Every now and then I watch extreme sports on TV. You know, the skateboarders who fly off those half pipes, the motorcyclists who jump their bikes and do all sorts of crazy things while the bike is in the air—X Games stuff. It's fun to watch and it looks like even more fun to do.
That is, it looks like fun if you have the skills to do it without killing yourself. Every time I watch it, I can't help but wonder how any of those people tried those stunts for the first time.
It's easy to get the same feeling upon seeing pictures of divers at the extreme end of the sport of scuba diving. Prepared to dive to great depths in frigid water, they have tanks containing different gas mixtures hanging all over them. The slightest mistake or distraction, such as breathing from the wrong tank at the wrong depth, could have fatal consequences. Are they crazy? How did they get to that level of competence?
The answer is that they progressed slowly. For most of us, the simple act of breathing underwater for the first time was an alien experience. In time, it became second nature, and this allowed us to concentrate on other matters to the point that we became fully certified divers in a matter of just a few weeks. As you gain experience in real-world diving, your progression as a diver will be a natural one. As you become comfortable diving to shallow, then moderate depths, you will eventually become comfortable diving anywhere within the limits of recreational diving.
But is comfort derived from positive experiences always a good thing? To revisit the driving-a-car analogy' yet again, I mentioned earlier that you were not ready for Daytona when you first got your driver's license. However, there's a good chance that at some point during your early driving years you imagined your driving talents to be second to none. Your initial trepidation about driving a car seemed foolish; you imagined that your control of the car was perfect and that you were infallible behind the wheel.
It was probably sometime during this period of initial confidence that your first accident or close call occurred.
Terms like "sophomore slump" are given to this natural phenomenon. As you get a few (or many) safe dives under your belt, it becomes hard to imagine that something could go wrong. This is when the unexpected becomes most dangerous; novices generally dive with a greater safety margin.
Using your checkout dives as an experience base, you must gain a certain amount of additional dive experience to enable you to develop the ability to assess additional risk. At the same time, dives without negative consequences make it easy to underestimate risk until you obtain an even greater amount of experience. The key is to stretch the limits of your experience slowly and to be fully aware of increased dangers.
It is clear that scuba diving is a reasonably safe activity. It is also clear that entering an environment that is hostile to human life involves risk. As your experience, confidence, and competence grow, only you will know when it's time to take the next step. It is your personal responsibility as an independent diver to accomplish your diving goals as safely as possible. Likewise, it is your personal responsibility to stretch your experience envelope until you are comfortable making the types of dives you want to make.
As you build on the experience of your checkout dives, it is important that you obtain new experience in a planned and controlled manner. Unexpected temptations are not uncommon during dives. What is that down there, deeper than you've ever been? Can we safely navigate to the other side of that reef?
Resist the impulse to deviate dramatically from your planned dive, especially if the deviation involves breaking new ground in your diving career. However, the temptation may be worth discussing with your buddy once the dive has ended. If the object of interest is within accepted recreational-dive limits or the limits of your training and equipment, perhaps you should plan to explore it on your next dive. It's your decision. Make it thoughtfully.
• It's a great way to share your underwater experiences with nondiving friends.
• It provides a means of artistic expression based on the unique palette of the underwater world.
• It adds a sense of mission or purpose to any dive.
• It provides a nondestructive way of hunting and collecting.
• It provides an opportunity to present your vision of the underwater world to the nondiving public as a means of education and conservation.
• It provides a great way to relive past dive experiences. • It provides a way to study details of undersea life that are hard to see in "real-time."
These are exciting times for imaging, as digital photography and videography are rapidly replacing traditional film and videotape as recording mediums (see the appendix for more information on underwater photography). However, regardless of the medium, you use to record images, the fundamental techniques of photography and videography remain unchanged. The best first step toward becoming involved with underwater photography or videography is to gain a good understanding of general photography and videography. Even if your camera is a "point and shoot" with few controls, a basic knowledge of how images are captured on film, tape, or digital chip will enable you to better understand what your camera is trying to do so that you can use it to its full capability.
That is, it looks like fun if you have the skills to do it without killing yourself. Every time I watch it, I can't help but wonder how any of those people tried those stunts for the first time.
It's easy to get the same feeling upon seeing pictures of divers at the extreme end of the sport of scuba diving. Prepared to dive to great depths in frigid water, they have tanks containing different gas mixtures hanging all over them. The slightest mistake or distraction, such as breathing from the wrong tank at the wrong depth, could have fatal consequences. Are they crazy? How did they get to that level of competence?
