Ok, so I decided to put a reaction down. I see people here who seem to think it's ridiculous to dive with a camera without 100+ dives, and people who think that idea is ridiculous.
But what I find mostly is that, although ALL of you have VERY good points, this discussion seems mostly a pissing contest, which honestly helps no one, least of all beginners.
First of all, I do not think that it is reasonable to assume someone with 100+ dives is a more responsible diver than someone with 10+ dives. Believe me, I read some disaster stories in Dive mags about people who've been diving quite a bit. Stories that even make newbees go "WTF???"...
And although you usually don't hear of this, there are also some talented divers out there, that seem to be real naturals when it comes to diving. So honestly, without knowing the diver, you cannot judge his/her skills. And this is exactly why many dive masters and instructors want to check out divers new to them.
So, I'm going to tell a little bit about myself, so you can get an idea of how responsible I am, and how well I do in estimating situations.
I am an aeronautical engineer, a pretty conservative one, and a damn good one. I tend to err on the safe side of activities when it comes to development of new systems, and when I predict a future situation that no one wants to put a risk in for, you can bet your arse I am right, 100 % proven without bragging.
I used to take flying lessons. Apparently I had a reputation amongst the club's instructors of being responsible. Some instructors would only teach certain things because they trusted me never to do those myself (and I haven't).
I never lie, and never cheat. It's just who I am. Makes me a bad trader, makes me a bad lawyer, makes me a bad a lot of things. It's a good thing I'm an engineer.
It's true I only have about 22 dives now on my counter. But I am VERY much aware of my abilities and the situation I put myself in. I always go through the checklists, frequently do my air and depth checks, keep an eye on my buddy and the divemaster/instructor. I also always keep an eye on everyone else in the group. I never put myself, my buddy, or aquatic life at risk just because I want to see it. If I feel it is tricky for me to get close, I don't.
So, if anyone wants to call me irresponsible, I'm sorry, but I'll call you arrogant and daft.
As for photography, I have been at it for 25 years, so I know my way around cameras. Ok, I admit, I don't have a digital compact. I only have worked with semi-pro SLRs, mirrorless cameras, rangefinders, Medium format cameras, TLRs, and Large Format Cameras, oh, and film compacts.
As for statements about "not c-card worthy", well, I guess you need to complain with your own instructors, PADI, and/or SSI, or whoever you learned to dive with for their lack of professionalism and knowledge. Honestly, I disagree. There is a minimum standard for certain skills, which is exactly what the courses and specialties teach you. Sure, they are not perfect. But they do give you a good start. A good instructor does not let you pass if he/she does not feel that you fully know the skills that you need. Unfortunately I also know some instructors and schools care more about profit than teaching actual skills. Luckily for me my teachers have always been responsible and professional. They take their work serious. So please don't diss my instructors.
When I did my DUP specialty I was corrected for the dive techniques I was doing wrong, and instructed on how to improve those. That's what the course does: teach you...
Now, I posted my original question to get advice on techniques that I could practise, but besides the 8 out of 10 responses that tell me I am not a good enough diver to handle a camera before I reach 100+ dives, I have heard very little about actual knowledge on how to improve buoyancy or directional controls whilst operating a camera under water.
You could have posted some youtube clips that show fin techniques, or given some advice how to adjust things. No one here explained the effect on your buoyancy if your camera is negatively buoyant (or positively buoyant). No one explained that you can use a pointer stick to hold your distance from a reef or wall whilst composing your shot.
No one mentioned that there are actually UW photography workshops that help you develop your skills as a diver and UW photographer, or where they are located.
So... in the time that some of you were not answering my original question, I browsed the rest of the internet for advice on UW photography for beginners. And guess what I found: There are courses/workshops all over the world that teach you the skills you need as a diver to do UW photography! Can you imagine that?!? And guess what, I will be attending one of those with Underwater Tribe on Bali during Christmas! Oh, and look! There are books from Martin Edge and Co. that teach UW photography. Oh wait, there is more, he also teaches those same courses on workshops that you can enroll for! Wait, I see something... oh my, OH MY, its YOUTUBE, with CLIPS that show FIN TECHNIQUES...
There is more. The city I live in actually has...swimming pool that can be used to practise those fin techniques!
I'm sorry for my somewhat arsy and sarcastic last paragraph, but "no it can't be done, and since I have 200+ dives I know what I am saying" is a bit too arrogant for me. I guess it separates the master from the ace. The ace only "does" whereas the master "teaches".
Someone said that I was wrong to say "when you take a camera for the first time, your buoyancy will be bad", but we all know that no matter your experience, when you handle a camera under water for the first time, your buoyancy control will ALWAYS be worse than without the camera.
I saw a good statement on facebook that I may use as my handle: "so you are saying I need experience before I can get experience?".
What that means is that you don't learn until you do. Of course some of you will now scream bloody murder, and they do have a point: you should have got a descent control of your buoyancy before grabbing a camera under water. But to the point of some others: you only learn by doing.
Being a beginner does not automatically mean being a poor diver. It might be true, but not automatically...
So, let's please all get along, and help each other becoming better divers without the pissing contest shall we?