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Bonaire Photography & Videography: Bonaire dive videos available
Bonaire Talk: Bonaire Photography & Videography: Archives: Archives 2003- 2004: Archives - 2003-09-01 to 2004-08-14: Bonaire dive videos available
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 1:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi,

I've been doing a series commissioned by the Queen Angel's club, and as part of the service, lo-rez versions are available, intended for family & friends in the old country, but open to all to view online.

Each segment is 5 to 6 minutes long and was shot during that one dive. The footage appears in the same order as shot, just edited down. A few stills are thrown in that may give some idea of what the shore entry is like. The first 30 seconds is a standard intro to the series, and the final 40 is an advert.

Available are:



I hope you find them entertaining and maybe a tad useful!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Meredith Lynch (BonaireTalker - Post #66) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 8:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

FAR OUT! Enjoyed the videos, makes me sick I cant be there!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JoAn Ferguson (BonaireTalker - Post #26) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 10:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

these are great! I'll be there in a week, and these are continuing to build up the excitement. Plus they are great for practicing fish identification. Anything I can't identify, I just pause, do some research, and feel that I've learned another fish - and are more ready for my visit.

The high res one is worth 5 minutes to download (using a cable modem).


JoAn

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Stan (BonaireTalker - Post #19) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 9:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Roger..

wauw! Great movies. Enjoyed it very much. Thanks for linking Wannadive by the way

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 1:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Stan, you're welcome!

We first dove with Bart when he was a lowly dive-munster in the early days of Buddy's.

On an island full of great dive operations, Wannadive stands out. They have gone above-and-beyond for us and all our guests.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Kluessjen (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 4:06 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great movies, very inspiring! Enjoyed them a lot.
Could please let me know what the music is in "Drift from Fishermans Hut(N) to Margate Bay".
Thanks.
Peter

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 4:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The music from that segment is "Ndincedeni" by "The Dalom Kids".

Its track 12 on the Putumayo 1995 CD "Women of the World International".

In fact, all the music in the current downloads is from this CD.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1073) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 8:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for sharing the great movies!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Israel A. Sanchez (BonaireTalker - Post #44) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 2:22 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Roger, beautiful job on the videos! I loved the high resolution Bari reef. It brings me pleasant memories of our January trip (My wife and I stayed at the Sand$ and got married in Bonaire). Enjoyed it a lot! My only complaint is the harassing of the marine life by the diver with the pointer. Maybe that's only my view, but I don't know what else you would call it (Definitely not "interaction") I'm surprised other people haven't pointed this out... Thanks for sharing though. Good luck and happy diving (sans pointer) Coach Izzy

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By joe brannan (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #422) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 3:30 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Agree with all the above, excellent video but the pointer shoulda stayed on shore. A question, the little shrimp in the anemone, Maybe pedersons, was it pregnant.....I've never seen one that large, it almost looks fat.

Great video

cheeseit

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 4:27 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Israel & Joe. Israel, your profile brings back memories when we lived in Pequannock, just down the road from Clifton!

You and Joe are some of the few who've complained about the use of the pointer and without actually seeing us use it, I can understand. In any case it's here to stay! We were first taught how to use one, oh, by a certain naturalist divemaster at a certain $ resort back in the early 90's:-).

Now granted, we may have extended the syllabus a bit ... early on it was mostly used to point things out to other divers (very handy that).
Then we started to notice some critter's responses; Some Blueheaded wrasse are positively fascinated by the red tip some of our pointers have. You do not have to do anything, they are excited by its mere prescence! If you go out into a clear sandy area, and started swishing the pointer head thru the sand, you'll attract a crowd of goatfish who all circle around waiting for you to flush lunch out.

Certain fish (French Angel, Scrawled Filefish, and Trumpetfish particularly) want to use the shaft as a scratching post and will rub along it repeatedly, following along if need be!

Hold the tip out towards squid and often one will come up and explore the tip with its tentacles.

Its not rare for an octopus to want to take the pointer back home with it. They latch on and sometimes you think they'll take it from you they pull so hard.

So, in the Bari Reef video, the flounder is being fed (lunges at something coming out of the stirred up sand) and the pointer was extended towards the octopus who choose not to make contact and elected to depart without ever having been touched.

In our use of the pointer, it's always the critter who initiates contact and decides when to quit. We are incredibly gently with its use and never harass.

Now, I also subscribe to the Monty Python "Confuse-a-Cat" philosophy. We provide a little out of the ordinary for the critters amusement, sometimes confoundment, but always a new thought for them to mull over at bed time.

Joe, the shrimp was a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3793) on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 11:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lovely videos, Roger. I, too, had noticed the pointing at the flounder in one shot but did not notice there was a "pointer" other than one's finger. I have mixed emotions about the pointer, but I am not an expert in this field.

