How Often do you get to dive?

I have seen some wonderful images, and some unbelievable improvement in a lot of the members over the past couple of years.

It got me to thinking that just like topside, a great deal of getting better is simply getting practice in the water. So lets share the info....how often do you get to dive and shoot?

Lets define a trip exactly as it sounds.....a single trip to dive, whether it be a one day shot on the weekend or a three week extravaganza, they both count as one dive trip. If you combine two separate trips, ie a week on the aggressor followed by a week at a different site, count that as two.

I'll answer, and then I am going to disagree with your definition of a trip.

My wife and I are fortunate enough to get in about 5 or 6 weeks of diving per year, mostly one week at a time. This coming September, we're doing two weeks in a row in Bonaire.

My disagreement comes in your definition of a weekend trip being equal to a week or two. What muddies the whole pond is that folks who can dive on the weekend usually get to dive more than the rest of us. I know of a couple of folks who dive almost every weekend and their shooting shows it (Laz Ruda comes to mind). For the landlocked, infrequent short trips offer little in the way of further development. Unless I am outside the norm (some of you stop laughing), it takes me 3 or 4 dives just to get my sea legs. In a weekender, by that time, when I can shift more of my focus to my photography, its time to go home. We've booked the two week trip in Bonaire to test this theory. It seems like just about the time I get everything dialed in, diving-wise, photography-wise and otherwise, the trips over.

Your basic statement is absolutely correct. The more you dive and the more you shoot, the better you will be. I would just add that the more concentrated those dives are, the greater the impact.

I agree, but I could not figure out a better way to break them up.

From a learning curve standpoint, every time you get to go back in its another photoschool dive trip.......but you point is well taken.

From a learning curve standpoint, every time you get to go back in its another photoschool dive trip.......but you point is well taken

This is true with Film or partial when doing digi w/o Laptop, but with a Laptop the matter is if you hav the time between the dives to analyze your photos.

Simon

I am always amazed at the skill of the people who dive only a few times a year. I dive every weekend on average, and usually a weeknight nite dive to boot.

While I don't always take the camera, even with that frequency the camera seems foreign to me!

Man, I feel sorry for the poor slob who voted one per year like me

Heh...that'd be me. I think I made a career error somewhere along the way to becoming an adult. Btw, yes, I am accepting donations for Nitro and wife's (non-diver) first first Liveaboard experience in Palau. I reckon at the going rate, we'll be able to do it by the time I'm 65 or so.

Wow.....aother nondiving spouse. that explains it.

I am in the exact same boat......or maybe I should say we are NOT in exact the same boat.

I kinda sort of agree with Sharpdiver.

The folks who can dive every week can progress much faster and it shows. I can go on a week long trip and even though I can review my work between dives, sometimes it doesn't click until the plane ride home.

After a week in Palau and some photographic disappointment in myself, I realized too late what my problem was, or rather the solution to my problem. I had trouble getting the big stuff. Sharks were either too far away, too deep, too many divers in the frame and too many stray bubbles. My tendency is to hug the wall looking for nice coral scenes, but that hurt the ability to capture the big stuff. I needed to get out in the blue more and away from other divers. I was trying to be a good boy and stick close to the group. If I were going back next weekend, it would be fresh in my mind what I needed to do.

Also, I sometimes get rushed in camera prep and do the same stupid things I've done on previous trips. I used to have a list, "A dozen ways to prevent yourself from shooting on a dive". But of course, I don't need the list anymore. Hah! It bad enough doing stupid things, but when you start cycling through the list a second time, it's really pathetic. This is where frequency of trips helps out.

I didn't include local monthly diving in my answer, because shooting bass, catfish and bluegill in pea green water doesn't really count, does it?

I didn't include local monthly diving in my answer, because shooting bass, catfish and bluegill in pea green water doesn't really count, does it?

Any time I am breathing nitox, it counts in my book. :freak:

Hey Bob,

One Trip/Three years

Last time I did some decent diving was with you back in 2000 in Fiji. I had some so so results with a 1.2 megapixel camera (state of the art back then!). I've caught the bug again and am going to house my Canon D-60. I hope to do Truk and Fiji this year. Unfortunately, with the expense of the camera/housing/strobes, I probably will be shooting stumps in Center Hill Lake!

Center Hill Lake? another Tennessean!

Gotta love Fiji

I went with you to Marlin Bay (Ian Jones-MTSS trip)...If you do not remember, I was the guy with the crude housed digital set up. Its gathering dust in the basement right now.

And most definitely...you gotta love Fiji

I have taken a few trips a year for the last two years. First time with a camera underwater was April of 2001, and before that I had maybe 30-40 dives total dispersed over the previous 6 years.

Last year I didn't dive between July and November. I go for long periods of time without getting into the water, but I haven't felt that it affects me that much. As soon as I hit the water I feel at home again.

But going on liveaboards is great because you get to dive 4-5 times a day. Keeps the skills up. What I really want to do is work on free diving. I suck at it.

Since getting my 1st housed camera (it was actually a video camera) I haven't gone more than 14 days without getting in the water (camera was in for service). I can tell you that even that short time was enough to force me to rehearse those routines that are usually second nature. The more time my cameras spend out of the water, the more time I have to screw up the settings from their proper positions while playing around on land.

I would think it very difficult to get in the groove after spending over a month dry, but hopefully I won't experience that for quite some time!

Absolutely I remember!!!! (Even your name) Holy smokes! That is so cool. I was looking for your email a month or two ago to see if you wanted to head to Belize with me now that the wife quit diving.

Great to hear from you.......drop me a private email with your email address, would love to go diving with you again.

I try to dive at least once a month locally and take three or four multi-day trips per year. Mostly long weekends in British Columbia or week long boat trips on the best luxury expedition dive yacht north of the equator, the Nautilus Explorer. While I have been to the Carribean twice, and loved it, I'm a cold water diver by default.

I'am lucky to live in Florida. I get to dive often, I actually feel that all that expensive dive

gear is not a waste of money. I put my photos on divertom.net