aquabluedreams

Ahhhh, I feel better now, I am not the only borderline image hoarder, lol. Probably need to update my storage to ssd. Off subject how do you get a link to your website or youtube page to show in your signature?

After decades of digital photography it's "time to clean house". How do you decide what to keep? Not a professional, don't bother posting to Getty or Shutterstock anymore, might enter some photocontest for the heck of it. But mainly we go on a trip and I do a "trip video" 10-20mins for us. Then I will cut it down to 3-7mins for the website and Youtube. Lastly take maybe the best 10-15 images (out of hundreds if not thousands taken on a trip) and upload them to the Stills section of our website. I think I need to get back to "is this wall worthy".... Your process????

Been updating the YouTube page. Found some old Powerpoint slide shows I used years ago. Page includes our dive videos. Feel free to comment! https://www.youtube.com/@aquabluedreams

Thanks! As to the music I tried the upbeat music with the nudis to "liven" it up and sync with the quicker transitions, lol. We dove with another couple who had been to Anilao many times. They loved another resort that they felt was closer to the dive sites, was more orientated to hard core divers and less expensive. All I remember about it is the resort was all painted yellow, lol. Maybe it was just luck but I liked Solitude Acacia because there were not a bunch of hard core divers and photogs. We had the camera room pretty much to ourselves. The crew would get our cameras to and from the rinse tanks and there was just a more mellow feel. I'm not a lay around the pool guy but there could be more lounge chairs around the pool. Again I estimate the resort was no more than at 60% capacity.

Recent trip to Anilao. Have cut it down from "our" 20min version to 7mins for the web, lol. Feel free to comment and critique.

Sorry the better half found typos in the version I posted, lol. So here his the correctly spelled version....

If you are bored, have a cup of coffee here is the long version, 17min, Anilao trip. The classic Mark Twain quote, "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one instead". Next cut it down to under 6mins....

Thanks! Use Final Cut Pro for videos. Is there any tricks to improving the audio? Never really played with this aspect.

For decades now we have let guides know we appreciate them bringing us to special spots but we accept that there are certain shots of certain creatures we will just not get. Again, understand our traveling to these spots, our presence in this environment is detrimental. It's just my/our meager attempt to minimize our impact.

Using Artlist for music for videos. When you download they give you option of MP3 or WAV. Often when I watch the YouTube final product the music sounds "mushy". Is there advantages to one format over the other for YouTube?

Our first Macro trip in years and I reaffirmed I just see the world in wide angle, lol. Few ok shots but nothing I really love. We stayed at the Solitude Acacia Resort and really liked it. Food was good, room nice, guide was excellent and so much less expensive than your typical live aboard. Can definitely recommend it. RANT TIME. We are a muck stick or one finger on dead rock photographers. No lying on the sand or wedging into the reef for a shot. Watching guides turning over creatures to expose shrimp, crabs, etc was sad. Seeing them physically putting hands on coral fans to maneuver pygmie seahorses was heartbreaking. Even worse was clearly guest, fellow photogs, promoting the behavior as they covered themselves in crinoids, sand and bits of reef to get a "better shot". Ugh. Having to witness that every dive will temper my desire to repeat this destination. (Yes, I to bump the reef, sand, and wall on occasion)

In the end both are 20% the size and weight of her camcorder + Gates housing rig.

Sorry Chris but I'm a little confused, lol, what system has the larger sensor?

Thanks! I think I lean somewhat to the iPhone because you do have their typical ".5 1x 2" feature vs. the GoPro where you have to zoom with your fins, lol, little more flexibility for someone who may not be a strong free diver.

My wife shoots video with a Canon Vixia G50 in a Gates housing and loves it. But......we are planning a Dominica sperm whale trip. She has used the Canon/Gates combo in Tonga with the humpback whales but just feels it's getting too big for free diving, not her strength. She is not a "camera" person just wants to point and shoot. I do have the GoPro Max wide angle lens with a budget housing in hand for the GoPro10. Trying to keep costs down as it might be a one time use situation. Thoughts on GoPro 10 vs iPhone 15 Pro for natural light shooting of whales? Preferred housing and I assume some form of WA lens for the housing? Filters? Any settings I can use to set up either to improve image quality? Thanks!