On 6/28/2022 at 11:10 PM, Blenny84 said:(...)
The other challenge is to dive with non-photographers and with dives planned for 'divers' rather than 'photographers', it is almost impossible to keep up with the group. The shots are rushed because you don't have time to set up the shot or spend time with the animal so it lets you approach etc...I could do with liveaboards setup for photography rather than diving. I also love house reefs for this reason, you can just dive with your buddy(wife) without a group, no stress. Unfortunately I cannot take time off in July / August this year but will keep an eye on your Red Sea trips.
(...)
A 3 cents from a fellow amateur:
If you dive with a good outfit and a decent dive guide, every dive is planned for photographers 
And no, not because holding cameras makes are special (needs...), or the place advertises themselves as "catering for photographers", but diving, at least for me, is about seeing things. As such a good dive is the one you see the most, regardless if you cover 100m or 10m of distance. Heck, often best dives end up being literally ones where you stay in the same spot, as there is so many/so interesting crits there is no need to go anywhere. Now of course there might be some exceptions, like snoot use, (as that, at least for me takes 15 min+ to get that damn thing into the right position, at which point you might be pushing it with the rest of the group, unless you are alone that is) or some deep, windy sites, where there is no way to stay in one place as the current blows you away.
Personally i really do not mind diving with non-camera folks, in fact most of the times i did, it was absolutely fine and I very much enjoyed it. And on more than few occasions was an absolute blast, when you sometimes meet a great random crew and you all click together so that each dive becomes like a family. Also remember - divers can be "used" as spotters, in fact they will often do it without even asking 
Also use +1 - albeit we both take photos, if one takes a bit longer, the other one becomes the (missing) link - i.e keeping in view the group and the one taking photo, so when that one is finished, can navigate back to the group, even not seeing it.
Sure from time to time you can get some silly ones, but from my experience, it is the dive guide that is the key - as if he is a good one he will reign such people in / take care of them so they improve their behavior / won't let them go low on air and whole group has to cut short etc. Rarely you meet real dive ruining assholes, and majority I've met, were actually wielding cameras - especially my absolute favorite, people with things on selfie sticks shoveling them about everywhere, no matter the damage to the reef or critter, including in front of your camera after you've spent 5 minutes crawling to that skittish mantis shrimp holding your breath as much as possible. Or you meet a "pro" with big ass camera who then openly catches and moves crits, puts them wherever it suits his shot, them dumps them, but will often bury them or throw sand so that nobody else tries to take a photo (real experience sadly).
That said never been to a photo only liveaboard for example, but this sounds more for me like an (excellent) learning opportunity in terms of actually taking the pictures, rather than diving per se.
But the key is research outfit in advance and then the dive guide, the single most important element of diving - talk to him in advance, explaining your diving style (not focusing on how many knobs your camera has) . Be nice, polite (but not demanding as in "you must do all for me because i have camera") Also most of the good ones will arrange the dive "viewing" wise anyway, so perfect for anybody with or without a camera. And, perhaps the most important thing - good dive guide is flexible as in while there might be some sort of a dive plan, it can change. He leads and stays where the crits are and where the group are happy, regardless if one covers a whooping 10m distance only during a whole dive. The worst ones here are the strict - who either are insanely focused on rules (don't you dare stay longer than 60 mins or have less than X bars, they will drag you out of the water), or marathon ones - they don't care what you see, but instead care only about the plan - at minute 10 they must be 25m away, at minute 20, 50m etc, they will just swim around like nuts, dragging all behind.
TL:DR: Research a good dive outfit, that will almost guarantee a good dive guide. Don't get too focused on "special" photo friendly dive centres. Just enjoy the dive.
As for Egypt, I generally avoid July/August - plenty of people and their screaming kids (though might be less now given the funny times we are living in), and it gets really hot, especially down south, so one has to seek shade. Last time been in November last year, completely alone as +1 couldn't go, and had an absolute blast, despite knowing 0 people and being the only only one with camera. Perfect dive guide, super relaxed, you dive as long as you want, no rushing, can dive with the guide or without as long as you are somewhere in the general area, but no need to hold guide's hand (provided buddies were up for that are up for it too, not a fan of solo diving), and stay wherever as long as you want it and have air. It was Fury Shoal so easy and pretty safe diving.
In older times (when still semi living in Egypt) we also did self guided house reefs - when driving the Cairo-Aswan route was always awesome to stop for a few days in the "middle" and do a diving break (usually a place called Orca Coral Garden, where you literally woke up whenever, grabbed tank whenever and just went diving however it suited you, guiding oneself)
Darn it, again wall of text...sorry 