The answer is that they progressed slowly. For most of us, the simple act of breathing underwater for the first time was an alien experience. In time, it became second nature, and this allowed us to concentrate on other matters to the point that we became fully certified divers in a matter of just a few weeks. As you gain experience in real-world diving, your progression as a diver will be a natural one. As you become comfortable diving to shallow, then moderate depths, you will eventually become comfortable diving anywhere within the limits of recreational diving.
But is comfort derived from positive experiences always a good thing? To revisit the driving-a-car analogy' yet again, I mentioned earlier that you were not ready for Daytona when you first got your driver's license. However, there's a good chance that at some point during your early driving years you imagined your driving talents to be second to none. Your initial trepidation about driving a car seemed foolish; you imagined that your control of the car was perfect and that you were infallible behind the wheel.
It was probably sometime during this period of initial confidence that your first accident or close call occurred.
Terms like "sophomore slump" are given to this natural phenomenon. As you get a few (or many) safe dives under your belt, it becomes hard to imagine that something could go wrong. This is when the unexpected becomes most dangerous; novices generally dive with a greater safety margin.
Using your checkout dives as an experience base, you must gain a certain amount of additional dive experience to enable you to develop the ability to assess additional risk. At the same time, dives without negative consequences make it easy to underestimate risk until you obtain an even greater amount of experience. The key is to stretch the limits of your experience slowly and to be fully aware of increased dangers.
It is clear that scuba diving is a reasonably safe activity. It is also clear that entering an environment that is hostile to human life involves risk. As your experience, confidence, and competence grow, only you will know when it's time to take the next step. It is your personal responsibility as an independent diver to accomplish your diving goals as safely as possible. Likewise, it is your personal responsibility to stretch your experience envelope until you are comfortable making the types of dives you want to make.
As you build on the experience of your checkout dives, it is important that you obtain new experience in a planned and controlled manner. Unexpected temptations are not uncommon during dives. What is that down there, deeper than you've ever been? Can we safely navigate to the other side of that reef?
Resist the impulse to deviate dramatically from your planned dive, especially if the deviation involves breaking new ground in your diving career. However, the temptation may be worth discussing with your buddy once the dive has ended. If the object of interest is within accepted recreational-dive limits or the limits of your training and equipment, perhaps you should plan to explore it on your next dive. It's your decision. Make it thoughtfully.
TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT
There are good reasons why photography and videography are the most popular underwater activities worldwide:• It's a great way to share your underwater experiences with nondiving friends.
• It provides a means of artistic expression based on the unique palette of the underwater world.
• It adds a sense of mission or purpose to any dive.
• It provides a nondestructive way of hunting and collecting.
• It provides an opportunity to present your vision of the underwater world to the nondiving public as a means of education and conservation.
• It provides a great way to relive past dive experiences. • It provides a way to study details of undersea life that are hard to see in "real-time."
These are exciting times for imaging, as digital photography and videography are rapidly replacing traditional film and videotape as recording mediums (see the appendix for more information on underwater photography). However, regardless of the medium, you use to record images, the fundamental techniques of photography and videography remain unchanged. The best first step toward becoming involved with underwater photography or videography is to gain a good understanding of general photography and videography. Even if your camera is a "point and shoot" with few controls, a basic knowledge of how images are captured on film, tape, or digital chip will enable you to better understand what your camera is trying to do so that you can use it to its full capability.
Underwater photography and videography are some of the most popular activities of recreational divers worldwide. Your Open Water I certification is enough to get you started. Photography is a great way to add a sense of mission to your dives and to share your underwater experiences with friends.
The unique photographic environment of the underwater world will affect your imaging even after you understand the basics of photography or videography. Here are some tips to make your underwater images better:
• Get as close to your subject as possible. This means using lenses with the widest possible angle of view to frame your subjects. The object is to shoot through as little water as possible, as even the clearest water will diminish the color and contrast of images.
• Use artificial light to bring out the color of your subjects. This means using a strobe for still cameras or video lights for video. If you are not using video lights, you can obtain good color in video by using a red or orange filter over the video camera lens in shallow water.
• Attempt to aim your artificial light so that it illuminates your subject but not the water between the camera and the subject. Even the clearest water has particles suspended within it, and your artificial light will cause these suspended particles to appear as "snow" in your images. Photographers and videographers refer to this snow effect as backscatter. Backscatter is the bane of underwater photography. Move the artificial light source away from the camera lens if possible to minimize backscatter. Use artificial light only if you are within 5 feet of your subject; otherwise, turn off your artificial light source, as even the most powerful light or strobe won't be able to effectively light the subject and will only create backscatter.
• Try to balance the intensity of the artificial light with natural light so that the resulting image is seamlessly lit.
