Improvements through humour..

Personally I think the idea of a dive photography license is a great idea .. just like communism.

However communism doesn't work because you have to have a leader .. and the idea of communism is everyone is equal.

The problem of dive-photo certs is you get people like PADI think they can do it so they and some people that they know whats best write something up.

These get known as teaching guidelines and course outlines. Known as 'specialties'

Now PADI has god knows how many instructors. All an instructor (I believe it is still true) has to do to teach a course is go on something like 25 dives with a digital camera in their hand, pay some money to PADI, and BAM they are a specialty instructor for photography. This could all be done without ever having touched a camera before or even having done much more than 100 dives !!!!

so in My mind the PADI course is a JOKE taught by people who shouldn't necessarily even be allowed a camera in the water themselves.

So as for needing a Dive Photo cert course .. sure .. but it will never happen.

Now what was Mike saying ?

I said you need to post some photos of yourself in a dress....

you are English, i know you have done it..

I watch Monty Python! All English men cross dress at some point.. weirdos!

so in My mind the PADI course is a JOKE taught by people who shouldn't necessarily even be allowed a camera in the water themselves.

 

So as for needing a Dive Photo cert course .. sure .. but it will never happen.

I think that is an issue with many courses unfortunately (and not just trying to pick on PADI here.) I was watching someone go for a dive master certification and was suprised to learn they need 50 dives to be a dive master. I thought they meant the course had 50 dives, but nope, 50 dives altogether. (The person doing the course was a very good diver and will be fine it seems, but I have seen others like I am sure you have, that are not really at the proper level.) The AOW card is another one that I think is really not indicative. All comes down to getting in the water enough.

Now what was Mike saying ?

Something about the thread going downhill before you decided to bring it back up

....."u/w photography police"?

But do all the interns get Glocks?

Some attributes

It's not a Glock, but hey....

Mike Veitch Darts Player

You mean like this ?

You're even in Wikipedia !

I am new visitor to this web site and after reading this blog I have come to conclusion this web site is not for begginers. I really do not feel welcomed.

A friend of mine is shopping for a new camera to replace the one that flooded on her first dive of a trip.

I suggested she visit Wetpixel and stressed that it offered a Beginner Forum. Her reply to me was that she felt intimitated when she visited Wetpixel.

I can see by the above post that my friend is not the only uw photographer that feels that way. Although nasarev later changed her mind and will be posting her images, I'm wondering how many other aspiring uw photographers are intimidated by the very experienced posters.

I'm wondering what could be done to make these folks feel more welcomed. At this point, I don't have any answers.

Ellen

A friend of mine is shopping for a new camera to replace the one that flooded on her first dive of a trip.

I suggested she visit Wetpixel and stressed that it offered a Beginner Forum. Her reply to me was that she felt intimitated when she visited Wetpixel.

 

I can see by the above post that my friend is not the only uw photographer that feels that way. Although nasarev later changed her mind and will be posting her images, I'm wondering how many other aspiring uw photographers are intimidated by the very experienced posters.

 

I'm wondering what could be done to make these folks feel more welcomed. At this point, I don't have any answers.

 

Ellen

I think this can be tough as a site like this obviously has to cater to everybody, beginners and advanced. Then of course the light hearted banter on a thread like this is a big reason that Wetpixel provides a great sense of 'community' for those who have hung around for a while.

Possibly some type of introduction to the site could be posted that folks could read that reviews the site in general, and hints of the diverse opinions and levels of expertise. Somewhere in there we might warn them of lurking cross-dressers and party animals. Clearly a thread like this one has wandered seriously off track, which is probably a reflection of how seriously the concept of an underwater photo license is taken by many of us.

A friend of mine is shopping for a new camera to replace the one that flooded on her first dive of a trip.

I suggested she visit Wetpixel and stressed that it offered a Beginner Forum. Her reply to me was that she felt intimitated when she visited Wetpixel.

 

I can see by the above post that my friend is not the only uw photographer that feels that way. Although nasarev later changed her mind and will be posting her images, I'm wondering how many other aspiring uw photographers are intimidated by the very experienced posters.

 

I'm wondering what could be done to make these folks feel more welcomed. At this point, I don't have any answers.

 

Ellen

As Loftus mentioned this thread has taken a bit of a turn, and actually seems to be an offshoot of some earlier threads that were discussing people's behavior underwater. It is just a bit of fun/silliness at this point, though coming to any board always has the potential for some intimidation. I think that is human nature either because usually the first visit may be to ask a question and sometimes people may feel silly asking a question or they

members who have been around the board for a bit who are either joking around or sometimes going off into subjects in detail that can seem intimidating.