The footage is mesmerizing and sooo relaxing! Thank you for sharing them with us. I am now downloading the hi rez at Bari Reef and can't wait to see that footage! Carole

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #152) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 8:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cool videos. I've watched at least one almost every day since they were posted. Why do I do this to myself?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #153) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 8:47 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Just watched the 18th Palm video again. Saw one diver with gloves on holding on to the reef in one scene. I feel compelled to point out that unless something has changed on Bonaire that I am unaware of, gloves on Bonaire are a no go except on anchor lines. I point this out primarily for those who may watch these excellent videos and who may be going to Bonaire for the lst time.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #284) on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 11:54 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Marcus, you are absolutely correct about the gloves.

Gloves can be used in Bonaire when
1. you have medical situation that requires you to ware gloves (proof from a md).
2. descending on a mooring line - one glove is allowed
3. wreck penetration

I haven't seen the video, but divers touching the reef? THAT IS A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY TO KILL CORAL. (shouting intended). Touching coral can disturb the protective chemicals that surround the coral, what could lead to coral bleaching, ... Not something we want in Bonaire.

When an underwater video grapher shows his work to the public he needs to make sure that it doesn't suggest that certain behavious is OK. This includes wearing gloves, touching coral, touching fish, etc.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bert van Barneveld (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 4:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Roger, I'll be doing my first DV attempts in a few weeks on Bonaire. Are you using any additional light sources? Or is this normal ambiant light?

Bert

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 5:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Bert, I use only ambient light. Beyond a few feet, lights are useless anyway. I must say also that it seems the visibility has worsened over the last year, making it even more difficult to get good wide shots.

Be sure to use the orangish filter (that should have come with your housing). You can also use your camera's white balance if the housing makes it available.

I also sometimes post processing in the editing stage, mainly to spread out the histogram, enhance the red channel (if any present, below ~80 feet or so, there is usually no red in the image at all), and add a bit of saturation...all standard stuff in digital photography.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bert van Barneveld (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 9:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the hints Roger.
Hum, my JVC housing did not come with the filter :-(. In local waters I've filmed with a high pressure lamp. Good results up till 2 meters (6 feet). I have to try and find such a filter before next week!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #165) on Wednesday, August 4, 2004 - 5:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

It seems there is a clear difference in video quality between the lower rez and higher rez videos. I assume all these videos were done with the same camcorder. I'm curious to know how the higher rez video was filmed compared to the lower rez video. Excuse my ignorance; I don't know anything about camcorders. Thanks to anyone who can clarify this.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Wednesday, August 4, 2004 - 6:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Marcus; The various versions all derive from one version; The uncompressed digital video (Sony VX2000 in this case) edited and saved as a master.

The master is then compressed to a level suitable for the use; DVD to mpegII, Lo-rez to Windows Media Format limiting the data rate to 256 kbps(thousands of bits of info per second), and Hi-rez to a WMF data rate of 1500 kbps.

In contrast, the original requires nearly 4 MB (million) per second, beyond most peoples internet connection speed.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #166) on Wednesday, August 4, 2004 - 9:30 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Roger. I just bought a Sony DCR-TRV38 and I'm currently working on the housing. Do you think I can get the quality of video with this camcorder that I see in your Bari Reef higher rez Video? Thanks Again.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Burnham (BonaireTalker - Post #16) on Thursday, August 5, 2004 - 4:57 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

There are many factors that go into the final quality of digital video. The main factors that will affect your quality vs mine are:

Number of pixels on the CCD: The TRV38 uses one CCD for all colors, while the VX2000 has one CCD for each red, green & blue channel. So, in general, the vx2000 will have a sharper picture with better color.

Low light performance: Better in the VX2000. Shooting at 50-60 ft on a cloudy day, you'll see the difference.

White Balance: The TRV38 does not have manual white balance. This really helps a lot to compensate for the dimming of red as you go deeper.

In general, the TRV38 is a "consumer" grade camcorder, while the VX2000 is "pro-sumer" (one step below professional gear).

That said, you will be very pleased with how easy it is to get interesting results right from the start; much easier than still photography!

I used a Hi-8 camcorder for years and was very happy with the results; Your camcorder will outperform the Hi-8.

A final factor is the editing process. With the right software, you can enhance the video in several ways; The most useful is to enhance the red information to start to restore some of the red that is lost as you go deeper (there is a limit to how much good this will do, but even a little makes a noticeable difference).

My advice to you would be to get the orange filter for your camcorder/housing that also compensates for the loss of red.

Get and read "Jim Church's Essential Guide to Underwater Video".

After every day of shooting, review your footage to see what worked and what did not. Experiment with the camcorder settings your housing makes available.


(Message edited by blennylips on August 5, 2004)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #167) on Thursday, August 5, 2004 - 7:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Roger. That helps big time!

 


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