Diving Etiquette: Focus on Photography
By Cindy Leacox, of CLWanderings.com.
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox,
CLWanderings.com
All of us with underwater cameras want to get “the shot”. There are many things to consider as an underwater photographer or a diver with an underwater camera.
This article is meant to help recreational divers focus on safety while taking underwater photos.
I love scuba diving! I almost always have a camera with me underwater so I can capture glimpses of the amazing underwater world to share with others, identify something later, or for personal enjoyment.
To give you some background about me as a photographer…I am always learning and have some experience in the field. I have been taking terrestrial photos for over 50 years and underwater photos for about 10 years.
Underwater photography is very different than terrestrial or land-based photography. Many of the skills we use in terrestrial photography do not transfer are are unsafe undertow are. For example on land I may hold my breath to help stabilize the camera or lean on a fence, tree or some other object to get the shot in focus. Underwater I always breath and do not touch anything on purpose. I sometimes use a pointer to stabilize myself, especially if conditions are unpredictable.
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox,
CLWanderings.com
Diving Safety
Stay within personal limits.
Do not exceed your personal limits, depending on your certification level and ability to control your buoyancy.
Know how to use your dive computer and pay attention to it prior to and after each set of photos. Depth, no deco limit, gas levels, and time.
Taking images can be very distracting. It is easy to lose track of the group, your buddy, and limits. Check often.
Be a good buddy. Remember you are each other's lifeline if something happens during a dive. Stay within reasonable proximity of each other.
Communicate prior to, during and after the dive to improve the buddy team’s effectiveness. If you are going to use specific hand signals underwater, discuss them prior to diving. For example, I sometimes see something a short distance from my buddy and want to let them know I will be “over there” by getting their attention and pointing to me and then my eyes and the direction I am going.
Watch your depth. Most marine life moves faster than humans. If I am focused on taking the video or picture, I might find myself getting deeper or shallower than is safe. Also, I might overexert myself. If I overexert myself, it is critical to rest and get my breathing under control before continuing the dive.
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox,
CLWanderings.com
Stay within the Dive Limits. Every dive will have maximum time, maximum depth, and no deco time limits. Do not exceed these limits.
Limits are set to ensure safety and be able to continue diving throughout the days.
Going deeper than planned could cause the entire dive group to have an extended surface interval.
Exceeding my no deco limit (NDL) requires, at a minimum a deco stop. This could cause problems by not having enough gas to stay with the diver needing a deco stop as gas consumption varies from person to person.
Plan the dive. Dive the plan.
Prior to the dive share how you want to dive. Do you want to go slow and look in all of the little spaces for macro? Do you want to look for larger things like groups, sharks, rays, schools of fish, or coral, or underwater scapes?
Talking together with and without your guide gives everyone a chance to understand each other's perspectives and be safe during the dive.
If members of a buddy team have significantly different goals fast/slow, macro/pelagic, etc. it might be a good idea to talk to the trip leader or guide to see how the buddy teams can be balanced out. It is ok to change buddies as long as everyone is comfortable, and it is done prior to the dive.
Talk to the dive guide so they know your dive style and if there is a specific critter, fish, mammal or coral you want to find on the dive.
Regardless of the briefing limits, determine if your buddy team wants to stay shallower and inform the guide.
Consider if I have the skills needed to do underwater photography and how I will develop and continue to improve skills.
Do I have great buoyancy without a camera?
If I am just starting to take photos, be conservative. Don’t try to take photos of everything. Give yourself permission to take the time to work on your buoyancy and finning skills with a camera; it is different than without a camera. Take photos of things that do not move quickly, trying different camera settings.
Buoyancy control is critical!
Be kind to the environment. Do not touch the bottom, walls, coral…you get the idea. If you have to steady yourself, use a pointer on a solid surface like a rock. It is a must to have excellent buoyancy before using a camera otherwise you jeopardize not only your shot, but also other divers’ shot and most importantly you can damage the fragile underwater environment.
