Underwater photography is a beautiful thing. But then sometimes, reality hits and it can be a real pain in the caboose. Here are 20 things that get under the skin of many underwater shooters.
#1 Packing.
Srsly, have you seen all the equipment that goes into one camera bag?
#2 The dreaded airport check-in process.
“That’ll be $300 for excess baggage, sir.”
*Dies*
#3 All that prep work you have to do while everyone is socialising and chilling.
It’s okay. I’ll just be in the camera room sorting my sh*t out.
#4 Two words: flooded camera.
O snap.
#5 Forgetting to take that test shot to see if everything’s working before jumping in the water.
Aaaannnnnddddd nothing’s working. Great.
#6 When little things slip your mind, like inserting the CF card into the camera or removing the lens cap.
TOO LATE NOW, SUCKA.
#7 That stupid switch on the side of the lens that sometimes gets flicked to ‘MF’ as the camera goes into the housing.
Bye bye, autofocus.
#8 Dive sites that are great for both macro AND wide-angle photography.
So which bloody lens do I use?!?!
#9 When a subject is facing the current and you’re trying to get a good shot of it.
PLZ COOPERATE.
#10 When a subject cooperates and does exactly what you were hoping for it to do, only to find that your camera is not ready. At all.
Why do you do this to me?
#11 When you’ve composed the perfect shot and a frikkin’ GoPro on a stick sneaks into the frame.
Nice going! Jerk.
#12 Nosy divers who ruin the shot by invading your personal space and scaring the poor creature away.
*Hisses*
#13 Watching divers who can’t really dive handle their fancy cameras.
How ’bout getting your sh*t together before picking up a camera?
#14 When someone dumps their camera on top of yours in the rinse tank on the boat.
Like, can you not.
#15 The “I’m not bringing my camera down for this dive” curse.
*Sharks, turtles, manta rays, polar bears, unicorns show up underwater*
#16 Photographers who cannot stop showing off their images.
Them: “I need to do this at breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”
#17 Photographers who talk a good game, but when you see their shots…
K.
#18 Comments like “Nice pictures, you must have a very good camera!”
*This may be true for certain high-end cameras but…* Excuse me, how about giving me, the photographer, some credit?
#19 The aches and pains you get in the weirdest places.
My abductor pollicis brevis hurts.
#20 The fact that you’re constantly broke because there’s always something new to get.
*Buys new lens, buys new housing, buys new float arms, and then proceeds to cry quietly in a corner*
Contributors: Aaron Wong (Singapore), Anne Astorga (Philippines), Chen Dexiang (Singapore), Ho Wei Kwok Alvin (Singapore), Markus Roth (Germany), Matteo Visconti (Italy), Mike Kochalski (Scotland), Mike Veitch (Canada), Trixie Tacardon (Philippines), Yvette Lee (Philippines)
