Dive Photography: Am I Ready to Start Diving with a Camera?
November 21, 2024
Many of us want to try dive photography, whether it is to share our dives with our friends at the surface or to keep the memory of what we saw in timeless digital form. Some people even use the camera as an external optical lens to magnify tiny marine life they cannot quite see properly underwater.
Most of us divers have seen at least one person diving with a camera who should not. Diving with a camera can cause tunnel vision, a disregard for safety, bad buddy behavior, and worsened buoyancy, leading to reef damage, injuries or disturbing marine life.
So how do you know if you are ready to dive with a camera? Read on to find out more.
When Are You Ready to Start Diving with a Camera?
Ideally, you do not want to be diving with a camera if these apply to you:
- You still need to think about controlling your buoyancy.
- You struggle with your breathing and use a lot of air.
- You are in any way a nervous diver.
- You struggle to maintain contact with your buddy and tend to get lost on dives.
Once you have solved those issues then you can try to add a camera and learn about dive photography. Just be prepared to work on your dive skills all over again. A camera is a large distraction and often causes people to lose contact with their buddies or dive group, as well as worsen your buoyancy skills, air consumption and more.
Buoyancy and air consumption are the main issues, so when you attend an underwater photography course, the initial focus will be on buoyancy and breathing.
What To Work On Before You Start Dive Photography.
1.Your Buoyancy
You may have experienced it or at least seen it firsthand, a diver who normally is ok in the water and is suddenly up and down like a yo-yo, swimming headfirst with legs in the air or crashing into the reef, What happened? They added a camera.
Before you start dive photography, take the camera housing on a dive to ensure it does not leak and to test your buoyancy. Pretend you have the camera inside and practice carefully getting close to subjects to take a photo. Just as importantly, practice moving away from subjects without touching any of your surroundings or kicking the reef.
Practicing with an empty housing helps you discover your ability without actually worrying about taking a photo. If you are happy with the result here, then move on to taking the camera and trying it for real.
Always remember your safety and the safety of other divers comes first and sometimes the diving conditions do not permit for a photography dive. On those days, you should leave the camera on the boat or at shore.
2.Your Buddy System
Another very important topic when diving with a camera is to have a solid buddy system. If you know your buddy beforehand, they may decide to let you lead the dive. But remember, as a photographer, you are likely to be slower than a diver without a camera and your buddy may swim off ahead. You may not notice until they are very far away.
If you decide before entering the water that you play the leading role underwater, it is then your buddy’s responsibility to stay with you. To slow down your buddy and ensure they have a good dive, set your buddy tasks to find certain subjects for you to photograph.
If you do not know your buddy until the day of the dive, you can also suggest the above to them and see how they respond. If they do not seem happy to dive your way, then you may need to compromise. Either swap leader roles under the water at half-time, or maybe you skip doing dive photography on that dive to ensure you can stay close to your buddy.
3. Choosing the Right Camera
You may think that bigger is better when it comes to cameras. A high-end DSLR camera will take better photos than a small compact all-in-one underwater camera but start simple. If you are a novice photographer and struggle with your diving skills, it is better to get an entry-level camera and progress from there as your buoyancy skills improve.
Remember a large camera with flashes and mount is often negatively buoyant (which can be adjusted by adding floats). This can alter your buoyancy significantly and make it difficult to handle when there are strong currents.
If you want to work on your dive skills before taking up dive photography, consider joining these courses: SSI Perfect Buoyancy and SSI Waves, Tides & Currents.
Starting Dive Photography? Here Is What We Recommend
Stay within your diving ability limits and do not overestimate your skills. Before starting dive photography, contact your dive center and attend an underwater photography course. Ask for the professionals’ opinion on what camera you should use for your ability, and request that they be brutally honest.
Purchase a diving accident plan so you are covered in the event of an incident. Remember, diving with a camera can be safe but it does add further stress to your dive. With diving travel insurance, you can also cover your underwater photography equipment in the event of loss or damage.
Ready to grab a camera and start exploring?
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This article was written by Elizabeth Langenberg / Tal Tamir in cooperation with our insurance partners at DiveAssure.