looking for a school to learn diving
- Thread starter jungsangchoe
- Start date
Wah.. u sure have big lungs!
I'm rather new to this as well. Biggest difficulty is finding the right buddy.. DC assigned buddy usually cannot wait for u to take photos.. in fact, i always feel like I'm holding up the whole group! :dunno:
I dive solo most of the time when im shooting..
I dive solo most of the time when im shooting..
sama sama. unless with the pros then guai guai follow them cos the guides will show them the best stuff. :bsmilie:
I dive solo most of the time when im shooting..
Wah... both of you expert meh :bsmilie::bsmilie:
Bro/Sis..... while this threat has OT-ed... thats how we do it in this forum. So.... relax :bsmilie:
Btw.... not so good for you to find new member for your forum by asking us to contiune at another forum lah.... its like going to some else shop and directing their customer to your shop....
I started holding my u/w camera after graduated from OWD, I was using compact. I believe diving with camera will help to learn buoyancy faster. Started diving with my DSLR rig after 11th dive, now I only have 41 logged dives.
Diving with camera in large group usually problematic, since photog tend to move very slow and may stop in one place for quite sometime. Like when I was in Tioman always holding back the group. So now I always ask for 1 DM for me and my wife, so we ca take photo in our own pace.
Diving with camera in large group usually problematic, since photog tend to move very slow and may stop in one place for quite sometime. Like when I was in Tioman always holding back the group. So now I always ask for 1 DM for me and my wife, so we ca take photo in our own pace.
I agree with you 100%. I started shooting on my 4th dive (still OW course!!). With a camera (cheapo u/w camera which I am still using), you are forced into learning buoyancy control. While some AWO divers are still struggling to understand buoyancy control, I got comfortable with it very quickly and I believe I progress faster because of u/w photography. Actually at the end of my 4th dive, I was actually able to shoot this.. Now I just need a better setup.. anyone letting go D80 underwater housing cheap? hehe
i think the best time to start underwater photography is when diving is second nature to you. you don't worry about buoyancy (which also implies you do not kill stuff with your fins, use pointers as walking sticks, and grab on to anything to stabilize yourself), you have good situational awareness, and am fairly confident in diving.
i've seen many divers with terrible situational awareness struggling to take a picture of something, and kicking up all sorts of sand and silt, and breaking coral in the process. now, everyone will say "not me! i'm a responsible diver!" but you wont know until someone tells you off, or you ask the people in your dive group.
also, when you dive with underwater photography in mind, you tend to have a different style of diving. it's no longer a tour around the reef like before, but more like 15 minutes at a rock, 10 minutes at a seafan, and before you know it, everyone else is gone and you're all alone.
basically, if you can't dive well, you won't take good pictures.
i've seen many divers with terrible situational awareness struggling to take a picture of something, and kicking up all sorts of sand and silt, and breaking coral in the process. now, everyone will say "not me! i'm a responsible diver!" but you wont know until someone tells you off, or you ask the people in your dive group.
also, when you dive with underwater photography in mind, you tend to have a different style of diving. it's no longer a tour around the reef like before, but more like 15 minutes at a rock, 10 minutes at a seafan, and before you know it, everyone else is gone and you're all alone.
basically, if you can't dive well, you won't take good pictures.
A noobie question to ask about diving schools in SG.
Do this schools provide you with their gears like wetsuit, flippers, regulators or we have to get all these gears yourself ??
Do this schools provide you with their gears like wetsuit, flippers, regulators or we have to get all these gears yourself ??
I am with you on this. Buoyancy control first, then learn U/W photography.
I've seen people trying to master both at the same time and causing quite a bit damage to the reefs around them when they go unnecessary close to their intended subjects (without proper control).
When they shrug their shoulders and claim that they will "improve on the pictures next time", I think they have missed the main point- the pictures are not that important, and there is no "next time" for the broken reefs.
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Yes they do.... normally gears are included into the package... but ask them again before signing up. :bsmilie:
Normally they do for most courses, but like diver-hloc suggest, check with them b4 sign up. On top of dive equipment, ensure price covers education materials, certification cost, and trip cost. Some schools will 'encourage' purchase of mask, snorkel, fins or even wet suits. Nothing really wrong with this, but it depends on one's budget and preference.
I quote this because it contradicting whole your point. I think surrounding awareness is apply to every divers be it beginner or master or sifu or god of diver or what ever you call it human who breathe air from tank underwater ....
I had experience with a group of divers we met in Tioman all with camera in Soyak with low vis and they are infront of me, everytime DM show something they will go into trigger happy mode and hell break loose. When they left I felt like in tom yam soup, so I just clipped my camera in my BC and signal to my buddy then enjoy the dive. No picture is ok for me, I don't earn living from photography. Forgotten to add everytime me & my buddy infornt of them they will go into torpedo mode to over take us, well I call it underwater Kiasuism.
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yup, those are the sort of divers everyone loves to hate. the sad thing is, they probably don't know they are causing people grief and inconvenience.
usually i will talk to them and "suggest" they give others a chance to take a look first before hogging the subject. another way is to ask to see their pictures - which usually will be full of backscatter, and tell them "oh, too much sand in the water..that's why there's this problem. maybe you can tell your friends not to kick up so much sand next time"
sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. but no harm trying i guess?
so the next time i ask to see your pictures after a dive...it means i was cursing and swearing at you underwater. hahahaha
Wah.. u sure have big lungs!
I'm rather new to this as well. Biggest difficulty is finding the right buddy.. DC assigned buddy usually cannot wait for u to take photos.. in fact, i always feel like I'm holding up the whole group! :dunno:
Then the best choice for you is to get a DM as your own personal guide
or go with a group of photographers... cos leisure divers esp new ones cant "wait" haha.... i know the pain as i have gone through it... haha
i plan to learn diving... may i ask normally how deep do you dive? i wanna know if a 10m underwater camera is sufficent.. or have to get underwater housing?
Also, for the fins and mask, can I buy it in singapore? where are they sold and how much does it cost?
Thanks!
Also, for the fins and mask, can I buy it in singapore? where are they sold and how much does it cost?
Thanks!
you may check out at gilldivers.com
I wanted to sign up for a diving course, but parents don't allow... haiz..