You can practice hovering while you do your safety stop or while waiting to see something someone pointed out.
Hovering means only using your breath to control your vertical movement in the water column. Do not move your legs, fins or arms when hovering.
Breath control: Take slow, controlled breaths so as not to move up and down a lot. Remember that the one thing we always do when diving is to keep breathing. Learning to control vertical movements will improve your ability to get clear, in focus photos.
Practice, practice, practice. The only way I know how to retain and improve my skills is to practice them. I consciously choose to spend a few minutes on most dives practicing buoyancy control and kicking skills.
Willie Zalidivar Caa educating DiverMojo conservation travelers
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox, of CL-Wanderings.com
A little about sandy bottoms, muck diving, swim throughs, walls, and current
If you are diving where there is a sandy bottom or muck, consider using a frog kick. Frog kicking allows divers to get close without stirring up the sand or muck. This is important for all divers, with or without cameras. Go slow.
If frog kicking is not for you, stay high enough above the bottom to ensure clear visibility for all divers. Occasionally look under you at your fins. Are you leaving a trail of kicked up sand/muck? If you are kicking up sand as you move, ascend a few feet so you are further from the bottom. Also, it is not a race; slow down, kick from your hips, slowly, with purpose.
Swim throughs are fun and interesting. Some are very short, others longer. You may want a flashlight/torch to see into the darker spaces and crevices. If the swim through is tight, use minimal finning to avoid making it difficult or impossible for the divers behind you to see.
Walls offer a plethora of viewing options. Often there are lots of places to check out and don’t forget to look behind you and above you, you might get to see rays or sharks! Diving a wall means I need to be aware of down/up drafts and how to safely counter them. Stay far enough away from the wall to keep from hitting it or coral protruding from the wall. Keeping all of this in mind while I take photos is important.
Current. Depending on skills and capabilities, consider current. Maybe you don’t take your camera on a dive you know will have strong current or current you do not feel comfortable diving in? Or maybe you don’t take the camera on the dive site with current the first time you dive it and you take the camera the second time you dive the site?
Marine life
Do not touch, tease, or move marine life to take a photo.
Ask dive guides to refrain from touching, teasing or placing marine life for photographs or viewing. This can be done during the dive briefing and even during a dive by using the stop or no hand signals.
Approach marine life or underwater landscapes slowly. Many marine animals are sensitive to movements, proximity and light. Also, the slower you are, the more likely the subject will be to stick around for the photo.
Agree to not use noise makers that can startle, stress, or chase away marine life. Sometimes the best option is to have a sound like saying “whoohoo” or tapping on a tank or something else underwater to get people’s attention.
Gloves versus Pointers.
Please do not wear gloves unless you have a medical condition requiring gloves, or are diving a wreck dive that includes penetration, or using a line to descend / ascend. Wearing gloves makes us use our fingers and hands on the precious, sensitive underwater environment. Gloves can give us an artificial feeling of safety but marine life with stingers, teeth, etc. can go through dive gloves.
Alternatives to gloves include:
Terrific buoyancy.
Pointer. They come in many colors and lengths. A longer pointer is useful for muck diving or where you will be in a location with scads of soft corals. A shorter, thicker pointer is useful for most other situations. Both types of pointers double as tank bangers.
Large-eye toadfish (Batrachoides gilberti), Belize
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox, of CL-Wanderings.com
Be spatially aware – Safety first, Environment second, Photo/video third
If I have long legs and/or long fins, notice if I am stirring up partículas that make photography crappy, disturbing marine life, or damaging the environment.
It can be challenging to see other divers and judge proximity underwater. Regularly look up, down and side to side to ensure you are not on a collision path with another diver. For me it is challenging to see directly above me; discuss with your buddy positioning during the dive. If I am above someone, I try to give leeway, understanding they may not see me.
Being spatially aware is especially important when approaching something interesting.
If the subject of our interest is in a tight space, wait further out, so as not to disturb the subject or environment.
