Disposable. Camera.

Cpt. Brian D. Hahn swims underneath a parachute canopy during water survival training in Archer pool at Fort Bragg, N.C. on September 9, 2011. Hahn is a U.S. Army Reserve Soldier with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations command. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres)

   Disposable Cameras. Because sometimes your Public Affairs shop can't afford an underwater case for your cameras.

   Normally, when my shop was tasked with taking photos at a pool event, we grab a camera, and hang out on the sides of the pool staying mostly dry. I However, like to swim. I love the pool. So when I was asked to cover this event at the pool at Fort Bragg I had one thought on my mind,  

   "Can I go swimming before as my PT for the day?" I asked 

   "Sure," my boss replied. 

   I was sold. 

   Then I said to myself,

"Self, you should get an underwater camera, even though you haven't ever used a disposable camera; because when you where a kid your mom wouldn't let you touch a camera, not even a disposable one, but now, now is your chance!"

   So I went ahead and bought one. Yes, I even used my own money. Technically, Uncle Sam gave me the money, so technically he bought it, but that is neither here nor there.

   So I broke out the camera expecting wonders. And then I realized not only was I at they mercy of film and full auto mode, holding my breath and taking a photo is hard. Not even factoring in that I had just spent an hour doing laps before hand, I was tired, and so where my lungs. There was more then one occasion I found myself gasping for air. Oh, and did I mention the viewfinders on those things are ridiculously small?

   To make matters worse, this particular photo was taken underneath a parachute canopy. Not only were my lungs bursting every time I went underwater, but if I were to freak out and try to just stick my head out of the water,  I'd find the canopy wrapped around my head like plastic wrap around a watermelon. 

   Luckily however, I managed to hold my breath long enough and/or not freak out and drown myself. Granted there was a whole...army...(bad pun) of people around  who probably could have resuscitated me, but lets just stick with the danger theme. 

   But really, besides the difficulty of just breathing, this shot was 50% camera 50% luck. I had no focus to worry about. But honestly I always shoot auto-focus, why waste my time with focus? I'm no hipster, point and shoot, move on. There was no camera settings to mess up, well, I suppose I could have missed the shutter button... And with just 20ish frames, his facial expression could have been substantially different making this frame. 

   Regardless, when this came out of the local wal-greens photo shop, I was happy. Well worth the 14.99, the price of a disposable camera. Oh and the 5.99 it cost to develop the film.... 

   On second thought, maybe 21.99 was just too much...

P.S. If you're really interested in seeing the other shots I took you can find them at the USACAPOC(A) Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usacapoc/sets/72157627676562742/