My suggestion would be this, pick and choose when you take your rig down. I do tend to agree with the theory, that concentrating on boyancy and learning about your conditions, concentrating on the simple things you need to become a good diver could be scuppered, when your lumping around a camera rig etc.
But that doesnt mean you shouldnt use it, I would suggest picking when to take it under, if the dive is shallow, the weather good, youve got a good buddy and dive guide, etc etc etc, then take it down, if it looks like a hairy dive then think twice, better to be safe than sorry, and dont forget about your buddy and what they might like to do (we can be fairly sellfish as photographers).
Finally really think about your dive plan, with the rig you have, going on a slow, shallow dive is really what you want, if the dive is going to be full on current or charging around the site, then you wont get to do what you want, as a top underwater photographer in the uk once said to me "are you a diver who wants to take shots; or are you a photographer that likes to dive?" The two things are very very different.