• Make an attempt to separate your subject from distracting background clutter. You can often accomplish this by shooting upward toward the surface instead of horizontally toward the reef or downward toward the bottom.
• Maintain your camera meticulously. Sensitive optics and electronics don't mix very well with saltwater. Consider purchasing flood insurance for expensive gear. Camera equipment is far less hardy than regular dive equipment.
• Become familiar with a dive site. Photographers often dive the same site over a period of several days. Once you learn where the residents live, you'll be better prepared to capture them on film, tape, or digital chip.
• Spend some quality time with your subjects. If you find something of interest, cover all the angles before moving on. Still, photography and videography are task-loading activities, and all divers should have confidence in their diving and buoyancy skills before adding a camera. Here are some important safety factors to consider when taking pictures:
• Be conscious of your breathing. It's a natural tendency to hold your breath when looking through a viewfinder. Of course, you should never hold your breath when diving with scuba.
• Be conscious of the environment. It's easy to lose track of where your fins are when you are concentrating on a subject. Taking pictures is no excuse for damaging the reef.
• Following a subject while looking through a viewfinder can be very disorienting. Reestablish your position for navigation after each shooting episode.
• Don't let your camera distract you to the point that you lose track of your dive. Regardless of what may swim in front of your lens, your air management, bottom-time management, navigation, and contact with your dive buddy are more important.
Risk assessment skills are crucial to independent diving, and they are a two-part process. Not only must you be able to reasonably predict the challenges presented by a dive, but you must also be able to balance those challenges against your personal capabilities to deal with them. It's always a good idea to seek information from others about challenges that a specific dive site may present. It's not so easy to get the same sort of information about your own capabilities. Only you know, and you must be sure.
You did not learn to dive in order to avoid risk. Part of the thrill and excitement of diving is the knowledge that you are invading an alien environment. The dive/no dive decision for the vast majority of your dives will be a no-brainer. You will be excited by the opportunity, you'll jump in, and you'll have fun. Even so, it is important that you, as an independent diver, make a personal and conscious decision each time you dive—even if the decision is an easy one to make. It's your dive; it's your life. You decide.
A realistic assessment of coat
I'm going to go out on a limb and make a guess about you. When you first approached a dive shop to see about getting certified to dive, your first two questions were these: how much does it cost, and how long does it take?
While I'm at it, I'll make a guess about the dive shop's response: the cost is low, and you could actually learn to dive over a single weekend. Now that you've gone through the process of certification, you've come to realize that neither response is totally factual. Even if the initial cost of certification was low, by the time you purchased your basic equipment (mask, fins, and snorkel) and paid for your checkout dives, you probably put at least a dent in your bank account. If you were one of the few students to actually get certified from a weekend course, your checkout dives did not occur over the same weekend. Plus, if you did get certified over a weekend, the cost was not cheap. It's time to face the music scuba diving requires a commitment in both time and money. Divers have come up with their own colloquialism for the money that can be spent on diving. If you hear someone referring to a "scuba buck," they re talking about $100.
That doesn't mean that scuba is beyond the means of most of us or that diving will necessarily be a bank-busting experience. The point of becoming an independent diver is to maximize the safety and rewards of diving while minimizing the investment in time and money. However, the idea that scuba can be regularly enjoyed without a significant outlay is one that usually leads to frustration and disappointment. You will need to buy equipment, you will generally need to travel to dive sites, and you will generally need to pay for your actual diving.
You can figure to pay at least twice the money to be outfitted for scuba than you'd pay to be outfitted for golf (not counting the plaid pants). If you charter a boat for diving, the cost will generally be comparable to the greens fee at a resort golf course. Of course, the cost of getting to the boat depends upon how far you must go and how long you intend to stay.
Every now and then a nondiver will ask me why I spend so much of my time and money diving. This is what I tell them:
Imagine that you are standing outside in front of your house or apartment building looking up at the roof. Now imagine that you can rise from the ground, fly effortlessly and with no fear of falling, and slowly gain altitude until you are looking down at the roof. Hundreds of birdlike and insectlike animals accompany you in your flight—creatures with fantastic shapes and colors. You soar over the roof to the chimney and hang without effort there, attached to nothing. Imagine further that something is looking back at you from within the chimney. It is an alien creature, a creature so totally unlike you that it seems impossible that it could inhabit the same planet. It is a creature with green, copper-based blood, no bones, eight arms, and the ability to change its shape and color at will. But this creature has intelligence. It is curious about you. It stares with its large eyes and extends an arm to touch you, to greet you, to find out more about you.
If this experience was actually possible, what would you pay to do it?
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