Europe Trip (Favorite Photos) - ICELAND Reykjavik- October 2013

ICELAND!!!!

Probably not the place you'd go to for a scuba (dry-suit) experience...but that's exactly what we did....

I believe the water temperature was 2 degrees Celsius....it was pretty cold, but to have the experience of diving between the continental divide (AND BEING ABLE TO TOUCH BOTH SIDES AT THE SAME TIME) is something I'm quite proud to have done.

Putting into practice all that i had learned about underwater videography, into THIS particular drive was extremely challenging. This was because we had to wear dry-suits and fight off the cold at the same time.

The dry suits in themselves were very difficult to move in but extremely necessary. In addition to this, dry-suits are extremely buoyant AND you further fill them with air from your tank! Xontrolling assent and decent was a challenging to say the lest.... let alone fiddling with cameras and trying to get the right angle and not shake!

Oh and then there was the fact that the gloves we had to wear had only THREE FAT GIANT FINGERS...which made using the Gopro rather difficult.

Still, I had fun :) and here's the result (remember to watch it in HD..click on the little cog on the bottom right and choose 720p):

And this is the other thing i will always remember about Iceland.....to see this live and with your own eyes is an unforgettable experience.....The Aurora Borealis!

Diving WW2 Ship Wrecks of Palawan

So after about a week of editing, fixing and cutting, here's my the product. The visibility was not the best but was it still alright. Had to edit out a few mistakes like pesky lens caps and me getting caught on coral =P, but it was all good.

Thanks muchly to dive master/instructor Archie, who was ever so accommodating and professional.

Anyhow hope you enjoy it (watch it in HD!!! click the option at the bottom of the Youtube frame) .....

The timelapse sunrise was taken on the south-east corner of Uson Island - Palawan, Philippines. A localized map is shown below.

Filming Underwater #2

So needless to say when you're diving and filming at the same time you can easily get distracted takeing in your amazing surroundings and accidentally forget that your filming!

This leads me to my second point...

Lesson #2: Secure loose cables or they WILL get caught!!!

These are, of course, rather "common sense" things to say/do but when you're in-the-moment and just itching to jump into the water/sea you may forget to do this (as I did).

So take a moment, get your dive buddy to check your gear. Besides obviously checking each other's BC, regulators and other dive equipment, take a few moments to make sure you secure (tuck-away/tie-together/tape along side) any camera cables, mono-pods, cases etc. floating behind you.

It wont take long, and believe me it'll save you more time in the long run, not to mention it'll save your shot/clip.

The video below shows me getting snagged onto coral just as I am doing a follow shot into a world war two Japanese wreck.


This is what happens WHEN YOU DO NOT SECURE YOUR GEAR.....

Warning
As side note, wreck diving is fun but can also be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Being underwater and in a confined space can cause inexperienced divers to get disorientated and panic. If you're new at diving, please don't go into a wreck alone, and definitely do NOT be filming or trying to fumble around with cameras or settings or cables. The last thing you want is to get tangled up with cable/coral, in zero visibility (because you have panicked and kicked up all the dust and silt around you), and be in an enclosed area/wreck where no one can see or help you. Always be safe.

Timelapse Result Part 1 -Yosemite (Halfdome) Sunset

(See below for location and shooting details)

With the Tips and Tricks that i have outlined in my previous posts HOPEFULLY you'd be G'ed up enough to get out there and actually get some awesome shots of your own.

Getting out there is the fun part........
Seeing amazing animals while you get out there is the fun part......
knowing that you're going to be getting some stunning shots is the fun part...........
knowing that  you will see an unbelievable sight...is the fun part....

EVERYTHING is the fun part.....

Everything on this page was taken on North Dome (opposite Half dome). Took about 2-3 hours to hike there from the trail-head but it was well worth it. The sun set was amazing and the view was even better:

Quite annoying how Blogger cant center photos properly......

Details:


Location:                                  Yosemite National Park
Camera:                                    GoPro HDHERO2
Settings:                                   11 mp on .5 sec interval
Time of Arrival:                          5:07pm
Duration of Time Lapse:          2 hour 3 minutes
Number of shots in sequence:  13,174
Total size used:                         28.8 Gigabytes
Wind condition:                        Strong (especially at sunset) - find shelter when waiting for timelapse
Temperature:                            10 to 15 degrees Celsius ( 50 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit)
Hiking time:                                2-3 hours from trail head
Lessons learned:                      Bring bear spray!!!

Time Lapse Photography - Part 5

Unless you're going to be hiking into the wilderness and camping at your own pace (i.e. no set rigid schedule to be kept daily), chances are that you will only get ONE CHANCE at shooting each of your amazing sights. So the last thing you'll want is for your once chance to be lost due to equipment failure!!!

Thats why we all take photos right? To try to help us remember the things we saw in real life and to show others their wonders.....

