- If you're going to swim, swim. If you're going to film, film. Don't try to do both. You don't enjoy the swimming and the filming comes out too bumpy to use.
- The Playsport worked great. It was easy to start and stop and the display was clear. I could always tell what was going on with it, even with the mask.
- Our deepest was about 35-40'. The camera never failed. I smeared its ports with silicone just to be sure it wouldn't leak and was easily able to peel the silicone off after we got home.
- You have to be careful how you hold the camera. The way I was holding it, I sometimes unwittingly zoomed the thing all the way in. My thumb was on the zoom control. I kept having to zoom back out.
- Dedicate some time to filming. Don't shoot until you pick a spot and settle down. Then film with nice, slow, calm sweeps. There will be plenty of cool things to see.
- If no one else is diving and the swells are huge and the tide is in so there is almost no beach and only cliffs, it might be a good idea to postpone the dive. It was pretty brutal coming back in and struggling to the stairs to get out of the surf zone. Whew!
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Diving In The Kelp Beds
Yesterday, two of our boys and I went diving in the kelp beds off of La Jolla Cove. We took along the Kodak Playsport and I did some filming. I got a little bit of worthwhile footage which I rough cut into the video below. Lots of lessons were learned.
That was really neat, especially with the swimming noises and fish and the huge kelps and such. It looked like a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that's the first video I've seen that really made me think I'd like to go diving and stuff. Maybe because it wasn't super-professional and Jacques Cousteau-ish, I could imagine myself there. :)
So, I take it you're moving towards the philosophy of "When you have to shoot, shoot! Don't talk! (or, in this case, swim).
ReplyDeleteThat place looks like it is really something to dive in. Not only are there a lot of big fish, they don't seem to be particularly concerned about you. Are these the kelp beds that the sea otters live in?
Tim, there aren't otters down here, we might be too warm for them. There are seals, however, and one of the boys had a seal swim right up to him and look into his mask. He said the seal's eyes looked human.
ReplyDeleteThe fish we caught on film were actually pretty modest. There's lots of better stuff to see and we'll try to catch it on the next dive by sitting still in a kelp clearing.
Suburban, glad you liked it! I didn't think of the amateur nature of the movie making diving seem more accessible. Great comment!
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