I like that title, "Solo diving coming out of the closet." If you look at the letter of the rules to most agencies, instructor’s are able to go into the water with more people than you might think. And more than one, do not require instructors to "absolutely" have a safety diver/dive master per a certain ratio. That isn’t the same thing as saying that it isn’t highly recommended; it is. However, at the end of the day, Instructors in a significant number of agencies are able to teach without a safety diver in the class. So, if the Instructor is in the water with 4 people who are not certified divers, then just who exactly is that Instructor’s Dive Buddy? Answer: he / she doesn’t effectively have one. Then if you are a photographer, you are effectively diving alone. Or, you would prefer to dive alone. If you ask someone to "spot you" while you shoot, then just who is watching your spotter? So you have to ask 2 people to come along on every shoot? Lol! So, when I shoot, my best friend is my friendly, neighborhood harbor master. I back off on depth, current, all the points of dive planning, and let my local harbor master know when I am going in, and when I am going on. If I don’t have a harbor master on a dive, I call the Coast Guard and tell them instead. I always do it, and they know the drill. In fact, I have done it so much my CG and HM know "the drill." So in effect, I still don’t dive alone with a shoot because there are a lot of people who know my dive site, what time I am in and what time I am out, exactly. I have a marine ship to ship handheld in my dive bag and I check in and out.