPhotography_Winter2009.pdf


Plus, what Clinton said

 

[ae3753]

Great posts on photography and team work.

Thanks everyone for sharing.

 

[mikemill]

Sorry for taking so long to respond, this last week wasn't the best for me and thoughtful responses. I'd like to thank everyone for responding and sharing; you all confirmed that I asked the right people. I was really happy to see Kenn responding as his videos are what prompted the thought.