FWIW there is a section for Beginners which may be the proper place to look intitially for some information and it may be a good place to start the search. A second FWIW, I would bet no one will act poorly to someone who is coming to the board asking for help and there are some very bright people here who have helped out many others.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showforum=29

I'm wondering what could be done to make these folks feel more welcomed.

-more pink?

-a cosy, plush cuddling lounge...?

A second FWIW, I would bet no one will act poorly to someone who is coming to the board asking for help and there are some very bright people here who have helped out many others.

Unless maybe....if you enter the room disguised as D. Schwartz

-more pink?

-a cosy, plush cuddling lounge...?

 

Unless maybe....if you enter the room disguised as D. Schwartz

I was thinking that and was going to say that, but held off

I was thinking that and was going to say that, but held off

which of the 3 options or combinations of options?

-pink cuddling room?

-disguised as D Schwartz in Pink?

-cuddling with D Schwartz?

which of the 3 options or combinations of options?

 

-pink cuddling room?

-disguised as D Schwartz in Pink?

-cuddling with D Schwartz?

 

LOL Got tears rolling down my eyes from that one.

which of the 3 options or combinations of options?

 

-pink cuddling room?

-disguised as D Schwartz in Pink?

-cuddling with D Schwartz?

 

In my very best D. Schwartz imitation:

"I did see the film "The Pink Panther". I personally know the Director of the movie as well as all of the actors and actresses in it, too. In fact, I even went to high school with one of the actors in the movie. We did a skit where we were dressed in pink. The principal of the school even wrote a pink book. I read each and every single word of the book, and I'd be happy to paraphrase it for you. My girlfriend bought me a copy of it, too. All of this goes to show you that I'm darn good at taking pink underwater photographs with my Medium Pink Format camera."

I don't care that Eric banished me from this pink forum. I'm back!

Dan Schwartz

Hope y'all enjoyed that

bahahaa

laughing over here Ellen

ON a more serious note..

Ellen, did your friend make a mention of exactly why she felt intimidated?

Is it from lack of friendliness of folks on the forum? Didn't feel her photos were good enough to post on this forum?

The sense of camraderie and occasional sarcastic answer from folks?

Would be interesting to hear the reasons behind it so we can do something to make folks less intimidated

Some attributes

It's not a Glock, but hey....

LOL... I'll take the pink handcuffs... will come in handy to cuff someone to a table coral...

haha, i just turned on images on my browser... damn i look good in a kilt! i actually have one somewhere back home..

Maybe Schwartz's alter ego is named ellen...that's a crack up.

Seriously when I first came here ignorance was truly bliss. Here's my top 10 things I didn't know before coming to Wetpixel

10. Eric Cheng...who is Eric Cheng.

9. Dr Mustard - is that a piece out of the new Clue Game from Milton Bradley?

8. Stephen Frink - Some dude from the keys who came up to our LDS and taught a class on digital photography.

7. My photos look like crap - My mom kept telling me how great they looked. (So she's 70 and blind in one eye...who knew?)

6. How much money I would spend trying to make those photos look better.

5. How fast a medium format thread could put me to sleep.

4. How much I fear Irish Dart players in skirts

3. How much I didn't need to see said dart player holding up a man in drag.

2. how adhering to advice given on here won me a free dive trip!

1. how quickly I was going to get addicted to the site.

bahahaa

 

laughing over here Ellen

 

ON a more serious note..

 

Ellen, did your friend make a mention of exactly why she felt intimidated?

 

Is it from lack of friendliness of folks on the forum? Didn't feel her photos were good enough to post on this forum?

The sense of camraderie and occasional sarcastic answer from folks?

 

Would be interesting to hear the reasons behind it so we can do something to make folks less intimidated

Like someone mentioned earlier. Can you imagine getting golf tips from Tiger Woods? I can imagine while exciting, it would a bit intimidating. Most people are afraid they'll say something stupid or waste someone's time, I've never had that problem but I can imagine others would. The way I see it these chaps put their britches on one leg at a time just like I do....well most of 'em anyways.

10. Eric Cheng...who is Eric Cheng.

9. Dr Mustard - is that a piece out of the new Clue Game from Milton Bradley?

8. Stephen Frink - Some dude from the keys who came up to our LDS and taught a class on digital photography.

7. My photos look like crap - My mom kept telling me how great they looked. (So she's 70 and blind in one eye...who knew?)

6. How much money I would spend trying to make those photos look better.

5. How fast a medium format thread could put me to sleep.

4. How much I fear Irish Dart players in skirts

3. How much I didn't need to see said dart player holding up a man in drag.

2. how adhering to advice given on here won me a free dive trip!

1. how quickly I was going to get addicted to the site.

Great list, I like 7, 5, 4 & 3 the best I think. I had a flashback from you mentioning 5.

By the way to overcome your fear in 4 - . But please remember not to step in front of the darts at that point.

Scottish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!