Coz, May 2015 pics and vids ....

[Sideways]

Finally getting around to starting the MASSIVE task of editing a thousand + pics and probably 100 GB of video footage. Most of the pics are done, video will be quite daunting...LOL. The first vid I have is above water, with my new toy down at El Cielo. We had a great vacation, we were able to finally hook up with ggunn and have some after dive suds! Just missed Mr. & Mrs. Sharky, and Chief But next time for sure! Diving was awesome this year. We mixed it up from the norm and didn't stay at our normal place, Blue Angel. We wanted to stay in town this time and I'd guestimate we saved upwards of $200-300 in cab fare for the 2 weeks. Also just the convienence of being right next to everything we like in town. We stayed at the Casa Mexicana and were VERY pleased! $71 a night TOTAL, which included a delicious and expansive breakfast every morn. We were diving with friends Kami and Steve, Owners and operators of Liquid Blue Divers. I don't even know where to start to sing their praises. Steel HP 120 nitrox meant 75-85 min dives. Javier is the BEST Captain I've ever had in the Caribbean. He actually engages you and makes the whole day enjoyable. Aeris was our guide along with Kami, and he was just an awesome guy! Very small dive groups, most of the 2 weeks it was us and another couple...that's it! The Bonita Luna is a very spacious, comfortable, and fast boat. Snacks are top notch with a wide selection. Javier even brought us extra treat like Empanadas. We had a couple great El Cielo trips on the boat with local friends and our dive partners on a couple of our off days. If you've yet to do El Cielo, watch my vid! I will post dive vids as I get them edited... hope you enjoy!! :cool2:



El Cielo - please watch in 1080p!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ib8bqz0u84


Vimeo

https://vimeo.com/129368549





Here are some pics from the trip

 

[marcus8]

Did someone bring their drone to Cozumel!? Awesome footage of some remote areas there. Nice pics. Thanks for taking the time out to put this together. Very enjoyable.

 

[Bill Parker]

Nice photos.

 

[StevePratt]

Greg,

How do you protect the drone against loss? I mean, how risky is it to fly your drone over the water? Would it float? In general terms, is recovery much of a challenge?

 

[Sideways]

Thanks Marcus and Bill! Steve, bottom line is, if the drone crashes or goes down with any type of velocity it's probably toast, regardless if it's water or land it hits. Yeah, on land you might recover parts to rebuild. I own a DJI Phantom 2. This platform is primarily a GPS platform. In GPS mode it flies like a dream, super easy. A couple built in safeguards with the GPS, If the battery gets low it will go into come home mode and work it's way back automatically to it's home base which I preset with every new location. Or, If I lose GPS lock, it goes into the same return mode. I've had both scenarios occur already, and both times the return feature worked like a charm. In non GPS mode, it's tougher to fly and you don't have the safeguards. GPS mode is always the primary method for me. You need at least 6 satellites to fly in GPS mode. On only one occasion did I dip down beneath that. When it did, I was put into the other mode and I could really tell the difference in flying. Here in so cal I usually have at least 8 sats. Surprisingly, In Cozumel I had 10-14 sats! The other factor is wind. Coz tends to be breezy and DJI recommends not flying in anything above 20mph. My second trip to El Cielo was probably seeing gusts of 20 and I had no positioning or flying problems.

It might seem crazy to some folks, utilizing such high risk expensive gear, but I'm kinda used to it. Having $14k invested in my underwater DSLR and video rigs, the high risk is always there for flooding one of those rigs. I find though if you treat your equipment well and be mindful the risk is minimalized. The same I believe holds true with the drone. Can things go wrong? Of course, but I do what I can to minimize risk.

 

[cicopo]

Great photos. My internet service is too slow to enjoy the videos but as an avid R/Cer fly safe. Lots of really stupid people trying very hard to ruin drone use without licensing.

 

[MMM]

GREAT shots and your video is beyond cool!

 

[sharky60]

wow! you work quick!! I'm still finishing up mine and I'm a week ahead of you!!!

great job as always amigo!!

 

[gearbow]

Thanks Marcus and Bill! Steve, bottom line is, if the drone crashes or goes down with any type of velocity it's probably toast, regardless if it's water or land it hits. Yeah, on land you might recover parts to rebuild. I own a DJI Phantom 2. This platform is primarily a GPS platform. In GPS mode it flies like a dream, super easy. A couple built in safeguards with the GPS, If the battery gets low it will go into come home mode and work it's way back automatically to it's home base which I preset with every new location. Or, If I lose GPS lock, it goes into the same return mode. I've had both scenarios occur already, and both times the return feature worked like a charm. In non GPS mode, it's tougher to fly and you don't have the safeguards. GPS mode is always the primary method for me. You need at least 6 satellites to fly in GPS mode. On only one occasion did I dip down beneath that. When it did, I was put into the other mode and I could really tell the difference in flying. Here in so cal I usually have at least 8 sats. Surprisingly, In Cozumel I had 10-14 sats! The other factor is wind. Coz tends to be breezy and DJI recommends not flying in anything above 20mph. My second trip to El Cielo was probably seeing gusts of 20 and I had no positioning or flying problems.

It might seem crazy to some folks, utilizing such high risk expensive gear, but I'm kinda used to it. Having $14k invested in my underwater DSLR and video rigs, the high risk is always there for flooding one of those rigs. I find though if you treat your equipment well and be mindful the risk is minimalized. The same I believe holds true with the drone. Can things go wrong? Of course, but I do what I can to minimize risk.

Great drone footage sideways. I also had my drone down but didn't get a chance to fly much with the wind. I actually put it in the ocean the year before. $2000.00 down the drain! I have a few questions for you on that. Do you use polarized or ND filter? What camera and settings do you shoot in typically? Protune if shooting GoPro? Post color editing? For your underwater shots what camera? Here is a short video I have done underwater with the new Gopro4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQDzQJz5H3U

 

[Brules]

Wow........what awesome vid and pics.........

And I agree - Aries is AWESOME. I hope to dive with him on my next trip for sure, though I had my best dives ever with Pedro @ BXTsea last week!