Blue North’s responsibility
By joining Blue North Scuba Club, you have agreed that the webmaster may publish suitable group, landscape or waterscape photos from time to time. We take this responsibility seriously and will only publish respectful photos. If you have questions, please contact us.
Your responsibility as a photographer
The underwater world is a special place, and many divers love taking photos and videos in order to share the excitement of our dive experiences and adventures underwater.
There are times, though, when cameras should not be used.
As a matter of safety:
• Training Courses: Students participating in training dives should not bring cameras on the dives. They should focus on safe skills and their dive buddy. Exceptions to this can be made at the discretion of the Instructor:
- if the use of the recording device is relevant to the training (e.g., an Underwater Photography course)
• Leadership: Divers who are overseeing dive activities in an official capacity (Instructors, Assistant Instructors, Divemasters, Rescue Divers) should not use cameras while actively fulfilling those leadership/safety roles. Exceptions can be made:
- if the camera use is a necessary part of the dive activity (e.g., an Underwater Photography course)
- if the photography activity does not interfere with safety (doesn’t distract from duties with excessive manipulation of camera gear) and is approved by the Instructor or Divemaster
- if photography is being used to help document, evaluate and improve the teaching techniques of leadership personnel, or to critique Trainees’ skills.
• Divemaster’s Perogative: Divemasters supervising recreational dives can ask divers to refrain from taking cameras into the water if, in their opinion, doing so would create an unacceptable safety risk. This risk might, for example, include environmental factors, equipment configuration, dive buddy assignment and the diver’s individual level of skill.
As a matter of privacy:
• Consent: Photos and videos on land can sometime catch people in situations they would not want shared (i.e., climbing into wetsuits, dressed in bathing suits, resting between dives, etc.). Dive briefings and class briefings should not be recorded without the dive leader’s permission. Out of respect for everyone present, dive boats and shore prep areas should not be treated as “public” spaces: you are responsible for ensuring that people know and accept that you are taking their picture or recording them.
• Publishing: Before “publishing” any photos in which an individual is clearly visible, you must first seek permission from that person – even in cases like “private” albums on Facebook. Posting underwater pictures of anonymous, wetsuit-clad divers is usually ok, so long as the images are respectful, and you don’t make efforts to publicly identify the diver (e.g., do not use “tagging” on Facebook).
• Unsafe activities: “goofing around” as if participating in unsafe practices will not be tolerated and should not be photographed or videoed. Unsafe practices will not be published on our website or social media.
Blue North Scuba Club is committed to creating safe dive environments and respectfully protecting our members’ privacy; members who knowingly violate these policies will be asked to remove such videos and photographs, and may be prohibited from taking part in future club diving activities.
Blue North Scuba 