Divers and Cameras
The number one thing that drives the instructors at Captain Don’s Habitat nuts is what happens when the all-too-typical diver gets his or her hands on an underwater camera. As one instructor put it, “It’s as if their brains go out the window. They stop paying attention to the coral, their buddy, the dive plan and anything other than what is going on in the viewfinder.”
Mind you, I’m a big fan of underwater photography and video. The easier it is for divers to share what they experience under water with friends and loved ones, the better — but not at the expense of safety or the environment.
If you are going to tackle underwater imaging, your buoyancy control, body position and awareness of what is happening around must be superlative. Otherwise, you put yourself, your buddies and the fragile marine environment at risk.
Part of the problem is that, all too often, divers attempt to master camera systems that are bigger, bulkier and more difficult to manage than they need be. If you are not shooting textbook or magazine photos, or producing anything other than a souvenir video, how much camera do you really need?
As we were departing for Bonaire, the mother of one of our group members, Pele Harrison, presented her with a five-megapixel digital camera and housing that were no bigger than a deck of cards. The entire system could easily fit in a BC pocket, and was small enough that the average diver could manage it without losing track of buoyancy control, buddies or dive plans.
Now, you may be thinking that, without a massive external strobe or high-powered lenses, a camera system like this would be limited in the kind of images it could acquire. Well, guess again. The pictures appearing on this page are all one Pele took using this system. The only thing that has been done to them is to apply Photoshop’s Image → Adjustments → Auto Levels command. This restores most of the color missing from the raw images.
So, if you want to tackle underwater photography or video, great. Just make sure your diving skills are up to speed first — and choose a camera system that is well within your ability levels.
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