First the Epirb, then the helmet cam, priorities. I spoke with a friend yesterday about my trip, and he kept saying, "dude, you need a camera". I agree, but in both cases with the jumpers, it was a "get the hell out of the way situation", seriously. Especially with the Swordfish, a truly frightening experience, amazingly beautiful, but an amazing display of power as well (shaking hands, heart in your throat stuff). The idea of pulling the digi out of your pocket, and having to focus according to distance, is really hoping. We all know this from trying to get good whale shots. Whales are huge, and pretty slow, but challenging to photograph, even though they surface over and over, in a predictable direction. If I had my camera ready in hand (on burst mode) I could of got some amazing shots. Especially on the last jumps coming straight for me, as I wouldn't have even had to focus the camera, crazy.
The helmet cam is the only way to go, to capture these rare opportunities. Especially if you consider the amount of work that goes into these trips. I'm out here to catch these fish, and taking a photo is way back on my list of priorities. It's only when you get home, and didn't have a true shot anyway, that you start thinking "man, if I only got some photos".
