I'm a relative amateur at UW photography. I tend to holiday dive with my wife who isn't a photographer and we normally trundle along in the group and my photos tend to be rather rushed and very much in the 'drive by shooting' style. On a number of occasions I have tried to spend a few minutes positioning only to find myself detached from the rest of the group

I have been looking with some awe at the photos on here. Would it be fair to say that most of you are able to just concentrate on taking photos on a dive? - and if so how do you manage this with buddies and the rest of the group - if you are with a group?

My recent trip to the Similan islands was hilarious - as well as being with a group we had a lot of surge underwater so trying any from of macro was quite sporting

Mike S

Edited yesterday at 11:05 AM1 day by Mike Saunders

I've had good luck paying a bit extra for a private guide for my wife (similarly not that into photography) and I. My wife trails the guide and has a quick look at things, and then I spend time on a critter, often with help from the guide. It won't be cheap / possible everywhere, but it's something to keep in mind.

that's helpful thanks. When we have friendly dive leaders they can sometimes be persuaded to take her along while I fanny about.

Are there many of you on here who would solo dive so you can spend say 30 minutes in one spot getting the perfect photo?

If in good vis with no current and say at 5-10m max this sounds reasonably safe although I realise that PADI et al would disagree

Edited yesterday at 11:52 AM1 day by Mike Saunders

Hi my wife didn't make photo, she make some vidéo with a gopro...

The situation... she always stay with the guide (or not if she find something to film) and I make my own life.
We never had problems. Ok I lost my wife and the guide one time only one time. How did we dive... I always know in wich direction they go/are.

I take my photo... if i take to long for that my wife wait and she turn the torsches on... It is easy for me to go in the good direction and find her again. If I didn't see her.. I make some noise with my stick on the floating arm... and turn my to light on...
Make some rotation on 360°...

It works really good

The main problem is when the guide help me for very tiny macro... my wife is really not patient ... (I will no say more... 🤣)

Before I started to make photos UW, my wife was already making photos UW. I was the guide, overseeing the dive, looking for critters and also holding and positioning lights/flashes. This was very harmonic and we had a lot of fun (enyoing the UW world together is more rewarding than as a single person).

This is probably the way to go, your wife taking over the duties of guide and gaffer (when she is part of your UW photography, it can be a lot of additional fun, also for her)...

Since I decided that I want to make my own photos, diving is more caotic and less harmonic. We still show each other special motifs, but most of the time everybody is for himself working on her/his photos. We take care to stay within a resonable distance (not seldom this distance is, however, too long; therefore I take special care in servicing and maintaining our regulators/diving gear)...

When diving in groups, I explain the situation to the diving base in advance and most of the time we dive as a separate buddy team, apart from the rest of the group, but we care to surface at the same place and time as the others (we are both experienced divers and I have CMAS3* certification (similar to PADI DM)). Only when conditions are challenging (e.g. strong currents and uneasy weather), we prefer to go with the rest of the group. Then making photos UW is less fun and a GoPro, instead of a FF rig, would do it ...

Wolfgang

My wife no longer dives. If I trusted the DM/Guide I would buddy her to them. And just keep an eye on her. Only if I trusted them.

Now, I tell anybody who buddies with me up front that I am into photos and am a same ocean buddy. If the group zooms along I stop wherever I want and find my way along on my own. Be it a drift or an out and back I usually wind up back with the group for pickup. Especially on a drift however, if they zoom off, I just shoot my own DSMB.

One of my dive friends is often the group leader and he is always asking me why am I way out there, or way back there, or way up there. My answer is to get away from all of y'all so I can have a photo with no fins sticking in. He does not like it for me to wander away and I do not care. Pretty self sufficient.

Edited yesterday at 02:38 PM1 day by Nemrod

My partner became part of my dive images and is now terrific at positioning herself really well to enhance wide-angle shots. When its macro time, thankfully she has a fair amount of patience, will help find things and generally keep an eye on the general direction of the dive. I usually get an earful at the surface for a variety of offences but, hey, life rolls on, eh?

A personal dive guide when feasible is a great option.

If your partner doesn't take photos themselves, the challenge for you is to take pictures with your partner in which they like themselves. Then the dive will remain harmonious. With macro photography, they could help with lighting or something similar.

good advice thank you.

I'm not sure persuading her to get that close the the sharks will be straightforwards but including her as a model would probably be quite an attractive idea to her. Then of course some images will have to be deleted because I have got her wrong side or her eyes are closed 😊

47 minutes ago, Mike Saunders said:

good advice thank you.

