Mukilteo 4/12/11 60 Second Report

[Nwbrewer]

Paulicarp and I did a little tour around the T-dock last week. Vis was OK, but not great, and the current was moving along pretty good. Got to visit the wolfeel in the geodome, then out to the brickyard in search of small stuff.

I've come to the realization that I like shooting video a lot more than stills, I think my next camera is going to be a countour or a goPro. Apologies in advance for the shaky nature of the video, shooting macro with no image stabilizer while kicking off angle to the current most of the time isn't easy.


60 Second report -
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/22481630[/vimeo]

[sheahanmcculla]

Nice video Jake! Yeah I think you would be good at videos. I would "Gopro" ...

[Agent 47]

The Gopro is an awesome camera, but you may want to mount it onto something big ( Scooter? ) to help with shakey video. the smaller your camera the easier it picks up minute vibrations in the hand holding it and you get vibrations in your footage. mounting it to a scooter is like a massive sea anchor and it makes your footage much smoother.

[Nwbrewer]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. It'll probably get mounted to a massive battery pack so I have good lighting. A scooter would be great, but I'm afraid not in the budget.

[John Rawlings]

....you may want to mount it onto something big ( Scooter? ) to help with shakey video. the smaller your camera the easier it picks up minute vibrations in the hand holding it and you get vibrations in your footage. mounting it to a scooter is like a massive sea anchor and it makes your footage much smoother.

Improving "shaky" video by buying a scooter for multiple thousands of dollars???? That in fact might be a "solution" for certain situations....but the cost alone makes it unrealistic for the vast majority of divers. There are many ways of improving video stability far less expensively than a scooter, a "solution" that brings limitations and problems all by itself.

Believe it or not, a cheap tripod works just as well underwater as it does topside. I've seen people use small backpacker's tripods that they used with the legs contracted for small close-up footage at or near the bottom and extending the legs for wide-angle shots. One videographer that I know used a mono-pod to stabilize his shots when shooting on deep walls....it works....and was cheaper than dirt.

Jake, there are a lot of really talented underwater videographers here on NWDC....among them Agent47. You might consider posting questions about stability in the photo/video forum to find out how each of them has dealt with the problems. I'm sure that you will get some good feedback and advice. Then try out some of the suggestions.

- John

[dieseldude]

To each his own on giving up stills. I'll admit that videos are fun to watch but good video requires allot of work after the shoot that I personally dont have time for & I think the 1 challenge that is shared between stills & video is that if the raw footage isnt good, you can only edit it so much. I find myself throwing away lots of pics I used to keep. The "money" shots are golden & treasured that much more. I also see stills becoming a thing of the past as everyone jumps on the video band wagon. I also dont see National Geographic or the Discovery Channell hiring me so I'll just hang my fav shots on the wall at home. I cant frame & hang a video.
Either way, as an observer I enjoy viewing either medium & Hope to see you keep posting your work. I have been blowing off Muk lately for some dives that only come around every so often & I feel a bit like I am cheating on my girlfriend. I need to check on the homestead. The wolfie is getting big on me & i'll bet all the babies have hatched under the deep boat already.
Keep us posted,
MJ

[Norris]

no babies at the deep boat.... :( But I got the crap scared out of me by the "man" last time I went there. I didnt know he was right by the deep boat...ha ha

[sheahanmcculla]

This is cool for the gopro: http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog ... -3101.html