Situational awareness sucks when (trying to) take pictures. . .

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JohnN

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So thankfully, I've made it past the stage where I have to think very much about my buoyancy when taking pictures, but my situational awareness really sucks.

I regularly lose track of my buddies, my most recent buddy has a couple of thousand dives on me and said he had me in his sights, but I had no F***ing idea where he was (FWIW we both carry ponies) and my navigation skills go right into the toilet. I'm very comfortable as a self-sufficient/solo diver, but what's a boy to do, other than to dive more and hope things improve.
 
I have buddies who seem to do all they can to place themselves in my blind spot. And I’m NOT taking photos. These are just shallow quarry dives. I’ve asked repeatedly for them to stay where I can see them. I’ve just given up on it. I’ve got redundancy (SM) and I’m solo certified. I’m fine on my own. I do listen for their bubbles or watch for their lights. I’ve specifically made it a non-negotiable that everyone who dives with me has a light and keeps it on for the entire dive as quarry viz has been quite bad this summer. I’ll loan out a backup light if they don’t have theirs.
 
Seems mental to me. Of course distance between buddies varies with viz. Maybe you need a bit of OCS like mine, where I would be checking that my buddy was within 5 feet of me (most times, again, viz) --maybe every 10 seconds? Of course there must be an agreement on the distance, who leads, etc.-- don't want a buddy who instantly takes off like a rocket (who among us hasn't seen that?). I don't even carry a camera to complicate things.

Those are two reasons why I haven't done a buddy dive since 2016.
 
I regularly lose track of my buddies, my most recent buddy has a couple of thousand dives on me and said he had me in his sights, but I had no F***ing idea where he was (FWIW we both carry ponies) and my navigation skills go right into the toilet.
My dive buddy is also a shutter bug, so let me suggest something you probably won't like: if you are buddy-diving, you need to look around more, and photograph less.

Now maybe your current situation is o.k. if both you and this particular buddy understand that you are actually both solo diving together (and have the redundant equipment). However, you said you lose track of "buddies", so I have to say if you are losing track of buddies that are not solo-ready then that is not cool. If you are with a non-solo-qualified diver, you need to place more value on your buddy than you do on your photography and make adjustments.

Having a few discussions like this seems to have finally sunk in with my dive buddy. And getting a loud rattle has helped "remind" him also.
 
With regards to situational awareness and photography I just got back a month ago from the Keys taking pics....I had my head so buried into the picture taking process that I had no idea a 10 foot hammerhead was swimming above me about 8 feet over my head. Not until I got back to the boat did the DM and boat captain tell me all about it!!
 
I would not buddy up with a photographer or anyone else with whom I do not share agreed-upon objective(s)/goal(s) of the dive. If I were to dive with a photographer, I suppose I would serve in an assisting role toward the common goals of getting pictures and staying safe. What the goals of the dive are is part of the pre-dive briefing.
 
Interesting. Goals? For me, the goal of my dive is to take pictures. I am solo certified both SDI and PADI. I prefer not to have a buddy as I find them counter to my goals. I do enjoy my wife who not only is a great buddy and competent diver but also a very good critter finder, like a 10 feet long hammerhead for example she would not miss. She is my buddy, otherwise I prefer no buddy.

Photography is distracting as it requires a certain level of concentration but becoming experienced and familiar with a particular camera rig helps reduce the stress level. I suspect that may be the cause of the OPs lack of situational awareness. I got a new camera and it took a while to learn how to operate it. The menu was different, the button pushes were different. My old camera I could operate by feel and memory, the new one I had to look at the screen and try to remember where in the menu a desired function was hidden, it was stressful.

Speaking of diver competency and a real camera system, not talking about a snappy or a GoPro, but operating a real camera system is a step beyond most diver's experience level. A camera significantly complicates a dive. A person may be a very good diver but a photog diver needs to be a very, very good diver, everything, all dive skills, maneuvering (completely without hands), buoyancy control, everything needs to be second or even third nature. If the diver's facilities are largely consumed by operating the camera, there is nothing left to see the shark, the OOA buddy or for me recently, that I was essentially inhaling water and in deco! Operating my new camera was the only thing on my radar screen.

N
 
Learn to listen. Learn how to directinalize that under water. I listen to my buddy when we first descend and take note of their fins. How does their reg sound compared to the others? As I'm taking a picture or exploring, part of my mind is tracking them.
 
I have a really good regular buddy who can handle both navigation and keeping track of me, even in poor viz, while I'm focused on taking pictures. I can sometimes handle taking pictures plus navigation at a familiar site, but then I need the other person to be primarily responsible for staying with me rather than expecting me to stay with them.
 
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