Sidemount compatible with Photography?

Was wondering whether it would interfere at all with taking u/w photos.

Not in the least. In my experience, the inherent stability of sidemount sometimes makes it easier to get the angle you want on the subject ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I just started but it works for me. The nice wide stable platform makes it nicer.

I set up my spgs so they stick up like lollipops so its easier to check gas hands free.

I suppose if you have a fairly long upper body which means the valves will be further down instead of being really near to your armpits (as in my case since I'm only upper 1.6m in height) where it might (or might not to some people) cause some discomfort, then there's no reason why it should interfere with anything. With that said, it will be good if you can have a good number of dives done on sidemount especially if you have been purely single tank backmount all this while so that you can get used to where everything (excluding the camera rig) is to reduce any possible stress from the slightly increased task loading of having to check air on two tanks, hose routing, D-ring swapping, etc..

I've never had any issues, nothing about sidemount is a contraindication to photography. You will want to be careful to avoid scratching your port. Slow is smooth, smooth is faster--put the cover back on if there is a risk of scratching as you navigate a restriction.

I had this same concern a few years ago. I have yet to take up sidemount as I'm not doing any dives deep enough for me to need the gas these days. My concern was that the tanks would hit the bottom substrate and stir up sediment interfering with my video. The replies I had here and the advice from friends who dive sidemount is that the tanks do not pose an issue. I'll test that if I need to resume my deep diving again.

drbill:

tanks would hit the bottom substrate

Click to expand...

I intensified my training using an action cam in the last few weeks and tried out a lot of situations preparing for the next vacation.
I would call sidemount an essential skill for anyone trying to make underwater photos and videos.

There is one thing that can be troublesome and that is the permanent placement of the camera while not in use.
I often see people dragging their cameras through sediment, since the knees are more horizontal compared to backmount, making any object clipped to the front of the body a dragging risk, and smashing back-clipped things into the ground when inverting position to close to it.

Sidemount gives a platform that is stable enough to settle to the ground on a knee and even with the full length of the body and launching from that position again without stirring up more than a small puff of sediment by accident, none if everything goes according to plan. If done correctly the body will not touch the ground with enough force to hurt anything that was to small to see.

It is also very easy to avoid touching the ground completely and holding an fixed position very close to it.

It is no problem to use, manipulate and re-stow the camera without any significant change in position and trim.

Turning with the object of focus can be a challenge in backmounted configurations.
In sidemount you just turn anywhere you like without thinking about it and I am often surprised at the body positions I find myself in when I put the camera away again after a longer video sequence.

Most important for me is that most aquatic objects either react with curiosity or significantly reduced fear to someone approaching them moving only fintips a little and showing them the comparatively small and non-threatening frontal profile.
In the sweet-water environments I mostly dive, I am often completely ignored and even rammed by animals fleeing from more threatening things than me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GFcnbu21A8

Well, this is my girl ;-)
She is an accomplished photographer and marine biologist.
Due to serious back injury she cant dive backmout anymore and has been diving sidemount for 4 years now.
She has her own way of bungeeing with the camera and it works well.
Her pictures are awesome, have a look and enjoy. Photography
..I am proud ;-)