First Underwater Video

[Hotpuppy]

Hi,
I had a chance to do some local diving this weekend and took my Canon G9 down to shoot some video. I edited the video to remove the worst shooting offenses and useless material.

However, I'd like some feedback on where others think I can improve.

The areas that I think are an issue:
- Watch the tether to keep it out of the lens
- Be more aware of fingers to keep them out of the lens. For video I chose to hold the camera housing by the projection on the front as opposed to holding it by the back where the seals are.
- Watch camera motion as it is exaggerated on tape/film.
- Use more distance to provide a better perspective on objects.


Video run length is approximately 7 minutes, format is HD, editing was done in Roxio Video Wave. Output is 720p for compatibility with YouTube.

Currently hosted on my Facebook page so that the rest of my dive club can get to it.

Welcome to Facebook | Facebook

 

[Hotpuppy]

I uploaded this to YouTube recently... so it might be easier to view there.

YouTube - Blue Lagoon Scuba Park

 

[gunsrunner]

That Canon G9 takes fairly good video! The site reminds me of a site near me, but we have a couple of planes as well. They are obviously new wrecks.
Music, there are free music sites you can get music from to use on your vid's.
Distance, the further away you are the more blue and less contrast your video will have, a wide angle lens is better.
This would work better in a more interesting site, when you are filming it is best to keep the camera focused on the one area and let the life or scenery tell the story. Moving around with the camera, to show as much as possible doesn't work as well.

I also couldn't help but notice your breathing, one bit of advice that has worked for me. Count to four as you breath in and count to 10 as you breath out, it takes a lot of practice, but once you get used to it your air will last a lot longer. i still only get to 8 when breathing out but my air consumption is much better now!

Keep practicing, reading and watching other vids and you will get better with every dive.

Oh, and youtube can take 1080p now, but it does take a long time to upload and download.

 

[OceanView]

Hello Hotpuppy,
Welcome to the fascinating world of underwater videography. You have made a good start but there is lots of room for improvement. Your video should tell a story, even if that story is just about a couple of buddies getting together to dive a local site. Remember the five W's, Who, What, When, Where and Why. There is more to underwater videography than placing a camera inside a waterproof housing and taking it for a swim. Check out: Top Ten Tips - OceanViewvideos.net for some helpful suggestions.

 

[Hotpuppy]

A little bit about this video... it's really only the second time I used my Canon underwater. The first time was the day before this when I took some underwater pictures. On Sunday I decided to "take the camera" and "shoot some video" just to see how it worked and get a feel for what it was like.

I wasn't aware that Youtube could use 1080P! woohoo! HD is awesome and the HD capability was a real bonus with the Canon G9. I'm using the stock housing btw and it works well for my needs. As someone wise once said, never take more camera on a dive than you can afford to flood. It's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' you will flood a camera underwater.

Anyhow, it's been my observation that there are two kinds of divers.... those who like to 'adrenaline dive' and do things like wreck penetration and cave diving. I have a great deal of respect, but very little interest in those activities. The other type of diver seems to be interested in seeing things or taking pictures/video. I fall into the second category and my two dives with the camera really cemented it for me.

Oceanview's tips were great. All spot on. Yes, my breathing needs work. Really it's the body that needs work, I'm working on losing a bit of weight and improving my overall health. I think that will do alot for my breathing and diving. For the time being I am doing well enough on air to keep up with other more experienced divers.

The thing that really struck me was how the camera magnified movement. Video is an intriguing animal that will make me more aware of my breathing and buoyancy. I shot a total of 18 minutes and did some serious editing to get down to a tolerable 7 minutes. I had to edit out the couple of times I made wild swings and forgot the camera was there.... That said, diving is first, taking pictures or video is second. Never let your camera interfere with the safety of another diver or yourself.

When I put the video together I decided not to score it intentionally. I wanted a few of my non-diving friends to see what it was like to dive. That was why I started at the surface and showed some of the descent along with some of the wrecks. I wanted them to have a sense of how you are able to swim along the wrecks and explore things. I stuck the disclaimers on the video as "just in case" so that nobody would think I was encouraging bad dive practices. I also wouldn't want someone to see the video on Youtube and be encouraged to go inside a wreck without proper training. For a few of my friends, this is as close to diving as they will get, so it gives them a glimpse of what we enjoy. For other friends I want to get them hooked and that dive site was particularly nice for Texas. Most of our water isn't that alkaline and as a result is filled with algae and other exciting fauna.

I'm planning on practicing alot more and being able to take better video. I think buoyancy is alot like Zen, you can be good, but there is always room to be better. My next two 'cool' dive trips are to flower gardens and Cozumel. Flower Gardens has been cancelled twice due to high seas.... only thing worse than being in 7 to 10 foot seas is being surrounded by 20 to 30 sick divers in 7 to 10 foot seas! Cozumel is a dive club trip and I think there are something like 30 to 40 of us going which is going to be spectacular!

 

[OceanView]

Hello Hotpuppy,
One of the keys to buoyancy control is to determine exactly how much weight you require on your weight belt. A good exercise to establish neutral buoyancy while at the surface is to take a deep breath, deflate your BCD until you float at eye level with fully inflated lungs and then begin your descent simply by exhaling. With practice you will become very good at establishing neutral buoyancy. You may also find that your breathing becomes more relaxed while filming since you tend to stay in one place for awhile. If you are going to include the sounds of your breathing in your video it is a good idea to find a safe place to lay on the bottom and record a couple of minutes worth of audio. You can then loop this audio into your edited video mix so that your breathing sounds continuous.
You have a couple of exciting trips coming up. It will be interesting to see if the oil spill has had any impact on the flower gardens. Let's hope not. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[ronscuba]

Don't forget the buoyancy of your housing/camera. It should be close to neutral. If it's not, it will mess with your buoyancy and trim, making holding still a real challenge.

 

[mobula]

Maybe interesting for you:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...nto-videography-looking-help.html#post4833310