stphnmartin

Stopped in Ambon last October for a few days of diving after a LOB trip in the. Banda Sea. If you haven't dived Ambon it's well worth the stop as the macro life is wonderful and abundant. This was my second time visiting and diving with Critterjunkies. Here's the video of the underwater experience. Comments and critiques welcomed.

Thanks Davide! No, I don't use red filters. For the scene at 1:58 and other parts of the video I used ambient lighting with a custom white balance set in camera with a gray card.

I find VLOG helpful in preventing some purple fringing. This is the first time I've used it extensively.

Thanks dreifish. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment. I did apply default level (2.5) sharpening in FCPX to help counter the softness of vlog in some scenes. I'm wondering if you can point out a particular scene that demonstrates the overdone sharpness you're seeing.

Okay, you're talking about the barrel distortion. Thanks for the clarification. I agree not many will notice the shape of the turtles head for the second or two it's at the edge of the frame. I used the 8mm for the sharks. Not the best, but it's what I had with me. Sometimes I compromise between lenses and luggage space! I also have the 7-14 Olympus and would have preferred it should I had it along.

Thanks for the feedback Interceptor121. I'm curious about this statement: "...look for example at the turtle progression and how the 8mm really does not fit that situation." I'm wondering if you can expand upon this as I'm not clear on what you mean. Thanks!

I took a trip aboard the MSY Seahorse in the Banda Sea back in late September/early October. The primary goal of such a trip is to see schooling hammerhead sharks. This was my second attempt and managed to get some good footage of them. It's really quite a challenge to capture them well as you never know when they will show up and how close they'll be. The GH5 has a hard time focusing on such a subject in the water column at a distance. My strategy each dive was to swim off the wall, turn around and focus the lens on a contrasty area on the verge of visibility. Then, I would keep my fingers away from the focus lever for the rest of the dive! When we finally encountered the school, I had to make a few short fin kicks towards them till the focus peaking appeared around them on the monitor, then pressed record! Here is the video of the trip. Comments and critiques are welcomed.

Did three days of diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic out of Beaufort, NC with Discovery Diving. Hit the wrecks of the Aeolus and Spar. Visibility wasn't the best, but managed to spend some quality time with the sand tiger sharks. In a day's dive there we usually do one offshore dive and one in shore dive. On the inshore dives I usually do macro as the viz is poorer. However, this year the viz was so bad in shore we didn't even try. So, it was all wide angle. The challenge with shooting sand tigers is they are so white on the bottom it's easy to overexpose as they get closer. Here's the video. Comments and critiques are welcomed.

If you're still looking, I have one to sell.

Thanks. 1. Mavic 2 Pro 2. Wide angle: 2 sola 3800s, 1 bigblue 6500, sola 500. Macro: 1 sola 3800, 1 sola 500, Scubalamp snoot light. 3. Yes, I color corrected in post.

No, I don't own a WWL.

All the wide angle shots underwater are with the 8mm Olympus. I don't use the WWL. I think I may have used the 12-50 only on the frogfishes as they are a bit larger. All other smaller critters were shot with the 60mm.

I used the 8mm and 60mm along with the 12-50mm. The 60 mm and 12-50mm can use the same port. You can see these lenses in action here getting wide and macro/super macro shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBGKdzHcaAY

I'm in Seattle and went Seattle > Taipei > Jakarta > Makassar > Luwuk. Yep, 4 flights, with 8 hours in the Jakarta Airport--got a room at the hotel to rest. At the end of all the flying is a 3 hour van ride. The upside to the distance is you will not see other dive operators in the area!

Thanks TaxiDiver14! Thanks Dave! I don't know why the anemone decided it was time to recall the harlequin crab, but I'm glad I had the camera rolling!

Back in March it took a dive trip to Central Sulawesi to Tompotika Dive lodge. One of the great things about this destination is it's the only dive operator in the area so it's just you and your friends on each dive site! Sites are varied from Raja Ampat-esque reefs to Anilao-like muck dives. The lodge is right on the beach and there's a muck house reef. Dive sites are usually around 10 - 30 minutes away on the boat. I shot the GH5 in a nauticam housing with an 8mm, 12-50mm and 60mm with a cmc-1. Comments and critiques are welcomed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBGKdzHcaAY

Thanks cjorca. Yes, deception pass is my favorite dive in the PNW. The colors are incredible due to the raging current through the pass. You definitely have to wait for good conditions to be able to pull off a dive there. But, it's worth it! Thanks SwiftFF5!

Thanks hyp! Appreciate it! Thanks echo2600!

Back in September I concluded a liveaboard tip to the Banda Sea with a stop over in Ambon before flying home. I got in 12 dives in 3 days with Critterjunkies by divebluemotion. The dive shop is pretty basic and located on the shores of Laha. And, like most parts of Indonesia, sanitation is not at levels we experience in the west. So, the rocky beach was covered in plastic as well areas beneath the water. However, many magical creatures make this area home. The water was warm enough for comfort in a 5mm wetsuit for long muck dives and viz varied from 30-50 feet, although on the last day, after a harsh rain, viz deteriorated to 2-3 feet! The top of the critter list was the psychedelic frogfish (PFF) and I didn't expect to actually see one. But, our guide had found one several days earlier and we got to see one on the second dive! There is competition amongst the dive guides and operators to find PFFs so when went to look for the PFF, our guide had one diver visit with the PFF while the others were off at a distance so other guides or boats couldn't figure out the location. It was like a secret mission. However, the PFF was in shallow water and the surge and particulate made for really difficult shooting conditions. Here's a video of what I encountered in 12 dives. Comments and critiques welcome.

Put together the better clips from diving the Salish Sea this past winter. Cold water does have some beautiful things to offer! Comments and critiques welcome. Gear list is in the video description.

Thanks a lot! I used the M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO and Nauticam 4.33' port for the wide shots. All the macro shots were set on a tripod. I'd like to say I'm that steady handheld, but it's impossible. I have two sola 3800s but barely used them. I mainly use a sola 500 spot with a semi DIY snoot. However, I lost part of the snoot on the first dive and rigged my own from a pen and eye dropper. It kinda worked! Yes, our dive guide was Pong and he works for Crystal Blue resorts. He was awesome and enthusiastic. We gave him a list of the critters we wanted to see. We got everything on the list with the exception of a jawfish with eggs. I'm glad I kept your home privacy intact!

Super amazing and inspiring. Fantastic filming, creativity and editing. Something to aspire to! Thanks for sharing.

What are you viewing the video on? I'm not seeing the softness at that time point. I shoot in 4k and output at 1080 to be able to punch into the scene if needed. I shoot in manual focus and use focus and exposure peaking. I didn't say the particulate in the water effects focus, I said the filter I used in post to remove some of the particulate causes softness.

Yes, all manual focus. There are several mantis shrimp scenes, are you saying all of them are out of focus? The scene with the mantis shrimp juggling the eggs is out of focus a bit, but I liked the action so I kept it in. Also, there was a lot of particulate in the water, so the dust and scratches filter may be taking away some sharpness.

Wolfgang, yes the small stuff was shot with the 60mm and CMC-1. I did have a fisheye lens for the wide shots. And perhaps a few were taken with the 12-50mm, but 95% with the 60mm.