Am I being unreasonable if I believe that...

[RJP]

If you cannot hover motionless (or reasonably so) while trying to take a photo undewater you have NO BUSINESS DIVING WITH A CAMERA.



I just returned from two weeks on the Truk Odyssey where I have to say I was absolutely appalled by the complete lack of bouyancy control, crappy finning technique, and overall poor dive awareness exhibited by several of my fellow passengers.

Seems though that the main thing these people had in common was they were all carrying cameras and committed to getting as many pictures of everything as possible in as short a period of time as possible.

In order to accomplish this mission these folks would...

- Stand on whatever deck, gun, propeller, rudder, etc was handy
- Lay directly on coral, artifacts, torpedos, tanks etc
- Fin constantly in a vertical position in engine rooms and cargo holds resulting in a complete silt-out
- Race around the wreck at top speed with fins, consoles, lights, etc dragging
- Dodge between other divers and their photographic subjects

On most dives these folks rendered each dive site absolutely un-divable within minutes of descent. Certainly reducing the enjoyment of others who paid thousands of dollars to travel to Truk Lagoon to see these wrecks, but frequently creating real safety hazards for other divers, especially in engine rooms, inner passageways, etc.

Now, I'm often accused of being a bouyancy, trim, and finning ****, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect someone to have at least rudimentary skills in these areas before diving on/in 65yr old WWII wrecks. Honest to god, it looked like a bunch of "Operation Hailstorm Re-enactors" attacking the Japanese fleet for a second time!

/rant

 

[ScubaSteve]

I am 100% on your side RJP however there are a lot of supposedly very experienced divers/photographers who believe it is acceptable as has been expressed in several threads here. I am not about to get back into that argument other than to say I agree with you.

I lose a lot of great photo opportunities because I cannot quite get in the right spot. Oh well, I will try next time.

 

[SparticleBrane]

RJP, you are NOT unreasonable to expect this.

When I went to Truk last August, my fiancee and I went as part of a group of 13, with a total of 16 divers on the boat (not including crew). Two of the other people had decent trim/buoyancy, and the other guy mostly kept to himself.

The rest of us had zero issues with trim and buoyancy, and we all had a fantastic time. No silting and no coral-kicking...just good technique and good diving.


Next time (if there is a next time), try to go with a group of divers who you know will have no issues with technique. Sorry your trip wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.

 

[marcienko]

I tend to agree with you. I have seen the same issues on my trips. The last trip was in Cozumel with my HD video camera and on one of the dives I had spotted octopus. So I set myself against the current fining gently and trying to stay as motionless as possible in the current .I’m starting to shoot the video.
In the little while I have a bunch of people blocking my shot and fighting to get the better pictures, totally ignoring me and may camera. So I did wait for them to go away and I’m continuing to shoot. Next few guys coming over and starting to flashing there lights all over my subject. I was really not happy at this point. But I do understand that you are saying.

Regards

Marcin

 

[jefffalcone]

Am I reading correctly that these idiots were penetrating wrecks with cameras and the couldn't even cotrol their bouyancy?

Definitely no business doing anything but learning buoyancy if you can't control your buoyancy. Put down the camera. Those pictures are going to suck if your buoyancy sucks anyway.

 

[Nemrod]

Photographers can be annoying, especially when they damage stuff in pursuit of their interests. Maybe they should take the PadI Peak Buoyancy course--oh--wait--they are probably already PadI Master Divers, forgive me.

Yeah, the camera should stay behind until you know how to stay off the bottom. It is amazing that people who never lifted a camera topside and have no interest in photography, underwater become super photog and shove the snout of their camera into every creature, crack and crevice they can find whilst laying on the reef, what is up with that.

Dive first, photograph second, simple. JMO, YRMV

Most BCs are designed as if they were a life jacket which they are not and therefore tend to rotate head up and feet down in order to inflict maximum damage upon the environment. If I were designing a BC I mean that is what I would want huh? As long as it has padding!

N

 

[RJP]

Next time (if there is a next time), try to go with a group of divers who you know will have no issues with technique. Sorry your trip wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.

Trip was fine overall. The first week we only had 8 people on the boat, all of whom were quite competent - 5 of us were cave/tech trained, the other three were fine recreational divers.

The second week was a bit of a Charlie-Foxtrot. 16 divers total, but there were three of us with overhead training/experience who were on the boat for two weeks and we pretty much dove together the second week. We'd be geared up and get in the water as soon as the boat stopped before the others got in the water, or would wait for them to get out and then we'd dive where they weren't.

 

[jefffalcone]

Photographers can be annoying, especially when they damage stuff in pursuit of their interests. Maybe they should take the PadI Peak Buoyancy course--oh--wait--they are probably already PadI Master Divers, forgive me.

Yeah, the camera should stay behind until you know how to stay off the bottom. It is amazing that people who never lifted a camera topside and have no interest in photography, underwater become super photog and shove the snout of their camera into every creature, crack and crevice they can find whilst laying on the reef, what is up with that.

Dive first, photograph second, simple. JMO, YRMV

Most BCs are designed as if they were a life jacket which they are not and therefore tend to rotate head up and feet down in order to inflict maximum damage upon the environment. If I were designing a BC I mean that is what I would want huh? As long as it has padding!

N

Any thread can be turned into a pitch for a BP/W

 

[Steve50]

Not unreasonable at all - did the Truk trip last year with a group from the same dive shop, everyone trained by the same staff - totally different experience - almost everyone with camera or shooting video - no silt, great technique all the way around.

I usually try to go on trips oraganized by the shop for just this reason, but I've done the show up on the boat as a single, and know it can be quite frustrating.

 

[marcienko]

Any pictures from the trip (or videos) ?

Regards

Marcin