Underwater Imaging for Cave Divers

You’ve no doubt seen breathtaking underwater cave photos and videos on Facebook and You Tube. You’ve most likely also seen some that are about as exciting to view as watching paint dry. You’d like to be able to produce the “breathtaking” kind. The “watching paint dry” kind? Not so much.

Fortunately, we can help. Our two-day Underwater Imaging for Cave Divers course is designed to help you shoot the kind of photos and videos that will make people take notice. And even though we teach this in a cavern or cave environment, these same techniques work equally well in wrecks.

These programs are open to both cavern and cave divers. We cover both photo and video. Your camera is capable of shooting both; why not learn about both? It may be easier than you think. Don’t have an underwater camera? Use one of ours.

The basis of the course is the six common mistakes divers make when shooting in caverns and caves — and, more importantly, how to fix them. We start with basic lighting and shooting techniques, then progress to putting together either an album or video that tells a specific story. By the end of day two, you’ll have created something you will be proud to share on Facebook, Twitter or You Tube.

Your instructor

Harry Averill learned his craft from master cinematographer Wes Skiles. Wes’s videos have appeared on A&E, Discovery, History Channel and Animal Planet. His photos have graced the pages — and cover — of National Geographic on more than one occasion.

Over the past 25 years, Harry has, among other things:

Created the original Underwater Photography course materials for SSI.
Produced the SDI Open Water Diver course videos.
Produced all of NASE’s training videos.

Of course, you see Harry’s photographic skills exhibited throughout this website.

Prerequisites

Be at least 18 years old
Be certified to at least the Cavern Diver level

We adjust the course location and dive sites depending on whether students are Cavern or Cave Divers.

Time frames

This course generally takes two days and four dives.

In so far as we usually use Ginnie Springs as our primary teaching location, we suggest avoiding summer weekends, if at all possible.

With sufficient notice, we can usually accommodate requests for specific course dates.

Required equipment

If you already have your own underwater camera system, bring it. We’ll show you how to get more out of it.

We realize, however, that many of our students are postponing this investment until they are confident they can get the kind of images that will make spending the money worthwhile. No problem. We have camera systems you can use during the course at no charge.

You will, however, need to supply all other dive equipment, including tanks. This should be appropriate for your current level of certification. Need rental tanks or primary lights? That’s readily available. Just let us know ahead of time.