UNDERWATERPHOTOGRAPHY

A Key to Keeping Divers\lnterested

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The key to creating a successful continuing education ities underwater. If the dive center or instructor fails toprogram for your scuba students is understanding just provide the challenge, they may eventually lose the divers

what keeps divers interested. Once they have their c-cards to other sporting activities. We have found that underwa-in hand new divers often look for more challenging activ- ter photography is a key to keeping divers' interest high.

DIVE TRAINING • AUGUST 1999 59

Photography gives divers somethingtangible to show from their diving expe-riences. Photography allows divers tosafely interact with the undersea worldand share their wonderful underwater ex-periences with others. It allows divers acreative outlet and a sense of accomplish-ment. When they show their pictures tofamily and friends, the beauty of the seais brought forth in living color, which of-ten sparks additional diving interest.

Once divers become "hooked" on un-derwater photography they increase theirbottom time, add new dive equipmentand generally keep a very active diverstatus. The more they dive, the more theywant to travel to dive exotic locations.The more they take pictures, the betterthe results — and the more they dive.

Get the picture?

Getting StartedThe first step in creating a photo-

wise dive center is to organize under-

I am a water based lifeform. I glide

beneath the still surface of reality to my own

private universe. I am the conqueror of a

silent landscape where I rule. The ocean is

my office, my living room and my playground.

I swim like a fish. A big fish in a big pond.

I am not hung-up in the mainstream net

hoping for an adventure to happen

tome. I'm grabbing life by the

fins and shaking it loose.

water photo courses. If you have pro-fessional underwater photographers inyour area, contact them and set up somebeginning classes.

If you are an instructor with a talentfor photography, find out what it takesto obtain an Underwater PhotographyInstructor rating from your certifyingagency. The agency can supply courseoutlines, textbooks and videos designedto make your photo course informativeand easy to teach.

A great time to plan an underwaterphotography class is before or during anexotic dive trip. Most people who investmoney on travel also want to bring homethe memories above and below the wa-ter. Try to plan a pretrip get-together soyour group can become acquainted, butbe sure to organize a post-trip evening soeveryone can share their pictures. Keepthe excitement high, and before longyou'll see a demand for more advancedand specialty photo classes.

I t h i n k l ike a f i s h .

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60 A Good Diver Is Always Learning!

Recruiting StudentsOK, you've got a course curriculum,

but now you need some students! Youmust get the word out that you will beconducting underwater photo classes.Use a newsletter, shop notices, an-nouncements at local dive club meet-ings or whatever communication youcan think of to let the public knowabout these upcoming classes.

If that doesn't bring them in droves,another excellent way to motivate in-terest is to provide an evening of visualentertainment. This is a sure-fire wayto get a group motivated, becausewhen divers haven't been wet in awhile, they are a primed audience forenjoying the visual magnificence ofthe underwater world. You should keepthe whole show to less than one hour,and no single show should be longerthan 10 minutes. You want to keepthem wanting more — not leave themcounting the minutes until the end.

In addition to sharing your own im-ages, consider inviting a guest speakerwith a varied photographic backgroundand films, videos or slides to illustratehis or her work. Or, gather up some vi-suals from divers in your community.Preview all the materials and organizethem into a tray, remembering that en-tertainment is the goal. Try to selectmaterials that sell underwater photogra-phy, not the equipment, as that willcome later. Place underwater printsaround the room to add flavor to theevening. This will spark everyone's in-terest and allow you the chance to signup your new students.

The really important part of theevening comes when you introduceyour new underwater photo programto your captive audience. Be ex-tremely organized know howmuch the class will cost, the classschedule and topics covered in the in-struction. Have preprinted sign-up

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A Good Diver Is Always Learning!

forms. Allow a few minutes to fieldthe audience's questions.

The most critical part of the eveningis to show potential new students thatunderwater photography is fun andeasy. They need to know that all levelsof divers can do it, and that they don'thave to invest a lot of money to getstarted. Show some basic underwaterphoto systems and pictures made withthem as proof.

A Class ActOnce you have conducted your first

series of classes, have each student fillout an evaluation form to help youmake the upcoming classes even bet-ter. One way to keep the ball rolling isto have the graduates of your photoclass help put on the next evening'sentertainment when soliciting new stu-dents. This creates a challenge forthese new photographers and encour-ages potential students to become in-volved, too.

If someone asks you questions re-garding underwater photo equipment,he expects intelligent answers. Youmust be more knowledgeable aboutphotography than the customer. If yourdive center does not sell photo equip-ment, help the customer decide whatand where to buy photo equipment.

Be sure you remain current on allunderwater photography-related equip-ment, and read everything possible onunderwater tips and techniques. If pos-sible, attend professional seminars andclasses designed to provide you withthe latest equipment innovations.

When we started teaching underwa-ter photography classes in our area,the interest level jumped from zero to10 in the first beginning class. In orderto accommodate the demand, we be-gan conducting advanced classes aswell. We continue to lead photoclasses to warm-water diving locationsand see the interest in underwater pho-tography skyrocketing, so you cancapitalize on it, too. Underwater pho-tography is a prime opportunity foryou to rejuvenate diver interest — thekey to diver retention. Q