Why bother taking a camera diving at all? There’s all that hassle and someone else will have on anyway. I can think of a few good reasons to take a camera. Because it’s fun. You take pictures all the time and it’s just a fun thing to do!
You take them everywhere else why not take a few underwater. You don’t have to make it THE reason to dive. Its quite fun to have a picture of your buddy when you are diving, they would probably like it and they might do the same for you. I am not a big fan of the selfie stick underwater, you get a lot of shake and it’s amazing how many get lost.
1. Helping you to identify a fish.
It may sound mad, but trying to ID fish is not always easy and having to wait until you have finished the dive to then ask someone, who didn’t see it, is frustrating. It just takes a second to grab a photo and research it later.
2. To show someone you’ve seen something really cool.
Around Koh Tao, where I was working, it was not uncommon for whale sharks to appear, the biggest fish in the seven seas. Twice I had got back on the boat with my group, only for every one else to come up from their dives going “Wow, that was AMAZING”. I can still barely believe it myself, but I have a picture of the wonder to remind me.
Then again there are occasionally the times, possibly by sheer luck, you get a shot you just can’t believe. And NO ONE ELSE SAW IT!!! and of course there are those times that you get the shot and your buddy does too. You’re happy, your buddy’s happy and your friendly posing sealions are too.
3. Just getting a really nice shot and you will get some really cool shots! Ones that will look good on your cover photo on Facebook or your wallpaper on your phone or PC. It will sit there and every now and again you will look at it, sit back, and sigh at the beauty of our wonderful oceans.
4. To share what you’ve seen on FB/Twitter/Instagram. You can take some photos which show what you have been up to and show them to people. A description just doesn’t do it. You know if you see a one line of text on a FB post, its far less likely to catch your eye than a one line with a photo or two. At this point I would urge a degree of restraint. A one line post with 54 pictures attached is an encouragement to skip that one. But you’d probably click on +2.
Oh yes, almost forgot, money! People might want to buy the photos from you, but don’t expect to be living the high life from the proceeds of your photographic work but it can be enough to live a dive life somewhere or top up your travel funds.
It’s all good fun! Photos make you smile and they make others smile. They make you want to get back in the water and they make other people interested in what’s in the water. Share the beauty and the fun and others will care about it as much as you do.
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