To camera or not?

[Kimela]

I should have waited some before I took a camera, but I don’t take pictures for anyone but me! I share them with people who ask about diving, many, many people are very curious.

Really? Where do you find these curious people? For years I've tried to find them!!!! Nobody wants to look at my pictures!!!

 

[rexman24]

Yes. I take pics for me. I like finding IDs for the little things I find, and without a pic I'm stuck trying to describe it. I also like overcoming the challenges that work against me getting 'that shot'. When I do a trip report I share a few shots, and I share them on a private Dive FB page to fellow divers (and I AM stupid proud when someone says 'great shot' - but that's not my big motivator). I sometimes think about framing some pics to put in my home office (where nobody but me would see them). I really value the ones of critters I found 'all by myself'. If someone else finds them I feel like I'm 'cheating'! So I guess it's about the hunt as well? I lost my camera on the first day of a 7 day trip and missed it terribly on that trip. Maybe I'm a little addicted. But hey, as far as I know there aren't any rehab programs for it so it's an ok addiction? Right? Right???????

Rock on, I did all that too, I have thousands of pics and vids. I just don't want it anymore.

 

[Kimela]

I like to experience my activities and surroundings. Whether that is in the mountains and snow or underwater.

I get this - and sometimes, esp when I'm getting a shot of something like an eagle ray I realize I'm too much 'behind the viewfinder' and not 'in the moment'. When it's a nudi, no big deal.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Yes. I take pics for me. I like finding IDs for the little things I find, and without a pic I'm stuck trying to describe it.

Yes, that was my original goal: just get enough of a pic to identify the thing later. But I found it still took way too much time per shot.

I get this - and sometimes, esp when I'm getting a shot of something like an eagle ray I realize I'm too much 'behind the viewfinder' and not 'in the moment'. When it's a nudi, no big deal.

I found I spent so much time trying to get a pic of one stupid nudi that I would look around and see that our group moved on, and there I was, still trying to get a shot of that one nudi while they were elsewhere gawking at the eagle ray.

 

[dolesorchard]

Really? Where do you find these curious people? For years I've tried to find them!!!! Nobody wants to look at my pictures!!!

I'm constantly showing people my pictures. This afternoon I was showing pictures to a dive master that we dove with yesterday

 

[DiveHewi]

Not very often anymore for me.
Usually one or two of my dive buddies will have cameras rolling. They are way better at capturing and editing anyway, then they post to YouTube and send me the link. Same goes for motorcycle adventures. I have a ton of pics and videos, but I don’t even know where they’re stored anymore.

 

[happy-diver]

I'm not sure I understand any of this......

Far from an exclusive club chief, I'm even a member


So how many of these current model less than impressive society's specimens witnessed this magnificent moment

through a camera or with their eyes

 

[Rilelen]

Yes! I enjoy amateur photography as a hobby above the water…I bring a little TG-6 with me on most dives, and just shoot ambient light. It’s something fun to do, especially on sites I know well.

Some recent pics from the last couple months…

 

[Hoag]

Everyone will have their own opinion. Here is mine ...
Yes but with caveats.

1. Not until you have your skills nailed to the point where they are muscle memory and instinctive. Until everything is second nature (including - perhaps especially your buoyancy) and you don't have to think about it, leave the camera behind.

2. Never on the first day of a vacation. Unless you are diving a lot, leave the camera behind on the first day. Use that as the day that you "knock the rust off" and refresh your skills. Remember, even if it is not "officially" labelled as a "check out" or "refresher" dive, the first day of a vacation, the DMs (especially on a LOB) want to know what they are dealing with and they will be assessing your skills. Don't add an extra variable to the equation.

3. Never if the waves or current are at the point where having a camera will complicate things either during the dive or when it is time to get out of the water.

4. Never take a camera underwater that you can not walk away from if you lose it. Although rare, accidents happen. Housings sometimes flood. People think that they have secured their camera and let go of it only to watch it disappear.

5 If you hear "that little voice" asking "Should I take the camera on this dive?", the answer is no. Trust that little voice that is making you ask the question.

Everybody will have to determine for themselves where to draw the line in which they determine if "the juice is worth the squeeze", but those are the factors that I use.

 

[Zef]

Without the camera no one would believe we saw the Manta in Curaçao

Honest question...why do you care whether one believes you or not?

-Z