Have Present Day Macro Photography Practices taken the Self-Discovery out of Diving?

Well Its been awhile since I've written something on this Blog and today the topic I choose is one that I have been thinking about since I moved to Anilao.  As present day Macro Photography practices go... Alot of what a Diver now sees or doesnt see, depends highly on the guide whom they are assigned.  Are the days of Self Discovery and Self-Study gone?... Are Dive Guides now the new Dive Maps and Detailed Dive Briefings of Old?...  Looking at things in the Macro Photography Setting that I find myself in at Anilao.  This does seem like the case...



Before anyone takes offence in what I am writing, let me say that Good Marco Guides are The Super Stars of Macro Photography... To a So-So Photographer, a really good guide can mean the difference between a snapshot, and a print one can really be proud of.   And to a professional photographer it could mean the difference between UWPOTY and just another contest entry.  A good guide is definitely worth their weight in gold.  



That being said though, the practice of just going down into the water and waiting for the said guide to point something out seems to take half the fun of discovery out of diving.  The discovery that comes from poking around under rocks and corals and other such things.  Stuff which I almost automatically learned how to do all those years ago in order to find and observe something new.  Now it seems that the divers follow the guide and just wait.  Talk about not working for their dinner.  LOL.   Seems almost like spoon feeding a baby.  


Even worse still is Divers that started off like this tend to stay like this throughout their diving careers.  It takes some of the competence youd learn from diving experience away; as present day divers sad to say are too dependent on their guides.  

This being said, I guess Im using this as a challenge to all of us... All of us divers, UW photographers, Instructors Dive Pros and the whole of the worldwide diving community.



Next time you go underwater... try to spot things for yourselves... try to find your subjects on your own.  Im not saying dont follow the guide... I'm just saying there is only one of him and most of the time 5 of you.  Most likely youll get more images if you dont spend half the dive waiting for the guide to finish spotting for everyone else so he can spot you something new to shoot.  
   
   

 Sometime you may just surprise yourself and find something so amazing that the guide missed.
   
That is my challenge... Lets all learn to spot these critters we so love...
   
Lets return to the Real Essence of the sport we love so much...

Discovery...