Move calmly, slowly to ensure safe diving and the ability to keep from finning or bumping into another diver or the environment.
Remember that divers have different skill sets. If the other divers have less buoyancy control, give them more space. The ocean is big; we don’t have to crowd together unless conditions like strong current require staying very close.
Amazing marine life abundant in Belize.
Photographer: Cynthia Leacox, CL-Wanderings.com
Getting the shot – before, during and after
Learn about the environment and habits of marine life so you can find and photo them more easily. Understand local sensitivities. Follow local rules and regulations.
Before
Take turns. When diving in a group, divers without cameras go first. Then divers with the smallest to largest camera setups go.
Form a line and be mindful that others want to take photos. Alternatively, look around at other things while others are taking photos; you might be surprised to find something wonderfully unexpected.
Limit yourself to 5 photos before letting the next person take a photo.
Remember to communicate with your buddy and keep an eye on the group so you are being safe. It is not fun for the rest of the group to be always waiting on one or two divers to continue the dive.
While you wait, pay attention to how others are taking the photo. Get your setup ready, including any manual setting changes you want to make. This is a great time to let your creative juices flow by considering position, approach and other factors.
Consider your approach. How will I get the subject in the frame? Do I need to be upside down to get the shot while protecting the environment and myself?
Other considerations I think through prior to and during. What kind of lighting effect do I want to use? What emotion am I trying to capture? How will I use the image or video? What is the audience for the image or video?
If I am taking an image for identification purposes, I try to photograph different angles and perspectives as well as some type of measurement in the photo.
Assess the situation. I ask myself if this is something I want to or am able to take a photo of safely without hurting myself or damaging the environment? Maybe I already have 20 images of a particular type of eel; do I need another one? Maybe the background sets the subject up for a terrific frame or maybe not. I can and do enjoy looking at things underwater without having to take photos or videos of them. Maybe my camera setup is too big or doesn’t have the capabilities required to take the photo.
During
DO NOT rush in while others are taking photos. If someone is taking a long time, gently tap them on a shoulder or ask the guide to get their attention and let the next person take their turn. This can be agreed to prior to the dive; it will be important for everyone in the group to know the signals.
If the marine life is particularly sensitive to light, either do not use a light or limit the strength and time using a light. Examples of marine life that are sensitive to light include seahorses, fish/creatures active at night.
If you are using manual mode, take one photo and check the outcome, make any adjustments and take another.
Take 1-5 photos, then let the next person have their turn. With digital cameras, we can easily delete later.
If you want to take more photos, wait until after everyone else has had a chance to take their photos, then go back to the subject and take more photos.
After
When done taking the photo and the space above you is clear, breathe in and rise slowly without finning so as not to disturb the marine environment and fragile marine life. Once you are 5-6Ft / 2M above the spot, gently frog kick or backwards kick (reverse) to move without your fins accidentally kicking something or someone.
If you’ve gotten into a smaller space or overhang, backwards fin to exit without damaging the environment. If you do not know how to do this or are not good at it, make a point of learning and practicing while in open water so you have the skills needed.
If needed, ask the guide to help you.
In Closing
I hope even one of these ideas is useful and inspiring. Practice and employ the technique or thought process during your next dive or in the pool. I love the underwater world and photography. I try to remember that a photo is not worth damaging the environment.
This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list. I share this information as they are things others have taught me or I’ve discovered while learning to dive with a camera. There’s a lot to consider. Don’t get overwhelmed. Pick one or two items to concentrate on during a dive to improve skills. Then pick another item on another dive..
No one is perfect. Even divers with the best buoyancy and skills occasionally bump something or someone.
Know and practice safe diving while enjoying the spectacular underwater world! Let’s preserve the ecosystems for us and future divers.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article and consider incorporating some of these skills and thought processes in your diving.
Additional Information
All photographs in this article were taken by Cindy Leacox, Founder and Photojournalist of C.L. Wanderings.
(c) 2023 CLWanderings.com.
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