UW Photography and air consumption

[mintaka]

I find that when I am taking pictures that I consume air faster than when I dont have my camera. I was just curious if this was true of others?
When taking pictures I am not covering as much ground, but I'm doing a lot of fining and back fining to stay on the subject.

 

[dhuskins]

You are also probably more aware of your buoyancy. I suspect you are also using your arms more. Perhaps you are trying hard to get the great photo. All of these things either work more muscles or increases your stress.

Your air consumption will increase as you work harder or stress more.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

My air consumption tends to be better on a photography dive. Like you, I cover very little ground when looking for my favorite macro-critters. I find that I'm hovering almost all of the time. The only time I'm aware of increased air consumption is when I'm dealing with a detectable current...and, like you, I have to back-kick to prevent the current from pushing me into the wall/reef.

I don't know how cold your local water is, but I found that getting a drysuit for local diving greatly improved my air consumption.
Being warm + staying still = better air consumption + better photos

 

[Gombessa]

I've never really noticed a difference one way or the other, but I think that's because my dives are not very different if I'm shooting or not. I always try to go slowly, move little and be deliberate. I'm not really much of a photographer though, so maybe that's why it doesn't matter for me.

 

[mintaka]

I think maybe one of the issues for me is that I consume more air if I am not concentrating on my breathing and when I'm taking pics I'm pretty focused (no pun intended) on the pictures (second of course to my psi amount and my buddy's location !)

 

[*dave*]

I think it's primarily related to buoyancy control. Getting the shot means staying in one place and that can lead to very inefficient breathing patterns for newer divers.

My consumption drops a tad when I'm shooting.

 

[marcaumarc]

I think there are probably a lot of factors. For example, if I'm diving with a large DSLR rig, it adds significant drag so it takes more energy to swim, particularly in a current. A P&S with no strobe would has almost no impact. For me, I'm also almost always trying to get down below what I am shooting so I can shoot up or at least horizontally, so I definitely burn air getting down for the shot and coming back up. Also, if it's a guided dive, after stopping to take a photo you kind of have to catch up, which also burns more air than just moving slowly the whole time.

I think probably the only way to burn less air while shooting is to not travel as far. If you travel the same distance while shooting or not, you will always burn more air shooting. Depending on your rig and your shooting style, it could be a lot more.

 

[Larry C]

I used to have similar issues. I find the hardest part is keeping track of my dive buddy while shooting, especially on low vis days. Positioning in surge is also a factor. Lately, my consumption has improved markedly (.29-.36 SAC) because my reg broke and I'm using my sons Micra, which has very nicely adjustable tension. Mine is set very light for easy breathing, but when I use breath control to hold still for a shot, it tends to free flow a bit due to the slight tension of a very slow breath.

 

[Mariozi]

That's why I got my own pair of S100s...

 

[sharky60]

Especially when you first get started, you have a tendancy to want to shoot EVERYTHING you see and end up doing a lot more swimming than is necessary. At first, I would sometimes get so caught up in "getting the next shot" that my dives were only 30-35 min. long when the rest of the boat was getting up to 50 min. of bottom time.

Even drift diving in Cozumel, I find that if I don't keep my mind in the game, so to speak, and start chasing after every critter I see, I burn a lot more air than if I just relax and "do the dive" and let the pictures come to me.