Diving & Videography for a living

[harang]

Hi everybody,

First, I'm a newbie here and I'm amazed and lucky to find these posts. I was thinking of jumping in this new adventure either Instructor or maybe videography. Before I begin, asking a few questions, I want to clarify my goals. I don't expect to live a rich life... I'm not material at all. I have a background in multimedia production of management and thinking I could combine the two together.

A few questions;

Can a diver live a comfortable life as an underwater videographer?
Is there a market out there for underwater videographers?

Any information would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[ronscuba]

Can a diver live a comfortable life as an underwater videographer?
Is there a market out there for underwater videographers?

To be blunt.

No and No.

 

[harang]

I take it you speak from personal experience.

 

[Papa_Bear]

It all depends on location and to what degree! You have to be multi-talented and be willing to go without a lot of time or money! Some do it on islands with multi-Resorts where you can dive and video each day for large groups and individuals! You have to do a lot of Camera editing and have stock footage as well, edit fast and dirty, throw it together sell it for 60.00 to 75.00 dollars and move on to the next one! You can teach as well! You will never git rich in any form this way!

Next you can do it by project development and cook up a protagonist like "Man," "Global Warming," and all sorts of Bad things you can think of! Then you do a documentary on it and stage (Hollywood style) problems that only "Money" will solve! That is where the real pros make their money and their name! Names I could sight but you might already know! Big companies and Organizations pay big money for the next crusade!

But in between ronscuba is right, no and no!

 

[beautybelow]

Check out things like SCUBAZOO - Home

 

[harang]

Well, I guess it's NO from the same ppl doing it, and from what I can see there are many people doing this for a living already.

No, Maybe, Je ne sais pas

 

[harang]

Although, it's good to see they're nice photo links of their work.

 

[vdonick]

It all depends what sort of life your happy with and what u mean by make a living. If your happy with living on a tropical paradise island diving everyday and doing what you love for a job, in basic accomodation and earning enough to live comfortably (food, drink, etc and some left over for having fun yourself) but not enough to save much..........then yes it is possible, i worked as a videographer in thailand for a little while and its a good life, true u dont make enough to retire on but i have friends who have done this job for years and as you dont need a massive amount of money to survive in these places it is quite possible......its just down to how you approach it. Some months we were making more than the instructors and some months it was really slow going, so if you combined it with some freelance DM or instructor work you could do it no worries. So if you have a talent in this sort of thing then i say follow your dreams and give it a go!!!!

 

[ronscuba]

I take it you speak from personal experience.

No, but speaking with people trying to do it, I know it's very tough. I don't think anyone get's their sole income from underwater video.

The other question is, what is your definition of a comfortable life ?

Age is a factor too. When you are young you can afford to spend a few years chasing your dream. If you make it, congratualtions ! If you don't, hopefully you learned and enjoyed the experience.

 

[harang]

Thanks for your honest opinion...a little more detailed and a better answer than "No and No".

As for definition of comfortable living... I thought I explained it clear when I wrote; "I don't expect to live a rich life... I'm not material at all". I guess I should have mentioned that I already have an income to get me buy on the rent. Let's say I made some good investments. So, whatever I would make extra on this, I would be happy with that.

What's your definition age factor? For me I don't it matters if you're 50 years old and in good shape. Go for your dreams. There is no real age to do anything if you're bringing experience in this field as I mentioned before... I have background in video and editing, multimedia presentation on DVD, I guess it could be an asset. Wouldn't it!