Commerical Diving and Media

[derek]

GLOC,
Save your money. If you only intend to undertake UW Photography and write articles for recreational diving magazines you come under the Recreational Diving Code of Practise.
If you intend to sell the results and or hopefully undertake commission work for clients, you will come under the Media Diving Code of Practice.
In either case a CMAS 3 star or equivalent is sufficient for the job. But you will require a HSE Diving medical to comply with the law.
If you have reached CMAS 3 * or above you are more experienced than any HSE SCUBA Certification which personally is a waste of money in my opinion for this type of work. Spend the money on better equipment to get better results.

The term "media divers" includes: stunt people, journalists, presenters, photographers, camera operators, sound and lighting technicians, and the unit crew

See www.hse.gov.uk/diving/qualifications/med.htm#ftnt1

HSE approves the following additional qualifications for the class of Media Diving.

1. Where the divers are actors and performers and their associated safety divers (including stunt divers and presenters) who regularly dive as part of their work, and who are taking part in a live performance or the recording of a performance:
Recreational

• CMAS 3*
• CMAS 3* equivalent in a recreational agency/organisation whose qualifications are approved by HSE for the class of Recreational Diving

2. In Benign Pools, Tanks or Aquariums, which is defined as inland in Great Britain in a tank or pool artificially constructed for the purpose of swimming or diving or use as an aquarium, where the diver is in full view from the surface at all times, where no entanglement or entrapment hazards are present, with no interference from other activities, no scenery or set, and where the diver does not have any specially adapted diving equipment and/or specialist production equipment rigged on them whilst diving (the specialist production equipment rigged on the diver includes sound, lights and cameras):
Recreational

• CMAS 2*
• CMAS 2* equivalent in a recreational agency/organisation whose qualifications are approved by HSE for the class of Recreational Diving

See www.hse.gov.uk/diving/qualifications/index.htm#para8 for list of approved CMAS Equivalents

[bottlefish]

Originally Posted by derek

The term "media divers" includes: stunt people, journalists, presenters, photographers, camera operators, sound and lighting technicians, and the unit crew

See www.hse.gov.uk/diving/qualifications/med.htm#ftnt1

HSE approves the following additional qualifications for the class of Media Diving.

1. Where the divers are actors and performers and their associated safety divers (including stunt divers and presenters) who regularly dive as part of their work, and who are taking part in a live performance or the recording of a performance:
Recreational

• CMAS 3*
• CMAS 3* equivalent in a recreational agency/organisation whose qualifications are approved by HSE for the class of Recreational Diving

I'm not sure that you've interpreted that correctly.

The paragraph is pretty badly phrased, but the footnotes seem to make more sense. My interpretation of it is that actors/presenters who get a quick gig underwater only need to hold CMAS 3* or equivalent, however the surrounding camera crew, safety divers or presenters who regularly do work underwater etc would still need HSE Scuba.

However I'm pretty sure that UW photography and journalism would generally fall outside of the media ACOPS. End of the day your not being paid to dive, you are generating money by selling the product of a dive (e.g the photos, or the writings of the experience).

[BJ]

Despite what people selling courses might tell you, I'm not sure there is any such job as a professional underwater photographer. Build your reputation as a photographer and you might on day be asked to take a picture underwater. Then you might need some dive training and certification. When I was an advertising photographer I had to learn to free-fall, to rock climb etc etc. I once got asked to assist a guy with a reputation as a top car photographer to photograph an Audi underwater. I never got asked to do an underwater photograph that did not involve scale models and a large tank of water!
They hire photographers who can dive, not divers who can take photographs!

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by BJ

They hire photographers who can dive, not divers who can take photographs!

From a layman's POV John, I'd say that Gloc is far more the former than the latter. I can imagine people buying his pictures. They have something that I cannot define about them, yet they stand apart from most that we see.

Adrian

[A. Berk]

Originally Posted by Adrian Kelland

I can imagine people buying his pictures. They have something that I cannot define about them, yet they stand apart from most that we see.

Xxxxxxactly, and it looks like a pretty definitive answer has come out of all this - fergit part IV and save your dosh for a Hasselblad J B is right about the photog/diver bit, the only scenario I could imagine someone needed an HSE of any kind would be to do some industrial work and for that there are more than enough commie divers who can swing a camera around good enough for that sort of job.

Berko