I have personally experienced the amazingly red blazing sunlight set over the the Fiery Furnace area of Arches National Park. I took a time lapse of it over a couple of hours and I was so excited to develop it!!!

But when the sun had set and it was time to go home i noticed that my camera was no longer pointing in the right direction!!! Yet, i was certain that i had not touched it or bumped it accidentally!?!?!?!

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Tip #9 - Do Not Use Inferior Equipment

I had set up my GoPro on top of my car's hood and due to a certain angle i wanted to capture, i could not use my tripods. So i slapped a ball of Blue-Tac onto the bottom of my GoPro and stuck it to the hood. UNFORTUNATELY, unbeknownst to me, in the sun's heat, the Blue-Tac became soft and as a result the weight of the GoPro had caused the camera to slowly move/tilt.

Due to to the slow tilting/movement of the camera, i did not notice it. However when you're making time lapse shots it becomes very evident (especially if you're compressing 2 hours worth of shots into 15 seconds). It basically looks like a video of my camera was falling off my car not a video of the amazing red sunset!!

It was almost heart breaking to realize that my one and only opportunity to capture the Fiery Furnace sunset was lost, simply because i used Blue-Tac, instead of taking the time to find a fixed and stable platform to place my camera on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for  being able to adapt to the situation and if you don't have a tripod, blue-tac works fine. However if stability is paramount, then perhaps you should not compromise the one thing that makes time lapses' photography effective!


LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!!


Here's an example of what NOT TO HAVE after taking a time lapse for two hours...i.e. a CAR DOOR in your shot!!!

BlogCatalog

Time Lapse Photography - Part 4

So, its the weekend and probably, just like many of you, I'm trying to catch up on the massive sleep debt that i accrued over the week....Going through the daily grind of work and the rat-race can't be good for us....hence i try to make myself daydream about as many of my past travels / adventures as possible.


The one memory that keeps coming up in my mind was my wanderings through Yosemite National Park in California, USA. This was such an amazing experience it is so hard to put into words!



Let me just SHOW YOU:

(Click on the image to see it in a separate window without Blogger's annoying gadgets and links getting in the way)



From a location just west of the above shot I took a time lapse shot of the sunrise (from pitch black darkness):



(see below for location details)

Standing atop Glacier Point (where i took the above time lapse) and watching the first rays of sunlight EXPLODE over the mountain ranges is something that can only be experienced (and to a lesser extent shown).

 If you only have time to see one thing in Yosemite National Park, make it this!!!!


 What I'm trying to get at with this blog and my ramblings is to tell and show you that you don't need super fancy equipment which costs thousands of dollars. I took the above photo with my little Cannon Powershot D10. Its not an SLR, nor a DSLR, it had no special filters or "thingamajigs". Its more about being at the right place, at the right time and knowing how to use your little camera. I'll cover panoramic photography in later posts.

 Anywho.....let me continue with another time lapse tip...

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Tip #8 - Small Tripods Work Just As Good !!!!

Having a normal sized tripod (the ones that are about 4 feet high), are good....BUT SOMETIMES...it is better to have the tiny miniature ones. I'll explain....

Sometimes (as previously stated) you may find yourself in a very high traffic "touristy" area where there are many people who may "accidentally" bump your camera, my tip was to PROTECT YOUR SPACE....now if you have a big tripod, you'll have more area to protect and also more chances either you or someone near you may bump your tripod's long legs (while you are busy trying to protect your space). A small tripod makes your area of protection much smaller, you can basically cover it with your body and arms!

On top of that, if you are on the edge of a cliff / mountain (which is already very high above the ground), having a tall tripod (i.e. 4 extra feet high) is not going to make much of a difference.

Finally if you have to hike several hours to your special location, you're going to want to minimize your pack's weight. If your little tripod is going to do just as good a job as your big tripod then why take up the extra room and added weight?

The above timelapse was taken using just a mini tripod (shown below):

So having a mini tripod is: light weight, small sized and handy.....but let me also warn you that having such a small compact piece of equipment near a cliff edge is VERY EASILY knocked over/off. So be careful and stay clear of it once you have set your time lapse up.

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Details for the above timelapse are as follows:


Location:                                  Yosemite National Park
Camera:                                    GoPro HDHERO2
Settings:                                   11 mp on .5 sec interval
Time of Arrival:                       5:30 am
Duration of Time Lapse:          1 hour 50 minutes
Number of shots in sequence:  11,875
Total size used:                         17.3 Gigabytes
Wind condition:                        Negligible
Temperature:                            15 to 18 degrees Celsius ( 59 - 64.5 degrees Fahrenheit)
Hiking time:                             10 mins from trail head
Lessons learned:                      Small tripods work just as effectively on the edge of cliffs/mountains as tall ones. Save yourself the weight and space and carry more food, water and clothing instead!

(click on the map to enlarge it)