icemyst7
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Has anybody taken the course and is it worth it? I am really interest in taking underwater photos. I am just trying to find out if I should do it on my own or take the course.
Specialty in Photography
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If you are collecting specialty cards, go for it but the card itself is totally useless.
I think it depends on the Instructor...doesn't it always? I took the PADI Photography Specialty when I got my first camera and it was a joke. We were in Cozumel at the same time I did my check out dives with an Instructor from home. I was shown how to load the film and given a very short list of aperature and shutter speed combinations to use. On the next couple of dives she pointed out a few fish and things. When the photos were developed, she critiqued them by pointing out the good and bad ones but didn't tell me how to do it better....and handed me my temp. c-card!
On the other hand, several years later I took a photography course with Armando at Island Photos in Cozumel and learned alot. Not only just taking pictures but how to effectively use my camera system. This was a week long course with classes in the morning and 2 dives in the afternoons. All slides were critiqued by experts for exposure, composition, etc. PADI specialty cards were given at the end of the course although none of us were aware it was a PADI course.
If you have an instructor who is also an excellent underwater photographer and other classes aren't available, go for it. But I think you'll learn alot by studying on your own and practicing alot. And if you go to a location where instruction is offered by a professional such as Cathy Church in the Caymans or Steven Frink in the Florida Keys, I'd take the course.
Here's a good online basic course by an excellent photographer and friend of mine. Dave has a way of explaining even the most complicating things so anyone can understand them.
Dave Read's basic course.
I think it depends on the Instructor...doesn't it always? I took the PADI Photography Specialty when I got my first camera and it was a joke. We were in Cozumel at the same time I did my check out dives with an Instructor from home. I was shown how to load the film and given a very short list of aperature and shutter speed combinations to use. On the next couple of dives she pointed out a few fish and things. When the photos were developed, she critiqued them by pointing out the good and bad ones but didn't tell me how to do it better....and handed me my temp. c-card!
On the other hand, several years later I took a photography course with Armando at Island Photos in Cozumel and learned alot. Not only just taking pictures but how to effectively use my camera system. This was a week long course with classes in the morning and 2 dives in the afternoons. All slides were critiqued by experts for exposure, composition, etc. PADI specialty cards were given at the end of the course although none of us were aware it was a PADI course.
If you have an instructor who is also an excellent underwater photographer and other classes aren't available, go for it. But I think you'll learn alot by studying on your own and practicing alot. And if you go to a location where instruction is offered by a professional such as Cathy Church in the Caymans or Steven Frink in the Florida Keys, I'd take the course.
Here's a good online basic course by an excellent photographer and friend of mine. Dave has a way of explaining even the most complicating things so anyone can understand them.
Dave Read's basic course.
I've thought about the course (PADI).. but am waiting until the instructor I want is available. He's won many awards of his work, and I trust him as a diver. He's seen some of my work to date, and has offered some help, so I'm really looking forward to the course with him.
AliKat
Contributor
I think it depends on the instructor. The C-card does count towards Master Scuba Diver (PADI). But if your not interested in that, you can probably learn as much on your own and from a good book.
However, if you find an expert for an instructor, its worth it. If you ever get up to North Carolina, I can recommend a great one who just left Okinawa.
Check out http://www.jwchandler.com
However, if you find an expert for an instructor, its worth it. If you ever get up to North Carolina, I can recommend a great one who just left Okinawa.
Check out http://www.jwchandler.com
Let me offer my view, as it is something of a pet peeve of mine. At one time I swore that a person should be required to show proof of at least 100 dives before being allowed to posses an underwater camera. Some of the most unpleasant experiences I have had with other divers have involved those with cameras. Very few creatures can be as damaging to the environment or as discourteous or worse as a greenhorn with a camera. Then
my wife decides she wants to offer, in our shop, the Bonica line of cameras. So I started to teach underwater photography. I am not an expert photographer. I usually dont even dive with a camera. Once in a while I come across something special and will work to get some decent pictures. So what can I offer someone in this course? I can help a diver learn how to dive with a camera. We often package the course with the camera. This is more a matter of conscience than anything else. Most people buy the camera online and skip the class but I do what I can. Here is a little test for you
Navigate a buoyancy control course (without touching anything) while tying knots in a piece of string.
Hover horizontally motionless at a constant depth (two feet from the bottom) while writing notes on your slate without silting or touching the bottom.
I prefer to do the first session in a pool. Its not required but we cant hurt anything there. Diving and diving while doing/carrying something else are for many people very different things.
Navigate a buoyancy control course (without touching anything) while tying knots in a piece of string.
Hover horizontally motionless at a constant depth (two feet from the bottom) while writing notes on your slate without silting or touching the bottom.
I prefer to do the first session in a pool. Its not required but we cant hurt anything there. Diving and diving while doing/carrying something else are for many people very different things.
Mike...I like that. I have found very few Instructors who teach the photography course to be conciencious enough to teach photographers etiquette, both to other divers and the environment. Unfortunately it's something that most have to learn on their own, if they ever do.
So Kudos to you for recognizing that producing great photos is not the most important result of photo classes.
So Kudos to you for recognizing that producing great photos is not the most important result of photo classes.
Mike
I totally agree that divers should be able to display good buoyancy control before taking a camera 'down below'.
But number of dives is a very arbitrary measure isn't it?
(I know that's not your philosophy now
)
Some people, who understand the science of how buoyancy works, and are generally a bit more clued up can achieve good buoyancy control within the first few dives.
I think your skills tests are a much better and fairer way.
Great idea
I totally agree that divers should be able to display good buoyancy control before taking a camera 'down below'.
But number of dives is a very arbitrary measure isn't it?
(I know that's not your philosophy now
)Some people, who understand the science of how buoyancy works, and are generally a bit more clued up can achieve good buoyancy control within the first few dives.
I think your skills tests are a much better and fairer way.
Great idea
From some of the posts here, it is apparent that there are agencies and instructors out there who are using the "photography" specialty as little more than a scam to bring in money while providing nothing useful.
Perhaps.
But there are also others. In addition to the basics like lighting, angle, composition, distance, backscatter, f-stops, depth-of-field, shutter & film speeds, etc, etc, advanced buoyancy skills are just part of the course we teach. We use the "Diamond Reef" as well as our artificial patch reef in the pool to hone both buoyancy and photo skills before we let a student loose in the ocean. Our two photography instructors each have over three decades diving experience, and are avid [hobby] photographers both on land and underwater - when you leave our course you'll be comfy tearing down and field servicing a Nikonos and several point-n-shoot cameras.
Maybe Dee's Photo "C" card is worthless. The one we sell is underpriced.
Rick (SSI, by the way, but our course has been NAUI and NASDS in the past, so it ain't agency specific but just the way we do it)
Perhaps.
But there are also others. In addition to the basics like lighting, angle, composition, distance, backscatter, f-stops, depth-of-field, shutter & film speeds, etc, etc, advanced buoyancy skills are just part of the course we teach. We use the "Diamond Reef" as well as our artificial patch reef in the pool to hone both buoyancy and photo skills before we let a student loose in the ocean. Our two photography instructors each have over three decades diving experience, and are avid [hobby] photographers both on land and underwater - when you leave our course you'll be comfy tearing down and field servicing a Nikonos and several point-n-shoot cameras.
Maybe Dee's Photo "C" card is worthless. The one we sell is underpriced.
Rick (SSI, by the way, but our course has been NAUI and NASDS in the past, so it ain't agency specific but just the way we do it)
alexeames,
I was being a little sarcastic with the number of dives but you get the idea.
Mike
I was being a little sarcastic with the number of dives but you get the idea.
Mike
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