Researching how to stabilize underwater video and photos

 

I continue to marvel at the amazing underwater videos and photographs made by professional and amateur scuba divers.

As I think about the upcoming dive season, I am already planning new approaches I want to take to document my oceanic adventures.
One thing I'm particularly interested in is how to stabilize my videos so they flow and are not choppy.

For Christmas I received a tripod to stabilize my camera for night shots on land. Lee made a joke in passing and asked me how I planned on getting it to the ocean floor when we go diving.

His wit made me wonder how professionals such as Howard Hall create such smooth, flowing underwater video footage. I'm not sure if Howard uses an underwater tripod, but I have learned that they do indeed exist.

Right now, I'm sold on Joby's GorillaPod Focus. The reviews are pretty solid. I have a lot more research to do but I know I'm moving in the direction of an underwater tripod.

 

Any thoughts and recommendations? I'd love to hear from my fellow divers.

Related articles

• Review: Joby GorillaPod Focus With Ballhead X (crunchgear.com)

• Diver films as shark tries to eat camera (telegraph.co.uk)

• Win a Joby Gorillapod video tripod (valued at $30) from Joby (techvibes.com)

Underwater photography

As a budding amateur underwater photographer, I always enjoy looking at the work accomplished by other divers. This underwater photography contest site provides a plethora of beautiful photos to learn from and enjoy.

The site states: "Winning here (or even just being placed) is Underwater Photography's most coveted accolade because it says you succeeded in the most competitive environment there is, against the top talent of the moment.

Every year a panel of judges select the best images entered in our online photo contest from the previous year. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for the top three from each category in order of merit."

Click the the many photos and you'll be sure to see sites and creatures that will amaze you.

Underwater Photography Woes

The photos in the previous post are great. Lee took them with his new underwater 35mm camera and strobe. While my photos, taken with a digital and no strobe, well... let's just say they are a work in progress. Once I get more practice and a strobe (someday) I'm sure they will have more definition and clarity like his photos. Here take a look...

A new adventure in underwater photography

Thanks to my mom and dad, I am the recipient of a congratulations gift for getting my c-card give that is amazing. My very own underwater camera! It arrived today. And I can't wait to get wet and go deep to use it. A great feature is the underwater housing, which allows you to take the camera to up to 180 feet, comes off and you can use the camera on land. You can't beat that!

We're going diving this weekend and can't wait to begin the task of learning how to take photos underwater. For those of you who don't dive, think about the challenge I have ahead of me. I mean, it's not like you can ask the fish to stop and hold their pose while you take their photo. Couple that with the fact that I'll be floating through the water. LOL It should be entertaining to say the least. Lee tells me that it took him over a year to get decent photos. Stay tuned for results...