Video of Sunday GUE/Adventure Dive

[danvolker]

somebody really liked that turtle. flutter kicked the reef to hell and back lol

awesome video tho

• We are encouraging non-DIR divers to dive with us, and gain exposure to DIR and GUE ideas and techniques. We do not make fun of people who dive with us....
• If you wanted a world class still photographer to take some shots for you, you would NOT be looking for a GUE diver....you would be looking for an "Artist" / Photographer. If you can slowly add some DIR skills and ideas to the u/w photographer/artist, all the better.
• While I don't personally have any trouble beating a 2.5 mile per hour current and pushing a video camera, most divers trying to push a still camera with big strobes are going to be very low to the bottom, to be out of the current--and in this case, the mission/objective is to get a good turtle shot---I don't care in the slightest if the photographer stirred up a bit of sand off the bottom. I'd be more concerned with the problems of divers 10 feet off the bottom, who are unable to move against or sideways to the current, because they are too afraid of potentially silting ( we are not in cave, there is no shot to ruin..) so potentially, they may be unable to reach the objective.

Just another point of view

 

[danvolker]

Great video Dan. Thanks for sharing! Looks like tons of fun!

Wish I had hung around for the sharks - next time !

Glad you liked it. You will be in the thursday and Friday Videos, whenever I get time to edit them

See you next time !

 

[danvolker]

Thanks, Dan! That was fun to watch and relive. I loved the thick school of baitfish at the bow of the wreck, with the grouper -- even though we were in the next group, we saw them, too.

I did have to laugh at some of the video, though. My conclusion, at the end of three days, was that normal people go down and video fish; DIR divers video one another

Lynn,
I can't tell you how nice it was to finally meet you and Peter.

As to your advice, ironically, I have already had some feedback ( which I disagree with) that I should shoot less marine life and more GUE Divers.....what do you think ?

 

[danvolker]

Excellent video Dan. Thanks for sharing.

Those were 2 really cool dives. Still can't get over how absolutely huge those groupers were.

Henrik

I know, they are so big they pretty much ignore the sharks as well!

I will try to get the other videos edited and up next week.

 

[ScubaSam]

Great video, Dan. Looking forward to seeing the other videos. Thanks for posting.

 

[Rubis]

Great video Dan, I did not dare get that close to the sharks

Goliath Groupers and friends on Vimeo

I have some footage of you chasing the grouper though ... Nice to see it from your perspective

 

[TSandM]

No, Dan, we can go anywhere in the world and see GUE divers . . . where but Florida are we going to see Goliath Groupers, lemon sharks, and schools of fish? But of course, always get SOME footage of the divers, so we can make ourselves crazy picking holes in our technique

 

[Trace Malinowski]

No, Dan, we can go anywhere in the world and see GUE divers . . . where but Florida are we going to see Goliath Groupers, lemon sharks, and schools of fish? But of course, always get SOME footage of the divers, so we can make ourselves crazy picking holes in our technique

A friend of mine from Melbourne, FL sent me this in Facebook after watching the video:

Recreational Diver: Wow!! Those dives were fantastic.....100 ft. viz, Goliath Groupers, Moray Eels, Sea Turtles, Reef Fish, Lemon Sharks, Wrecks.......what a fantastic day of diving.

DIR Diver: Man, those dives sucked, my trim was 2.5 degrees off!!

Great minds think alike.

 

[HenrikBP]

Trace, I think it's important to realize that it is perfectly possible to "compartmentalize" and have both "feelings" co-exist. I.e. "wow, look at that - I ought to tension up my butt a bit and get my knees up" as well as "absolutely Rocking dive with tons of cool stuff, that I was able to enjoy so much more because I got to share it with likeminded divers".

Henrik

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Trace, I think it's important to realize that it is perfectly possible to "compartmentalize" and have both "feelings" co-exist. I.e. "wow, look at that - I ought to tension up my butt a bit and get my knees up" as well as "absolutely Rocking dive with tons of cool stuff, that I was able to enjoy so much more because I got to share it with likeminded divers".

Henrik

Henrik,

I agree with you. Participants in all sports experience the same. You really wish you hadn't dropped the pass in the end zone. You wish you didn't contact the ceiling in the cave. But, while we know that athletes, including top athletes, in all sports can be critical of themselves, DIR divers seem to have carved themselves a reputation as "Nancy Kerrigans" rather than "Wayne Gretzkys."

Within the organization "looking good" and being praised for it has become a major aspect of the activity. Like hockey players we need skills to perform our sport, but like hockey players, divers use their skills to achieve a goal. Is a hockey player more concerned with how he looked scoring the goal, or the fact that he scored the goal? A figure skater is more concerned with looking good because the goal of figure skating is to make the skills look good in competition.

When you are lucky enough to get in the water with divers like Dan Volker and Bill Mee, it's an excellent opportunity to observe and you'll find they aren't always perfect and they won't beat themselves up for it. Because they know what is important and when it's time to really fix something.

Underwater, when you "drop the ball" shake it off like a pro quarterback and continue on and don't beat yourself up for it. You look back in a cave, see some silt, adjust and let it go.