Hi guys,
Thanks a lot for your prompt and informative reply.
but just too addicted to both diving and photo-taking. So I made effort to practise controlling my buoyancy. In my last trip, I managed to take most of the photos without touching coral or sand bed.
Now I have about 50 dives and luckily I had the opportunity to film thousands of barracuda and even whale sharks last month.
Sometimes I also wonder how people could get so close to the fishes when taking macro. I may need to be patient but if I wait too long for the fishes, all my buddies have gone.
Carl
Something I said scared fppf. . . "do this and you'll die". Many of the diving deaths I've known about are directly connected to a photographer, not paying attention to the dive, or partner. . . but only trying to get that great picture. Two divers drowned when one entered a cave to take a picture of his partner (Skin Diver Magazine had that as a cover picture a month before) both divers entered the cave and ran out of air. On an easy dive in Bonaire, an inexperienced diver, pro photographer ignored his partner that had passed out an was laying on the reef when a friend found him and brought him up. On a trip to the coral sea, a macro photographer ignored his partner and fell way behind the boat and all the rest of the divers. . . his little black dot of his head was hard to see, but the divers stayed and searched until they found him. . . There is a common thread for unsafe diving practices, when something is more important that safety.
To get close to fish, you must learn why they fear some things and not others. Any underwater movie will show sharks swimming in the middle of smaller fish. Why, because they are always around, and the fish not directly in front of the shark don't feel threatened. All fish fear something bigger than they, from the time they hatch. Any predator on the reef must swim straight at the prey, and the prey can see this. If the predator is just cruising the reef, and is not "head on" the other fish will watch it closely but not panic.
As an underwater photographer. . . avoid looking straight at the fish you want to shoot. From a distance the fish doesn't react to, angle your approach to get closer, then shoot to your side. . . If in scanning the reef for photos, swim smoothly without using your hands, and angle slightly deeper than the fish you want a picture of.
Try to capture the picture like a news photographer. . . what's in front of you, while you watch all around you for something better, and you will be still aware of your buddies. Your buddies will stay closer to you if you will shoot their picture. Find a pretty sponge, or coral head. . . have your buddy approach you, as you use hand signals to position him behind the coral. Then watch and snap your picture as he is releasing a string of bubbles.
Your safety and your buddies safety is all about putting safety ahead of a "great" picture. Your dive buddies will stay close if you take their picture once or twice a dive.
