Belize dive video

stphnmartin · Post by **stphnmartin** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:42 pm

I was tempted to put this in the dive reports section, but since it took me a year to get this one done, the video section seems more appropriate. Anyway, this time last year I went on my first liveaboard trip to Belize on the Sun Dancer II which is now a part of the Aggressor fleet. Now I'm hooked on liveaboards! I got in 27 dives and managed to see some very cool things such as dolphins, eagle rays and a manatee. Of course I didn't get any decent footage of those creatures. Nor did I find a frog fish! But, I did confirm ambient light and clearer water really messes with my PNW grown underwater video skills. I'll stop typing now and just give you the link.

I like to keep videos down to 2-3 minutes for short attention spans. But, this one weighs in at over 6 minutes. Hope you can hang in there! (The coolest stuff is at the end!)

phpBB [video]

GearHead · Post by **GearHead** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:00 am

Very well done! As in your other videos, the drone shots add overall perspective and narrative quality.
I need to get back to some warmer water soon.

Scubie Doo · Post by **Scubie Doo** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:59 am

Superb!!!!! Your videos are absolutely amazing.

BillZ · Post by **BillZ** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:45 pm

Very Cool!

I really like the Garden Eel scene - I can never seem to get within 50 feet of them before they shoot back in their hole.

Did you do anything to waterproof your Phantom drone? I've looking around for a waterproof GoPro capable drone but what's out there isn't very impressive.

stphnmartin · Post by **stphnmartin** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:06 pm

Thanks Billz. Yeah, I couldn't get close to the garden eels either. My camera has a 10X optical zoom, so I was off a ways and fully zoomed in (also why it's a little fuzzy). Then I went back on a second dive with the wide angle lens to get the scene of the garden eel colony. Prior to this, I sat the camera up right next to one of their holes, started recording and swam away. I managed to get 3 minutes of footage of the hole! It never emerged!

I haven't waterproofed the drone. I've been relying upon not crashing into water. So far so good. There's the phantom 2 for the GoPro. While the gopro would be protected, the drone would die when it hits the salt water.

stphnmartin · Post by **stphnmartin** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:42 pm

GearHead wrote:Very well done! As in your other videos, the drone shots add overall perspective and narrative quality.
I need to get back to some warmer water soon.

Thanks GearHead! I need to be back in warmer water soon too.

stphnmartin · Post by **stphnmartin** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:42 pm

Scubie Doo wrote:Superb!!!!! Your videos are absolutely amazing.

Appreciate it Scubie!

Gdog · Post by **Gdog** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:29 pm

Wow....very impressive! Top notch all the way. Could be something you would see on tv!

stphnmartin · Post by **stphnmartin** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:51 pm

Gdog wrote:Wow....very impressive! Top notch all the way. Could be something you would see on tv!

Thanks Gdog! Hope things are going well with your wife's recovery.

Gdog · Post by **Gdog** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:49 pm

stphnmartin wrote:
Gdog wrote:Wow....very impressive! Top notch all the way. Could be something you would see on tv!
Thanks Gdog! Hope things are going well with your wife's recovery.

She is recovering slowly. Thank you!

Northwest Dive Club