I've got a random question for you photographers. I'm returning to diving (and UW photography) after a three-decade hiatus from the sport. In the old days, my wife was usually my dive partner. Now, she is happy for me to dive again, but isn't interested in joining me. Thus, I'm typing here on a single diver forum.
If you're into this stuff, you know that the dive of a photographer/videographer is typically different from the exploration/observation dives of others. Photographers/videographers commonly go slowly, constantly stop to fiddle with equipment, and regularly camp out by some interesting coral formation taking pics. The wife was great with this and enjoyed working with me to locate and line up interesting shots.
But now, I'll be a single diver needing another single diver to buddy up with. On upcoming trips to pretty destinations, some dive master will be picking my buddy (or we'll somehow buddy up ourselves on the boat). Odds are that my typical new buddy will be an awesome, fun person, but one that will have no patience in me hovering and slowly clicking off shots. They will almost certainly want to move fast and go far and see all they can see. I don't blame them one bit. But, we cannot split up and cannot communicate well down there.
So, this is my question to single divers that take pics. What would you do in a situation like this when you have an agenda (that you've handsomely paid for) that won't match up with other single divers' agendas? Assume that I've chatted with the dive master and explained my goals/wants. But, unless I win the lottery and get paired up with another UW photog, there's a slim chance of matching up with a buddy that I won't inconvenience.
Eventually, I may find another UW shutterbug to join on trips. But until then, would it just be best to find private guides? That would work, but my goodness, that would be expensive.
Thoughts?
