Wow. Didnt realize that post would stir up so much interest. I guess I should explain what happened
At the time, I was working as a shooter for the Reno Gazette-Journal. A hot button issue around here is the water clarity, and pollution, in Lake Tahoe. Research is done by limnologists from UCD, and the paper was doing a story on the issue. So, I was being paid to come back with the shot. My photo editor was pretty demanding, so I had to produce.
Some blue water research diving is done with a weighted down line from a surface float. The divers are tethered to this line via a pulley and weight system, which gives the flexibility to move but prevents sinking into the blue abyss. So they are free to count tiny critters in a volume of water, while not worrying about a lack of a bottom reference.
Im usually pretty good at buoyancy control. Generally I can keep depth in free water +- a couple inches if Im concentrating, otherwise its +- a foot or two while I do some task.
I was using an Aquatica A3 housing with a 15mm lens. Its tough enough to keep your flippers out of the frame. Plus, the perspective is so wide that you have difficulty judging distances (those of you that have used these big chunks of glass will know what I mean) while looking through the camera, so, you cant really distinguish your own motion in blue water.
As a journalist, you cant just come back with a pretty photo; it has to tell a story. So after you frame up a photo, you spend quite a bit of time looking through the camera, waiting for that gesture or body position that completes the image and story.
Since I:
1)would be concentrating on the image in the camera, and
2)not getting much feedback from the image about motion, and
3)the guys I was shooting didnt have the greatest buoyancy control,
I was worried about building up a rate of descent (or ascent) that I wouldnt catch quickly. So I swallowed my pride and brought a dedicated safety diver.
In this particular case, I would doubt that a depth gauge on the camera would have helped, since I had all my thoughts on the subject in the camera. Probably wouldnt have seen it. And by the time my ears had popped, the momentum would have been built up. Safety diver was the most direct route at the time, and he made a good sherpa, too.
The tether was 1/8 nylon, only long enough to hold the housing at about arms length. This was still enough that about 1/3 the photos had the tether visible over a significant amount of corner. I was pretty mad at myself. Wont happen again, thats for sure.
All the best, James
