Maintaining the Same Position

[SlvrDragon50]

So I think I've gotten my equipment sorted out and basic buoyancy skills where I can maintain a horizontal trim without thinking much and my air efficiency is becoming much better as well. I am starting to get into video now though, and they're incredibly shaky! Not to mention that I have trouble staying in one position...

I know getting a tray will help me tremendously since I am using a GoPro, but I know a larger part is due to my inability to stay still. Am I just not placing my body correctly relative to the current? I feel like doing a one sided kick will only rotate me rather than keep me in the same position with the current pushing me.

Any tips?

 

[TSandM]

Shaky video can be due to a number of things.

Where are you carrying the GoPro? If you have it on your head, every time you look in any direction, the video will shift. It's VERY hard to hold your head perfectly steady, and still look for interesting things and keep track of your buddy.

If you have the camera in your hand, your hand and arm need to be softly relaxed no matter what else your body is doing. In strong current, that is a challenge, and you really need to have the positioning kicks (helicopter and back kick) solidly down, to ensure your hand does not move.

Any time you are trying to do something and are not getting it done effectively, the body will recruit other parts to help. I know this from riding AND diving. If a hand is carrying a camera, it has to be immune to that recruiting phenomenon, which means you have to have other effective ways of achieving the positioning and stability that you want.

 

[ajduplessis]

Great advise already. I want to add 1 more thing. Slow down in everything you do. If you think you are moving slowly is the perfect time to reduce it by another 200%!! Video/photography requires a steady, very slow but deliberate moves. Slow down to a "standstill"

 

[SlvrDragon50]

It's in my hand. So I guess that is one thing I was doing wrong. I have the GoPro leashed to my harness with a elastic clip and no actual handle/tray so I was kinda giving the GoPro a deathgrip. I don't know why I didn't realize this earlier considering it's the same for riding a motorcycle :|

https://vimeo.com/81967104

So in that video, if you skip towards 75% around 1:30 ish. I'm trying to capture a video of the turtle. In retrospect, I think I might have been carrying forward momentum when I began to turn towards the turtle which is why I was running into my friend, but I remember there being a current as well. It was also all within the first few minutes of the dive so I was still trying to acclimate to the surroundings.

Doing the more technical kicks is kinda going into my other issue. I have difficulty with my Apollo Bio-fins, and my jet fins hurt my ankles/knees. Starting to look into other 'tech' fins.

I think I am being too impatient with my video taking. I am noticing that I quickly sprint to the object for fear of missing out on the opportunity while the dive masters slowly float over to the object. The only thing I'm not worried about running away is a moray eel :|

 

[TSandM]

I watched your video, and I'd say you still aren't as stable as you would like to be to get really good video. Watch this video:

[video=youtube;JlUjnXBzNlc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlUjnXBzNlc&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

Can you sit this still? Can you move off and stay that stable? That's what you need to get really good, smooth video.

Talk to Dan Volker here on SB -- when I met him, he did a lot of video and it was exciting film but always shaky. He took a class called Fundamentals, that focused on tight control of buoyancy, trim and positioning, and his video improved enormously afterwards.

 

[SlvrDragon50]

Haha yea, that's the video I always go to for inspiration and motivation. That and the kick demonstration video.

I would love to do GUE Fundies, but I am without a car and money to pay for the course :|

I might enroll in one of the scuba courses at my school just to get more dive experience.

 

[Agility]

You can find a good instructor and do 1 on 1 training centered on trim and bouyancy without doing a complete fundamentals course. You will not get a c-card for it but you will learn a lot. Or you might be lucky and find mentors who will dive with you and give you tips for free
At your dive count I was not able to get pictures with the object anywhere in the middle, so I decided to work on my skills first and leave my camera at home for the time being.

 

[ucfdiver]

Haha yea, that's the video I always go to for inspiration and motivation. That and the kick demonstration video.

I would love to do GUE Fundies, but I am without a car and money to pay for the course :|

I might enroll in one of the scuba courses at my school just to get more dive experience.

Have you considered calling the manager (Doug) at EE, explaining you're a college student on a budget who wants to take fundies, and seeing if there's a way to possibly work some weekend shifts to cover the cost of a class? It's worth a shot.

If you're in Orlando sometime next month, shoot me a message. I would be glad to work with you in the pool to get your gear setup properly and make sure you can get still.

 

[SlvrDragon50]

I'll probably be back in Gainesville.

I thought you quit diving James?

 

[ucfdiver]

I'll probably be back in Gainesville.

I thought you quit diving James?

Nope, not as active as in the past, but still pulling off dives here and there. I did 4 mexico cave trips, so that ate a lot of the scuba budget this last year and I didn't dive much in FL.