I'm not sure persuading her to get that close the the sharks will be straightforwards but including her as a model would probably be quite an attractive idea to her. Then of course some images will have to be deleted because I have got her wrong side or her eyes are closed 😊

…. Guess how many pictures I delete 🫡

99% ????

I'm right ? 🤣

There are many lovely women and handsome men (of which I am not) but frankly I do not find the human form underwater especially compelling. Here and there, yes, but mostly, I do not want divers in my pictures. Yes, divers can add a human interest element. I am mostly not interested in other humans, I seen them before, mostly too much ;).

I know I said same ocean buddy but I DO take into account my buddies skills as to exactly how far I will let them away from me and I do keep and eye on their location. Fortunately I am not a macro guy. I feel for the macro folks who need to take some time on a small critter.

All my buddies 🤗 :

Edited yesterday at 06:56 PM1 day by Nemrod

Can totally understand Nemrod’s view. Loads of pics are spoilt be inelegant diver poses. Images with divers need care and direction . But that’s where the beauty of the partners relationship kicks in. You work with your partner creating an image which he/she loves, which was created together and can get you some cracking images. “You spend quality time together on the dive”….. you still get it in the neck after, but that’s love, right?

Totaly with Tim

For video, the situation is slightly different. If the story I have in mind requires divers, I try to find an experienced buddy.

Sometimes we agree beforehand on the movements and whether I want his lights visible in the shot. Occasionally, I even hand him a couple of torches to try and create some interesting lighting effects. This only works if the buddy is a photographer themselves or has some video experience: they immediately understand the shots I’m aiming for and act accordingly. In these cases, we make it clear from the start: we descend on our own and intentionally break away from the rest of the group.

The problem starts when I focus exclusively on marine life or, even worse, macro. When I ask who wants to dive with me, usually everyone disappears 👻

I’ve even become a running joke at my local dive center. People say: "You're a PITA just like Davide and his camera!" 😀

Photographers in the group are a whole other story: I avoid them like the plague. My footage with a photographer flashing nearby looks like Baghdad in 1991!

In the end, despite having been a radical GUE diver, the filmmaker in me dreams of a solo diving future! ☠️

My wife is a videographer and way more skilled/artistic than I am. (www.blueviews.net) She is also an amazing spotter of little things. One idea is to get your wife a GoPro or similar and let her create her own memories of the diving you do. We no longer do trips where you need to keep up with the guides, rather our trips (land or live aboard) are aimed at creating images.

Bill

For macro I only solo dive. I can manage wide angle or CFWA with a team mate but it's definitely more work.

2 hours ago, Davide DB said:

My footage with a photographer flashing nearby looks like Baghdad in 1991!

I have several regular buddies who have not figured out how to shield their strobes 😵‍💫. Sometimes I can use them to good effect for additional lighting as here. But most of the time it is just annoying and lights up all the junk in the water 😀! Gotta love my buds because they put up with me!

Have you talked to your wife about what each of you wants from a dive? There's no reason you must dive together if your objectives for enjoyment are vastly different. Do your own things without feeling pressure or pressuring the other person then enjoy chatting about your separate dives over dinner etc.

Hire your own guide/guides where you can then you can maximize your time underwater.

If you choose to dive with a group, make sure that everyone knows the whole plan. It's not fair to just do your own thing if you haven't explicitly explained what that means; other people may be stressed out or not getting the dive they want because they are wondering where you are or if they should check on you.

On my local dives with friends, we still discuss what our plan will be for each dive. Often that's pretty basic "see you in 90 minutes". Communication - "plan the dive and dive the plan" trite but true. If you're going to solo dive or same ocean, same day dive, make sure you have a plan for when things go wrong, that you have the gear you need and that you have the experience/training to do it as safely as possible.

I am definitely not a group project type diver so I try to avoid those kinds of dives altogether and choose my destinations/operators by what fit my needs. When I can't (very rare coz I try to sort all this before I sign up), I make sure to talk to the guide and come to whatever arrangement we can make work so that everyone is on the same page, safe and respectful.

We triying to have fun together... We explain what we want to the guide... some macro... and some bigger/coral/ fishes

Sometimes my wife don't make the third dive.... --> I'll make 100 macro

And some time I accept to make wide angle dive...

@Kristin thanks you for your remark it's an important point. Booth need to have fun.