I tend to agree with Marty here. First dives should be fun! :-) In fact I did the same thing - I found a local dive shop that I trusted and got the class & pool training at home (where I could get lots of detailed instruction) and then did my check out dives in Florida. Interesting aside: my local instructor's day job was to do underwater training for astronauts at a nearby NASA installation!

As far as photography, I have done limited underwater photography myself and the best shots I ever got were in shallow water where there is ample light. If you're really serious about taking photographs in deeper water then you want to buy or rent a good underwater flash. One caveat if you're a beginner diver: bringing all that equipment down might make your first diving experience a bit more cumbersome than it should be. But capturing memories of your dives in photographs or video is priceless.

Can't wait for //ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/240871/page/0/fpart/1 to A.C. in July :-)

Coming to AC in mid-June! Can't wait! :-)