Hi!
I just want to add my two cents, since, after all, I'm one of those "eager kids" at the center of the question. I'm 25, and I've been a diver since I was 12. After high school, I studied photography and video producing/filming. I did an internship in the only serious underwater filming company in my country, and I've been working on and off with them as an assistant underwater cameraman for the last 6 years. Although it's far from paying all the bills, it's a job I love doing and, on top of the money, it allows me to keep in touch with the business, and work on some pretty big gigs with very talented –sometimes oscar awarded– people, which is always nice. (for those curious, with Arri 435 on movies and commercials and XDCAM HD on documentaries) My relationship with said company goes much farther, so even though I only work with them on and off, there are many valuable perks. I've also worked in the TV business in many other odd jobs in the movie/broadcasting industry. Along the way, I have sometimes worked for free or for peanuts, and like everybody else, realized later on that it had most often been useless career-wise.
The thing is, I've always wanted, if not to make a living out of UW photography, to make some money from it, or at least enough to offset some of the costs. A while ago, I got myself a housing, and decided to travel a bit and give it a try. Now, I think in a few months time, I'll have enough material to write a few articles about a few diving places in the Pacific and offer them for publishing along with the pictures. Now comes the problem: I'm a complete beginner when it comes to this field. And I'm an easy prey. I have no idea how much I should ask, when I should say no, and when I should bargain. I tend to underrate my work, and yet, I think it's good enough to be published in the few magazines I've in mind (I speak three languages, which is a huge advantage and broadens my possibilities when it comes to writing articles, although I don't plan to write in English, if that makes you feel less threatened 
).
Let me list why I'm a threat for everybody (including myself). I've put the key points in bold.
- I'm inexperienced in this particular field
- I'm eager to see my work published (let alone paid!)
- I don't wan't to give my work away, but I've no idea when I'd be dropping my pants.
- I'm not the best, I'm starting, but "it will do" (I'm only assuming 
)
- I don't "need" this money (although it'd be very welcome), so potentially, I could even do it for free (I'm not saying that I will)
- There are thousands of me out there.
I've been honest, blunt, but I also think this is the situation here and everywhere in most of the fields. What I think we should all do (I'll do it too when my time comes, I hope) is say openly, if not precisely, how much we get paid for our work, in every particular situation (covers, articles, ads, for different exposures and so on...). This way I, and the ones after me, won't be unknowingly reducing the going rate which, incidentally, will also affect you.
In the end, it's the only way to keep the boat afloat for everybody because the bottom line is that there will always be some who'll be willing to work for free, so the only thing you can do is hold the hand to those who won't.
That's it, go on, ban me from this and every other uwp forum,but this is how I feel we should all face the future. 
Cheers
Juan
